This doctoral dissertation project will support an investigation of self-settling refugees, those resettling without international aid, in the African nation of Sudan. Fieldwork will focus on class distinctions, the identification of primary mode of production, the economics of support networks, social integration and conflict, and repatriation versus permanent resettlement. The purpose of the project is to assess changes in rural market activity and labor relations after a major influx of self-settling refugees. The investigators believe that most self-settling refugees move from an independent mode of subsistence production to increased involvement in the local economy, particularly during long term asylum. They will examine this proposition and others in order to produce a better explanation of the changing nature of the resettlement process and its relationship to regional development. Coups, countercoups, revolutions, ethnic conflicts and devastating nature disasters have produced sizeable refugee populations in Africa and throughout the world. This project will increase our understanding of the problem of refugee resettlement in the context of regional development in Sudan and other nations. It will also contribute to our understanding of the effectiveness of technical aid policies and programs.
