Ex-Combatants’ Voices

Ex-Combatants’ Voices
Author: John D. Brewer
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2021-02-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3030615669

This book develops the discourse on the experiences of ex-combatants and their transition from war to peace, from the perspective of scholars across disciplines. Ex-combatants are often overlooked and ignored in the post-conflict search for memory and understanding, resulting in their voice being excluded or distorted. This collection seeks to disclose something of the lived experience of ex-combatants who have made the transition from war to peace to help to understand some of the difficulties they have encountered in social and emotional reintegration in the wake of combat. These include: motivations and mobilizations to participation in military struggle; the material difficulties experienced in social reintegration after the war; the emotional legacies of conflict; the discourses they utilize to reconcile their past in a society moving forward from conflict toward peace; and ex-combatants’ subsequent engagement – or not – in peacebuilding. It also examines the contributions that former combatants have made to post-conflict compromise, reconciliation and peacebuilding. It focusses on male non-state actors, women, child soldiers and, unusually, state veterans, and complements previous volumes which captured the voices of victims in Northern Ireland, South Africa and Sri Lanka. This volume speaks to those working in the areas of sociology, criminology, security studies, politics, and international relations, and professionals working in social justice and human rights NGOs.

Peacebuilding and Ex-Combatants

Peacebuilding and Ex-Combatants
Author: Johanna Söderström
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2014-12-17
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317649397

The book examines how ex-combatants in post-war and peacebuilding settings engage in politics, as seen in the case of Liberia. The political mobilization of former combatants after war is often perceived as a threat, ultimately undermining the security and stability of the state. This book questions this simplified view and argues that understanding the political voice of former combatants is imperative. Their post-war role is not black and white; they are not just bad or good citizens, but rather engage in multiple political roles: spoilers, victims, disengaged, beneficiaries, as well as motivated and active citizens. By looking at the political attitudes and values of former combatants, and their understanding of how politics functions, the book sheds new light on the political reintegration of ex-combatants. It argues that political reintegration needs to be given serious attention at the micro-level, but also needs to be scrutinized in two ways: first, through the level of political involvement, which reflects the extent and width of the ex-combatants’ voice. Second, in order to make sense of political reintegration, we also need to uncover what values and norms inform their political involvement. The content of their political voice is captured through a comparison with democratic ideals. Based on interviews with over 100 Liberian ex-combatants, the book highlights that their relationship with politics overall should be characterized as an expression of a 'politics of affection'. This book will be of much interest to students of peacebuilding, African politics, democratization, political sociology, conflict resolution and IR/Security Studies in general.

Ex-Combatants’ Voices

Ex-Combatants’ Voices
Author: John D. Brewer
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2022-02-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9783030615680

This book develops the discourse on the experiences of ex-combatants and their transition from war to peace, from the perspective of scholars across disciplines. Ex-combatants are often overlooked and ignored in the post-conflict search for memory and understanding, resulting in their voice being excluded or distorted. This collection seeks to disclose something of the lived experience of ex-combatants who have made the transition from war to peace to help to understand some of the difficulties they have encountered in social and emotional reintegration in the wake of combat. These include: motivations and mobilizations to participation in military struggle; the material difficulties experienced in social reintegration after the war; the emotional legacies of conflict; the discourses they utilize to reconcile their past in a society moving forward from conflict toward peace; and ex-combatants’ subsequent engagement – or not – in peacebuilding. It also examines the contributions that former combatants have made to post-conflict compromise, reconciliation and peacebuilding. It focusses on male non-state actors, women, child soldiers and, unusually, state veterans, and complements previous volumes which captured the voices of victims in Northern Ireland, South Africa and Sri Lanka. This volume speaks to those working in the areas of sociology, criminology, security studies, politics, and international relations, and professionals working in social justice and human rights NGOs.

Ex-Combatants' Voices

Ex-Combatants' Voices
Author: John D. Brewer
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2021
Genre:
ISBN: 9783030615673

This book develops the discourse on the experiences of ex-combatants and their transition from war to peace, from the perspective of scholars across disciplines. Ex-combatants are often overlooked and ignored in the post-conflict search for memory and understanding, resulting in their voice being excluded or distorted. This collection seeks to disclose something of the lived experience of ex-combatants who have made the transition from war to peace to help to understand some of the difficulties they have encountered in social and emotional reintegration in the wake of combat. These include: motivations and mobilizations to participation in military struggle; the material difficulties experienced in social reintegration after the war; the emotional legacies of conflict; the discourses they utilize to reconcile their past in a society moving forward from conflict toward peace; and ex-combatants' subsequent engagement - or not - in peacebuilding. It also examines the contributions that former combatants have made to post-conflict compromise, reconciliation and peacebuilding. It focusses on male non-state actors, women, child soldiers and, unusually, state veterans, and complements previous volumes which captured the voices of victims in Northern Ireland, South Africa and Sri Lanka. This volume speaks to those working in the areas of sociology, criminology, security studies, politics, and international relations, and professionals working in social justice and human rights NGOs.

