ABSTRACT
This chapter is based on a study which took place among the Bari people, in the Southern Sudan, during the period 1975-9. The original study concerned the construction of gender in a 'tribal' society adapting to a modern nation-state and its market economy. The Bari traditionally inhabit areas east of the Nile and around Juba, the main urban centre. They are considered the host population of the town, which has grown up around an old Bari settlement. There are several types of alcoholic beverage. These are classified into two main types: 'white beer' and 'black beer'. The Bari were known as an acephalous (literally 'headless') tribe on contact with British colonial powers. Their 'chiefs' wielded little or no real power. Marriage, family and tribal matters remain important concerns of one who feels herself or himself to be a true Bari, no matter what his or her career, occupation or success in modern Sudanese political and economic life.
