Skip to main Communities My dashboard Log in Sign up Pan-African Research Journal Africa Published April 15, 2026 | Version v1 Journal article Open Militarised Customary Brokerage: Armed Conflict and the Transformation of Traditional Governance in South Sudan Authors/Creators Office, Editorial Description Armed conflict in South Sudan has not simply eroded customary governance; it has reconfigured it. Chiefs and elders have increasingly become brokers of security, aid, mobility, and legitimacy, operating within a landscape where authority is expanded, politicised, and contested. The concept of militarised customary brokerage captures how customary institutions are reshaped under conditions of sustained violence, transforming their roles within systems of legal pluralism and local governance. Situated within debates on African political order, state formation, and institutional design, the manuscript examines how conflict restructures rather than destroys traditional authority. Focusing on South Sudan, with comparative reference to Northern Uganda and Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the study addresses three interrelated questions: how prolonged conflict has reshaped the authority, legitimacy, and political economy of chiefs and elders in Dinka, Nuer, and Acholi communities; under what conditions armed groups co-opt customary authorities as recruitment brokers, tax intermediaries, and intelligence sources, and how this affects their legitimacy; and what role customary dispute resolution practices—such as cattle compensation, inter-clan negotiation, and Mato oput—play in community-level conflict management, particularly in relation to formal transitional justice processes. Methodologically, the study draws on multi-site ethnographic fieldwork in Bor, Rumbek, Torit, and Yambio, complemented by interviews with chiefs, women's groups, youth leaders, and returned internally displaced persons. It also incorporates archival research in Church of Sudan and colonial administrative records, alongside comparative analysis with Northern Uganda and Eastern DRC. The findings Files final_69df8847686ee9.46549898_militarised-customary-brokerage-armed-conflict-and-the-transformation-of-traditional-governance-in-south-sudan.pdf Files (776.8 kB) Name Size Download all article.html md5:442ca9697c4991d7242b8aa4081cb80d 447.4 kB Download final_69df8847686ee9.46549898_militarised-customary-brokerage-armed-conflict-and-the-transformation-of-traditional-governance-in-south-sudan.pdf md5:e8ad0c7435df7ad7b04ae660af428412 324.9 kB Preview Download review_bundle.zip md5:5375cbbbfff59d772b370961961eec75 4.5 kB Preview Download Additional details Related works Is identical to Journal article: https://parj.africa/ajls_custl/article/view/32251 (URL) 18 Views 23 Downloads Show more details All versions This version Views Total views 18 18 Downloads Total downloads 23 23 Data volume Total data volume 6.9 MB 6.9 MB More info on how stats are collected.... Versions External resources Indexed in OpenAIRE Communities Keywords and subjects Keywords Customary authority legal pluralism transitional justice South Sudan traditional governance armed conflict Details DOI DOI Badge DOI 10.5281/zenodo.19594219 Markdown [](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19594219) reStructuredText .. image:: https://zenodo.org/badge/DOI/10.5281/zenodo.19594219.svg :target: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19594219 HTML <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19594219"><img src="https://zenodo.org/badge/DOI/10.5281/zenodo.19594219.svg" alt="DOI"></a> Image URL https://zenodo.org/badge/DOI/10.5281/zenodo.19594219.svg Target URL https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19594219 Resource type Journal article Publisher Zenodo Published in Studies in African Customary Law (Law/Social/Anthropology crossover), 1(1), 2026. Languages English Rights License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International The Creative Commons Attribution license allows re-distribution and re-use of a licensed work on the condition that the creator is appropriately credited. Read more Citation Export Technical metadata Created April 15, 2026 Modified April 15, 2026 Jump up About About Policies Infrastructure Principles Projects Roadmap Contact Blog Blog Support Help FAQ Developers REST API OAI-PMH Contribute GitHub Donate Funded by Powered by CERN Data Centre & InvenioRDM Status Privacy policy Cookie policy Terms of Use This site uses cookies. Find out more on how we use cookies Accept all cookies Accept only essential cookies