From Social Capital to Social Liability: Sudan, Civil War, and the Transformation of Social Networks under Conditions of Conflict

Social capital has long been regarded as one of the most important resources available to individuals and communities. Networks of trust, reciprocity, and social cooperation have been associated with economic development, democratic participation, collective action, institutional effectiveness, and social resilience. While scholars have increasingly acknowledged that social capital may also generate exclusion, conformity pressures, and unequal access to resources, existing approaches have generally treated these outcomes as secondary consequences of otherwise beneficial social relationships. This article argues that under certain political and institutional conditions, social relationships may undergo a more fundamental transformation. Rather than functioning primarily as sources of support, networks may become mechanisms through which vulnerability is produced. Building upon earlier work on corporate social capital and liability (Leenders and Gabbay 1999), the article develops the concept of social liability as a framework for understanding how social relationships become channels of surveillance, categorization, coercion, and violence.

Using Sudan as a strategic case study, the article examines the transformation of social networks under conditions of state fragility, civil war, ethnic mobilization, militia governance, and mass displacement. Drawing upon historical and contemporary evidence from Darfur, the rise of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and the displacement crisis generated by the current conflict, the analysis demonstrates how social relationships frequently generate forms of visibility that can be mobilized for political and military purposes. Individuals become vulnerable not because they are socially isolated but because they are socially embedded. Networks that ordinarily facilitate trust and cooperation may become mechanisms through which identities are identified, loyalties evaluated, and violence organized.

The article further argues that social liability extends beyond Sudan and represents a broader sociological process observable across diverse forms of conflict and social control, including ethnic violence, insurgency, authoritarian repression, religious persecution, honor-based violence, and forced migration. By identifying the conditions under which social capital becomes social liability, the study contributes to social capital theory, conflict studies, and political sociology while offering a new framework for understanding the relationship between social structure, vulnerability, and violence.