Dehumanization Amidst Massacres : An Examination of Dinka-Nuer Intergroup Attitudes in South Sudan

Previous research on dehumanization has been conducted primarily in Western contexts, and outside ofperiods of ongoing and highly violent conflict. The present study, in contrast, examines grassroots-leveldehumanization between South Sudan’s two largest ethnic groups—Dinka and Nuer—during an episodeof extreme interethnic violence. Using a mixed-methods approach we study levels of dehumanization andhow these attitudes are related to and structured around ongoing and/or very recent extreme violence.Whereas the results demonstrated mechanistic dehumanization by the Dinka participants vis-a`-vis theNuer, no similar dehumanization was found among the Nuer: although there were clear signs ofintergroup bias. Our focus groups demonstrated that dehumanization attitudes in South Sudan are to agreat degree structured around recent event of mass violence. In fact, practically all dehumanizingattitudes were related to these recent events and not to events previous, or to historicized stereotypes. Thecore contribution of this article is threefold. First, we deepen understanding of dehumanization byexamining a non-Western case with ongoing, highly violent, conflict. Second, we further knowledgeabout the psychological effects of events of mass violence. Third, we provide new insights to the situationin South Sudan by our analysis of intergroup perceptions