Introduction: Negotiating Borders, Defining South Sudan

Abstract

In Maridi, a town near South Sudan’s border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in 2009 residents judged their situation harshly: “We see ourselves as unlucky because of the kind of border we have,” said a senior church leader.1 He talked about how those living in other towns near the border were benefitting through cross-border trade, through access to services, and through exchange: “Because in Yei, they have an open border with DRC and Uganda; they can improve their trade and education. Same in Kajo Keji and so on. With us here, there is no cross-border trade, no road.” In Maridi, it was not even clear where the country’s border ended and the next began. Nobody from the government in the capital city of Juba seemed to particularly care. Other South Sudanese borders—with the Republic of Sudan, Uganda, or Ethiopia—were much more important.

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