War and the Crisis of Youth in Sierra Leone (The International African Library, Series Number 41) - Hardcover

Peters, Krijn

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1107004195 ISBN 13: 9781107004191

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2011

Synopsis

The armed conflict in Sierra Leone and the extreme violence of the main rebel faction - the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) - have challenged scholars and members of the international community to come up with explanations. Up to this point, though, conclusions about the nature of the war and the RUF are mainly drawn from accounts of civilian victims or based on interpretations and rationalizations offered by commentators who had access to only one side of the war. The present study addresses this currently incomplete understanding of the conflict by focusing on the direct experiences and interpretations of protagonists, paying special attention to the hitherto neglected, and often underage, cadres of the RUF. The data presented challenges the widely canvassed notion of the Sierra Leone conflict as a war motivated by "greed, not grievance." Rather, it points to a rural crisis expressed in terms of unresolved tensions between landowners and marginalized rural youth - an unaddressed crisis of youth that currently manifests itself in many African countries - further reinforced and triggered by a collapsing patrimonial state.

About this title

Book Description:

War and the Crisis of Youth in Sierra Leone addresses the currently incomplete understanding of the conflict in Sierra Leone by focusing on the direct experiences and interpretations of protagonists. The data presented challenges the widely canvassed notion of this conflict as a war motivated by "greed, not grievance," pointing instead to a rural crisis expressed in terms of unresolved tensions between landowners and marginalized rural youth, further reinforced and triggered by a collapsing patrimonial state.

About the Author:

Krijn Peters, a rural development sociologist by background, is a lecturer in the Department of Political and Cultural Studies at Swansea University, Wales. He specializes in armed conflict and post-war reconstruction, focusing primarily on the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of child soldiers and youthful combatants. Dr Peters is the co-author of War and Children (2009) and a Visiting Fellow at VU University, Amsterdam.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1107004195
• ISBN 13: 9781107004191
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 292
• Editor: Kitchen Stephanie