The ‘child soldier’ is one of the most challenging concepts confronting the modern mind. Neither wholly “perpetrator” nor “innocent”, the child soldier character haunts the pages of our recent novels, drawing the reader into the sad page of the recent African history of civil wars. As controversial now as it was in the 1990s when it first appeared, the literature about child soldiers both invites and resists the reader‘s understanding of the reasons behind the grotesque acts of the African child soldier. Francophone African writers such as Ahamadou Kourouma, Emmanuel Dongala and Florent Couao-Zotti among others, have reappropriated the theory of the grotesque as a useful tool for investigating the postcolonial realities through the trope of child soldier. Distortion, degradation, irony, symbolism, and so on, as strategies of representation used in these writers’ novels all contribute not only to increase the reader’s difficulty in comprehending the child soldier but also to deny him sympathy. However, on examining closely the child soldier character whose acts everybody detests, the francophone African writers expose our new sacrificial and cannibalist practices. It is in this respect that the present study proposes to read the child soldier as a postcolonial figure which has become a signifier, not only of war and lawlessness, but also of marginal alienated African people who are victims of the exploitation of systems of modernity. The study further suggests that, in focusing our analyses exclusively upon the child soldier’s ambiguous nature as simultaneously ‘child’ and ‘soldier’, ‘strong’ and ‘weak’, ‘inocent’and‘guilty’, ‘protector’ and ‘destroyer’, and so on, this concept will start to become understandable. In other words, we will solve the problem of child soldier’s violence when such contradictions are given critical attention. It is thus only fitting that multiple voices or perspectives contradict one another in addressing postcolonial issues in Africa of which the child soldier is a clear example in this study.

The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate the current state of literature surrounding childhood and child agency, and how dominant notions of these concepts result in practical implications pertaining to the nature of the participation of former child soldiers in post-conflict reintegration programmes. As the literature and practice surrounding children in post-conflict environments currently stands, there is a recurring preoccupation with traditional notions of childhood which uphold notions of innocence, vulnerability, and dependency, with only minimal attempts to conceptualise child agency as a crucial factor once the guns have been put down. This ultimately results in former child soldiers being dealt with as objects to be secured, as opposed to fully-fledged participants and agents in their own reintegration processes. This research thereby seeks to answer the question: “How would the formulation of a normative framework of child agency alter the orientation of post-conflict reintegration programmes in the future?” The researcher will engage the matter of child agency in post-conflict reintegration through a critical lens, both in terms of the literary and conceptual foundations contributing towards current narratives, as well as the current state of reintegration programmes as they target former child soldiers in northern Uganda. The qualitative approach of a critical literature review, followed by a critical analysis of the case of northern Uganda, will be employed as the key methods of this research. The literature to be used will be purposively sampled secondary sources. This mini-dissertation upholds the position that, in order for post-conflict reintegration programmes to be successful in their endeavour to reintegrate former child soldiers, children should not be rendered as peripheral actors in these processes. Rather, they should be present as key participatory agents in their own right. / Mini Dissertation (MSS)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Political Sciences / MSS / Unrestricted

No description available.

Doctor Legum - LLD / Children have been committing crimes during times of war and other armed conflicts since time immemorial. Yet, it is only over the last few decades that cognisance is being taken of child soldiers as a type of juvenile. The unfortunate sight of a child holding a gun has become a familiar picture throughout armed conflicts, especially in Africa. Both boys and girls are used as child soldiers and they can be as young as 5 years old. They are mainly regarded as victims of crimes under international law and are therefore usually rehabilitated once they have been disarmed and demobilised. Notwithstanding their need for rehabilitation, it is a fact that child soldiers commit some of the most egregious crimes under international law. They receive military-style training and are presumably not afraid of killing and carrying out orders. Yet it is recognised that generally they do not have the same level of maturity as adults. The reality of child soldiers who join armed forces therefore presents complex legal questions in the face of contemporary international criminal law principles which, on the one hand, afford protection to all children, and on the other, unequivocally call for the prosecution and punishment of those who are individually responsible for committing crimes under international law. Consequently, various safeguards need to be upheld to ensure that the best interests of the child are maintained once a child soldier is held criminally responsible. This thesis analyses the extent to which child soldiers can be prosecuted under domestic and international law, as well as the implementation of alternative measures to prosecution. The thesis proposes that a case-by-case approach should be considered when child soldiers are prosecuted for crimes under international law, thereby investigating and analysing the often distinctive circumstances related to their crimes. / German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

This thesis explores how fear is used as a communication strategy to create and enhance power in conflict setting. I drew the data from six in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted in northern Uganda, a region that was ravaged by war for over two decades, as well as from my own experiences of fear in the field, because terror shaped the very nature of my interactions in Uganda. Building on symbolic interaction theory, the analysis explores how the participants created the meaning of "fear" through symbols, culture, language and experiences during and after the war and how fear was used as an agent of control externally and as a dis-enabler internally. The findings support the idea that fear, perceived or otherwise, is strategically important because of its influence on conflict outcomes.

