Description

Addresses the incomplete understanding of the conflict in Sierra Leone by focusing on the direct experiences and interpretations of protagonists. This book addresses the currently incomplete understanding of the conflict in Sierra Leone by focusing on the direct experiences and interpretations of protagonists. It challenges the widely canvassed notion of this conflict as a war motivated by 'greed, not grievance', pointing instead to a rural crisis of unresolved tensions. This book addresses the currently incomplete understanding of the conflict in Sierra Leone by focusing on the direct experiences and interpretations of protagonists. It challenges the widely canvassed notion of this conflict as a war motivated by 'greed, not grievance', pointing instead to a rural crisis of unresolved tensions. 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 are mainly drawn from accounts of civilian victims and 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, further reinforced and triggered by a collapsing patrimonial state. Introduction; 1. Voices from the battlefield: ex-combatants' views on root causes of the war and their reasons for participation; 2. The socio-economic crisis of rural youth; 3. Conflict in Sierra Leone and recruits to the war; 4. The world of the RUF; 5. Malfunctions and atrocities; 6. Cultivating peace: RUF ex-combatants' involvement in post-war agricultural projects; 7. Footpaths to reintegration?: Agrarian solutions for the reintegration of ex-combatants; 8. Conclusion: the RUF as a rural underclass project; Epilogue; Annex I: a chronology; Annex II: overview interviewed ex-RUF combatants. 'This book goes more deeply into an understanding of RUF fighters - their beliefs and their atrocities - than previous studies. It is a very important contribution to our understanding of Sierra Leone and its war.' David Keen, London School of Economics and Political Science 'What are the real motivations and goals of rebels that commit atrocities among those for whom they claim to represent? Krijn Peters offers an answer that is as simple as it is profound. Drawing on extraordinary field research in Sierra Leone among former Revolutionary United Front fighters and commanders, Peters finds a deep commitment to an egalitarian millenarian ethos borne of a rejection of a state-sanctioned system of subjugation of young men and women in rural areas. War and the Crisis of Youth in Sierra Leone is among the rare breed of books, essential for scholars and policy analysts, that is sure to make waves for all of the right reasons. It will become a classic for its sober and measured analysis that challenges conventional wisdom and for bringing a critical analysis to bear on the words and actions of members