Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In this essay, I trace one of the logics of the on-going war in the Mano River region of West Africa. I argue that in the wake of humanitarian interventions in Sierra Leone, combatants who moved on to fight in Liberia were more likely to use attacks against civilians in their military strategy. I suggest, however, that we understand such tactical military choices in terms of local contexts of meaning, most notably about the nature of political power. My own ethnographic work with the kamajor militia in Sierra Leone and Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) in Liberia serves as the basis for this analysis, and I advocate a participant-observation field methodology for the study of contemporary conflict.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper addresses the relationship between factionalism and change in a social movement organization by examining an intense debate over immigration policy that developed within the Sierra Club during 1997 and 1998. I argue that the debate grew especially heated because the question of population growth in the United States and its effects on the environment revealed a fundamental divergence in environmental philosophy among the club's members. The ultimate decision that the club should remain neutral on the question of immigration marked not only a significant policy shift but also was indicative of a changing ideology. I explain the development of this factionalism and resultant change through a theoretical framework that incorporates factors both internal and external to the movement organization.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Why is it that some rebel groups in civil wars successfully emerge as political parties in the post-settlement period while others do not? A growing literature on conflict resolution processes in intrastate wars has attempted to identify the dynamics of these processes and under what conditions they are more or less likely to succeed. One such factor that has been argued essential in regards to the successful implementation of peace agreements is the transformation of former warring armies to peaceful political actors. However, no study has examined under what conditions such a transformation is likely to occur and why it is more likely to occur in some cases but not in others. This puzzle is of great relevance to both researchers and policy makers concerned with understanding the factors that facilitate or obstruct a transition to peaceful politics in the aftermath of a protracted armed conflict in a weak state. In this paper, it is suggested that the explanation is to be found in the degree of domestic and international legitimacy that the rebel group is able to acquire and sustain in the transition period. This paper also takes a first empirical look at the case of Renamo in Mozambique and the RUF in Sierra Leone and discusses the preliminary findings from these cases.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Despite the protections provided to children under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the issue of child soldiers has become a major global concern. More than 300,000 soldiers under the age of 18 are fighting in conflicts in 41 countries around the world. During Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war, close to 20,000 children were actively engaged as participants in armed struggle. While there is ample descriptive evidence of the conditions and factors underlying the rise of child soldiery in Sierra Leone and elsewhere in the developing world, most of the literature has portrayed this as a uniquely male phenomenon. Yet in Sierra Leone an estimated 30 percent of child soldiers in oppositional forces were girls. So far, however, there is little empirical information that distinguishes the experiences of these girls from those of boys. In particular, very little is known about the forces that propelled girls into armed conflict, about their experiences and perceptions of war, or about their unique psycho-social needs. Likewise, while demobilization and reintegration have been recognized as essential to sustainable peace-building in Sierra Leone, there are clear risks that implementation of such programmes will proceed according to conditionalities that fail to acknowledge gender distinctions and the ideal of 'empowering' female and male youth. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 32 Sierra Leonean girls formerly in fighting forces, this paper traces girls' perspectives and experiences with small arms and the implications of their involvement in armed conflict. It highlights the multi-faceted world that girls were forced to contend with - one in which the realities of victimization, perpetration, and resistance were experienced in a shifting and dialectical fashion.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The presence of babies born from rape is massive in Sierra Leone and in other conflict areas. However, a wall of silence is generally surrounding them. What is the status of these children under international law? How many are they? What is their situation in the country? What is their health status? What has been the humanitarian response to this issue? This paper combines content analysis of existing documents, epidemiological data, and interviews with humanitarian organizations in Sierra Leone to assess current programming efforts at country level. While this category of child is invisible in international discourse, I argue that the experiences of humanitarian actors at country level can provide a key source of information to help fill in the current data gap.