Bread or Representation: The Women’s Movement in Post Revolution Sudan

Abstract

Women’s role in the Sudanese revolution of 2019 was celebrated, and their bravery and strength were commended by political parties as  well as the international community. Women were hopeful of change. Popular feminist groups rallied around a representation campaign,  demanding that 40% of women’s representation be guaranteed in the constitutional document and transitional government.  Examining the effect of the neoliberal wave on feminist movement building, this article aims to assess the representation agenda from  two angles: first, how it became the dominant agenda, and second how effective it was in articulating women’s demands and prioritising  their economic rights. Through interviews with women’s rights activists in Khartoum and North Kordofan, we find that the strength of the  representation agenda is its bare minimum quality that brings together women groups from different political, racial, and economic  backgrounds. The support the agenda received from the international community, and the assumption that the representation of women  in positions of power brings women’s issues to the forefront, were important factors in its popularisation. However, according to  the women activists, the appointment of women into positions of power did not change the direction of the transitional government  agenda, nor was it successful in elevating true representatives to these positions. We conclude by arguing that the structural constraints  facing the revolutionary movement played a major role in defining the limitations of resistance in economic justice.