International Development

The mass influx of returnees into South Sudan after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in 2005 and independence in 2011 reshaped society during the peace interbellum that would last until renewed conflict erupted end 2013. Reintegration is understood as essential for development and post-conflict reconstruction, but is a complex process of multifaceted interaction between individuals that once shared similar customs and held a common outlook on life, but have been subject to war, displacement and separation. This thesis looks at the perceptions held by and relations between returnees and stayees in Magwi County in Eastern Equatoria State and elaborates on how these impact on the reintegration process and ultimately on people’s lives. Empirical data was collected during a three month period of ethnographic field research in 2012. In Magwi County the large majority of the population is returnee, of which a large part had the opportunity in exile to undergo education and trainings, to participate in projects and to learn in and from another society – opportunities stayees did not have. Not only because returnees significantly outnumber stayees but also because of the returnee capital, it were the stayees more than the returnees that had to integrate. Although returnees and stayees generally intermingled, accusations would particularly be voiced in relation to the acquisition of resources, such as land, for livelihoods and development. The heavy reliance on social networks and the perceived identity of each other, often based on stereotyping and prejudgements, as well as desired identities contributed to a subtle divide into emerging classes and reinforced them. The dynamics in the social, political and economic sphere in Magwi County are at odds with scenarios in most places in South Sudan, where returnees struggled to integrate.

Several major changes in educational policies have occurred in Spain over the last four decades. One of these is the re-organization of the educational system beginning in 1970. A policy to encourage the regional spread of universities was pursued over the seventies and eighties. There has also been devolution of power to some regions with respect to the management of the educational system. These policy changes are hypothesized to have resulted in an impact on inter-regional and intra-regional inequality with respect to educational facilities. We investigate the change in inequality that occurred between the 60s and the70s, and also between the 80s and early 90s.