Thesis (M.A.)--George Mason University, 2008. / Vita: p. 67. Thesis director: Suzanne Scott. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed July 2, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-66). Also issued in print.

No abstract available / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / gm2014 / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

Orientador: Shiguenoli Miyamoto / Resumo: Nesta pesquisa, argumentamos que a discussão internacional em torno do emprego de criançassoldado foi baseada em algumas narrativas. Por narrativas, nos referimos a histórias construídas, contadas e recontadas, com o objetivo de criar uma verdade, uma versão sobre acontecimentos, uma argumentação de como os eventos ocorreram. Desse modo, propomos a hipótese de que a discussão sobre crianças-soldado, principalmente a partir da década de 1990, foi construída tendo por base uma narrativa dominante que está amparada em três pilares: as relações de poder entre Norte e Sul, o pensamento liberal e a perspectiva securitária. Esses três aspectos formam linhas de argumentação que constroem uma narrativa sobre as criançassoldado, visto que influenciam os modos de se enxergar as próprias crianças e as partes que as empregam. Mais do que isso, a construção de uma narrativa sobre crianças-soldado com base nesse tripé fortalece a consolidação de um modelo de desenvolvimento que instrumentaliza a criança-soldado como um problema de Segurança intrínseco ao Sul Global e que, consequentemente, fortalece a necessidade de intervenção em “Estados Falhados”. Por outro lado, também reconhecemos que há contestação dessa narrativa e tentativas de construir outras explicações sobre a temática. Com o objetivo de analisar o modo pelo qual tais narrativas foram construídas, analisaremos a produção acadêmica especializada sobre crianças-soldado, o trabalho de alguns órgãos da ONU e o trabalho de algumas ON... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: In this research, we argue that the international discussion around the use of child soldiers was based on some narratives. By narratives, we refer to stories constructed, told and retold, with the aim of creating a truth, a version of events, an argument of how events occurred. Thus, we propose the hypothesis that the discussion about child soldiers, especially since the 1990s, was based on a dominant narrative that is supported by three pillars: the power relations between North and South, the liberal thought and the security perspective. These three aspects form lines of arguments that build a narrative about child soldiers, since they influence the ways of seeing the children themselves and the parts that employ them. More than that, the construction of a narrative about child soldiers based on this tripod strengthens the consolidation of a development model that instrumentalizes the child soldier as a security issue intrinsic to the Global South and thus strengthens the need for intervention in “Failed States”. On the other hand, we also recognize that there is a contestation of this narrative and attempts to construct other explanations on the subject. In order to analyze the way in which such narratives were constructed, we will analyze the specialized bibliography on child soldiers, the work of some UN organs and the work of some NGOs that address the theme. / Doutor

"At present, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers reports that approximately 300,000 children in over 40 countries worldwide are engaged in armed conflict. Of the estimated 300,000 child soldiers in the world, 120,000 can be found in Africa alone. Apart from making them direct combatants, both governments and armed groups use children as messengers, lookouts, porters, spies able to entre small spaces, and even use them as suicide bombers and human mine detectors. In the due course of such use and abuse, children are forced to kill or are themselves killed, sexually assaulted, raped, forced to become wives of the commanders, exposed to drugs and forced labour, showing the cross cutting nature and magnitude of the problem of child soldiers. There are a variety of international legal standards which, at first glance, seem to give some direction and guidance in the protection of child soldiers. In spite of these legal instruments for the protection of child soldiers in Africa, however, much remains to be done as the problem is continuing at a larger scale every day and new challenges keep cropping up. This study will look into ways of addressing these problems in the context of Africa. Therefore, in order to address the issue to the best possible level, the normative framework in place may need to be strengthened. Moreover, in an attempt to be comprehensive in addressing the problem, ways of dealing with child soldiers who have allegedly committed atrocities during armed conflict should be included. This piece explores how these issues could possibly be addressed to provide for protection to the child soldier in Africa. ... The study consists of five chapters. Chapter one will set out the content in which the study is set. It highlights the basis and structure of the study. The second chapter will look into the magniture of child soldiers both at the international and the regional level. The third chapter, which will use the second one as a background, will critically reflect on the gaps and opportunities created by the normative framework protecting child soldiers in Africa. A comprehensive approach in addressing the problem of child soldiers calls for setting out possible mechanisms in treating child soldiers both as victims and 'perpetrators'. Speaking of child soldiers as perpetrators, the fourth chapter will set out the ways and means to be adopted in calling child soldiers to account for atrocities committed during armed conflict. Under the final chapter, which is chapter five, a conclusion is drawn and the way forward is indicated through recommendations." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2005. / Prepared under the supervision of Prof. Julia Sloth-Nielsen at the Faculty of Law, the University of the Western Cape, South Africa / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

No abstract / Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Public Law / LLM / Unrestricted