Ex-Combatants, Gender and Peace in Northern Ireland

Ex-Combatants, Gender and Peace in Northern Ireland
Author: Azrini Wahidin
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2016-07-27
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1137363304

This book explores the contours of women's involvement in the Irish Republican Army, political protest and the prison experience in Northern Ireland. Through the voices of female and male combatants, it demonstrates that women remained marginal in the examination of imprisonment during the Conflict and in the negotiated peace process. However, the book shows that women performed a number of roles in war and peace that placed constructions of femininity in dissent. Azrini Wahidin argues that the role of the female combatant is not given but ambiguous. She indicates that a tension exists between different conceptualisations of societal security, where female combatants both fought against societal insecurity posed by the state and contributed to internal societal dissonance within their ethno-national groups. This book tackles the lacunae that has created a disturbing silence and an absence of a comprehensive understanding of women combatants, which includes knowledge of their motivations, roles and experiences. It will be of particular interest to scholars of criminology, politics and peace studies.

Ex-Combatants and the Post-Conflict State

Ex-Combatants and the Post-Conflict State
Author: J. McMullin
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2013-08-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1137312939

This book provides a critical analysis of the reintegration challenges facing ex-combatants. Based on extensive field research, it includes detailed case studies of ex-combatant reintegration in Namibia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.

Female Ex-Combatants, Empowerment, and Reintegration

Female Ex-Combatants, Empowerment, and Reintegration
Author: Michanne Steenbergen
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2022-02-24
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000544338

Female Ex-Combatants, Empowerment, and Reintegration investigates the role of United Nations-led Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) programs in undermining female ex-combatants’ empowerment. The participation of female combatants in conflict has increasingly been recognized in feminist literatures and in policies and programs concerned with reintegrating ex-combatants and building peace. This has illustrated that female ex-combatants often experience "empowerment" through their role as combatant; however, this empowerment is often lost upon reintegration. UN-led DDR plays an important role in the broader peacebuilding process, as it is one of the largest interventions and directly aims to reintegrate ex-combatants into civilian life. This book draws on extensive field research and interviews with female ex-combatants and DDR officials in Liberia and Nepal to develop a nuanced and comprehensive picture of female ex-combatants’ empowerment and how this is undermined by DDR. Through reconceptualized frameworks of empowerment and an emancipatory peace, the book explores the pivotal role that DDR programs play in undermining female ex-combatants’ empowerment. The author argues that this is detrimental to peacebuilding, because DDR officials and documentation narrate female ex-combatants in limited and gendered ways, which reproduces gendered inequalities and define how female ex-combatants should behave. This book will be of great interest to scholars and practitioners working on gender, conflict, peace, security, and development.

Former Combatants, Democracy, and Institution-Building in Transitory Societies

Former Combatants, Democracy, and Institution-Building in Transitory Societies
Author: Armend Bekaj
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2024-12-03
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 104026431X

This book explores the long-term impact on democracy and institution-building in post-conflict and transitory societies, stemming from the political integration of former combatants of intra-state armed groups. By providing a comparative analysis on two countries with certain commonalities but also sufficient differences to warrant an intriguing comparison – Kosovo and North Macedonia – the author undertakes an examination of their respective political trajectories with a focus on the role of combatants turned politicians. Revolving around the concepts of democracy and political inclusion versus clientelism, corruption, and institutional capture, the objective is to shed light on the correlation between the inclusion of former combatants in politics, democratisation and institution-building, and the perpetuation of clientelist behavior and other illicit phenomena. In so doing, the book explores the novel concept of democracy spoilers in transitory societies. This volume will be of interest to scholars and students of democracy, nation-building, institution-building, and security studies.

Advanced Introduction to the Sociology of Peace Processes

Advanced Introduction to the Sociology of Peace Processes
Author: Brewer, John D.
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2022-02-18
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1839107391

This Advanced Introduction establishes the study of peace processes as part of the mainstream of sociology, a position consistent with the new moral re-enchantment of the social sciences. It advances a sociological view of peace that goes beyond vague notions of reconciliation, to constitute the restoration of moral sensibility, from which flows social solidarity, sociability and social justice. These concepts form the basis for a moral framework outlining what peace means sociologically.