Charles Jędrej and the ‘Deep Rurals’: A West African model moves to the Sudan, Ethiopia, and beyond^†

† Early publication from the forthcoming Special Issue of Critical African Studies: Crossing Africa and Beyond: essays in honour of Marian Charles Jedrej (1943–2007)

Abstract

From his original fieldwork in West Africa, Jędrej moved to teach at the University of Khartoum and pursue further research in the Sudan, especially in the Ingessana Hills of the upper Blue Nile. Here he sought to explore underlying connections between the peripheral minorities of that region and their common involvement in the wider patterns of central Sudanese history. In this project he adopted, and developed, the concept of ‘deep rurals’ from the work of Murray Last. This article shows how effective his work was in helping to break down the old oppositions between ‘state’ and ‘stateless’ societies, and even ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ life. It shows how his application of the ‘deep rurals’ idea has been taken up by others, particularly archaeologists working in the culturally heterogeneous regions of western Ethiopia. The concept informs Jędrej's own later research in Scotland, and might indeed have wider relevance in today's age of hi-tech communications.

Après son premier travail de terrain en Afrique de l'Ouest, Jędrej partit enseigner à l'Université de Khartoum et poursuivre ses recherches au Soudan, particulièrement dans les collines Ingessana du haut Nil Bleu, où il chercha à explorer les liens sous-jacents entre les minorités périphériques de cette région et leur participation commune aux plus amples dynamiques de l'histoire du Soudan central. Dans le cadre de ce projet, il adopta et développa le concept de «ruraux profonds» («deep rurals») à partir des travaux de Murray Last. Le présent article expose à quel point son œuvre fut déterminante pour aider à faire tomber les vieilles oppositions entre sociétés «sans État» et sociétés «avec État», de même qu'entre vie «urbaine» et vie «rurale». Aussi, cet article dévoile comment la notion de «ruraux profonds» a été reprise par d'autres, en particulier des archéologues qui travaillent dans les régions culturellement hétérogènes d'Ethiopie occidentale. Le concept éclaire les recherches ultérieures de Jędrej en Écosse et pourrait bien être plus largement pertinent à l’époque actuelle des communications haute technologie.

Keywords:

• Sudan
• Ingessana
• ‘deep rurals'
• Ethiopia
• cultural communication

Mots-clés:

• Soudan
• Ingessana
• «ruraux profonds»
• Éthiopie
• communication culturelle

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

† Early publication from the forthcoming Special Issue of Critical African Studies: Crossing Africa and Beyond: essays in honour of Marian Charles Jedrej (1943–2007)

1. This article had its beginnings in the Memorial Lecture for Charles Jędrej which I had the honour to deliver in Edinburgh on 16 February 2011.

2. See: http://wales.gov.uk/about/cabinet/cabinetstatements/2009/091215dra/?lang=en, Accessed April 23, 2014.

3. See: http://www.welshicons.org.uk/news/kirsty-williams-comments-on-problems-facing-deep-rural-areas/, last consulted 23.4.14.

4. See: http://www.unicef.org/southafrica/media_5241.html, Accessed April 23, 2014.

5. See: http://www.schoolnet.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/2013.09.09.Learning-Gains-in-Cofimvaba.pdf, Accessed April 23, 2014.

6. See: http://www.allcreatures.org/hope/02%20deep%20rural%20India%20expeditions.htm, Accessed April 23, 2014.

7. See: http://hbr.org/product/the-last-frontier-market-creation-in-conflict-zone/an/CMR462-PDF-ENG, Accessed April 23, 2014.

8. See: http://archive.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/committees/eet/inquiries/Enterprise%20agency%201/25.%20EARI%20Scottish%20Enterprise.pdf, page 7. Accessed April 23, 2014.