Paper short abstract:

I discuss the changed perception of "Khartoum" among the people who returned from North to South Sudan. Through this case study, I seek to understand the process by which human movement creates the meaning of the "local."

Paper long abstract:

My presentation demonstrates the process of transformation in the meaning of "Khartoum" among returnees from North Sudan to Juba.

People who live in the Greater Sudan had experienced multiple kinds of movements. In particular, the civil wars have caused populations to move to southern Sudan. Moreover, people have been scattered all over the world. Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, has the largest number of displaced persons. Many Southerners were part of its population, but they considered it as the city of the "Arab," their enemy. The Southerners regarded Khartoum as "too hot," "dirty," and "not suitable as a residence for humans." For them, the "South" was home or "heaven."

During the referendum period, many of Southerners returned to South. Most attempted to settle in Juba, the capital city of South Sudan. Their life in Juba has hardly been "easy." They thus came to know the reality of their perceived heaven. These returnees re-grasped the meaning of "Khartoum" during their time of struggle in Juba. This transformation is the background of their experience as displaced persons.

The movement of people is one the most important aspects of globalization. We have understood this movement as a deviation from established settlement. Nowadays, however, we cannot understand the world without human movement. Thus, we must think about the world My presentation shows that the process of human movement determines the meaning of the "local."

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