The Kella Movement and the Contradictions of the Beja Dock Workers’ Union in Port Sudan.

This article focuses on the Kella Movement, a dockworkers’ union system in Port Sudan predominantly composed of the Beja ethnic group, and examines its historical evolution and contradictions within the broader political economy of Sudan. Originating under colonial rule as a hybrid ethnic-labor formation tied to customary land claims and kinship networks, the Kella system has served both as a safety net for displaced pastoralists and a mechanism of labor organization embedded in Beja authority structures. The study traces how environmental pressures, colonial labor policies, post-independence economic changes, neoliberal reforms, and regional armed struggles shaped the movement, highlighting tensions between ethnic solidarity and class-based organizing. Recent developments, including Sudan’s 2018 revolution and the 2023 war, have intensified these contradictions as Beja authorities align with military factions while Kella workers resist privatization and fight for livelihoods. The article concludes that the Kella system reflects enduring communal labor resilience but also reveals entrenched inequalities linked to ethnic hierarchies and regional political dynamics.