This thesis is about the life chances and trajectories of ex-combatant and other youth in post-war Monrovia, Liberia. In it I present the results of a qualitative inquiry into the relationship between shifting structural conditions and youth agency in the aftermath of 14 years of civil war. Much of the literature concerned with ex-combatant “reintegration” remains a-theoretical and fails to situate their experience within the contours of transition from structures in armed groups to structures in post-war society. It is rife with normative assumptions about how ex-combatants should “return” to civilian life. The ex-combatant trajectories detailed in this study challenge this literature reflecting neither “reintegration” nor “return.” Instead, they highlight how ex-combatants negotiate a complex environment in which structural norms, values, and relationships converge and conflict after war. To demonstrate this, the thesis presents an analysis of the relationships between structural constraints and youth agency among youth who fought, and others who did not. In so doing, it provides a situated analysis of post-war society which is often missing in the literature concerned with ex-combatants. The empirical material shows the significance of interdependent relationships at the level of the family and the household. It is “wealth in people” at this proximate level that supports survival and enables socio-economic mobility, with implications for social respect. Without patronage through family and kin, socio-economic possibilities diminish significantly. This means that options available to many ex-combatants are limited after war, as they are often unable or unwilling to be incorporated into families and former communities. Their navigation of the post-war social terrain reflects efforts to survive and maintain respect through patrimonial relationships within and outside of their structured networks from war. Some retain the status and respect they achieved in war through relationships maintained from their years of conflict. Others were able to survive and achieve respect through new or renewed relationships with families and extended kin. Life chances and trajectories emerge from embedded positions within structured social relations that are produced and reproduced in the aftermath of conflict. With this work, I argue that social processes are vital to any theorisation about life after war.

This thesis explores women's experiences from participation in armed groups, and their subsequent reintegration into civil society within the Colombian context. The study is based on two months of fieldwork, and nine interviews with female ex-combatants from the FARC, the ELN and the AUC currently enrolled in the reintegration process. Most research focus on women in specific armed groups, and tend to portray women in terms of either empowerment or oppression. This thesis criticizes such tendencies, through the exploration of the complex and gendered processes of de/militarization. The study shows that the women's lives have always - before, during and after their participation in armed groups - been marked by insecurity and exposure to violence. Sporadic incidents of direct physical violence were not always found as most distressing, rather daily stressors including factors like poverty and psychological stress, had larger impact on the women. Further, the women experienced liminality, both as members of an armed group and as participants in the reintegration program, which offered both possibilities and hindrances. In the armed groups established power hierarchies were altered and gendered norms were transgressed, at the same time as the women's reproductive rights were severely constrained. In their quest to become a part of civil society, conforming to conventional femininity became a central strategy for hiding their past. However, the burden of being the primary parent posed challenges for the process of reintegrating.

This thesis sets out to explore the processes of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) of female ex-combatants in Sierra Leone within the context of post-conflict peace building. International and local stakeholders including the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), the National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilisation Reintegration (NCDDR) and World Bank were responsible for DDR. The DDR of female adult combatants and girl soldiers was essential as part of the broader strategies to prevent the reoccurrence of violence and creating conditions for sustainable peace and development. It was aimed at transforming female ex-combatants into a civilian status congruent with peace after eleven years of horrific civil war in Sierra Leone that involved rebel forces, principally the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), and the government‘s Civil Defence Forces (CDF). The DDR process has been criticized in that female ex-combatants were often invisible and their needs disregarded. This study investigates the role of women in post-conflict peace building efforts, specifically DDR in Sierra Leone. Its nub is to critically assess the design, implementation and impact of the DDR of female ex-combatants. It focuses particularly on how female combatants are affected by current gender, security and international relations discourses. It assesses the progress made by the relevant international and local institutions in implementing international policies and guidelines on the DDR of female ex-combatants, in Sierra Leone; draws wider conclusions about achievements made and suggests lessons that may be applicable widely.

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Liberia emerged from 14 years of brutal civil conflict, demobilized and “reintegrated” large numbers of ex-combatants, but there are still concerns about ex-combatants’ re-engagement in violence. Yet, adequate knowledge and empirical evidence about this are still sketchy. Qualitative fieldwork among ex-combatants conducted in five locations in Monrovia from 2012-2013, suggests that ex-combatants are re-marginalized. This research presents excombatants’ current status, their re-marginalization, and factors indicative of their re-engagement in violence in post-conflict Liberia. The study contends that ex-combatants were apparently not satisfied with the outcome of the DDRR programme, as it failed to reintegrate them successfully. The study developed a four dimensional analytical framework that includes, (a) re-marginalization (b) re-criminalization (c) exploitation, and (d) economic insecurity, which are then applied to the outcome of the reintegration of ex-combatants in Liberia. On the basis of the data collected in fieldwork, the analytical framework reveals how these factors and dynamics interacted and facilitated the occurrence of violence. The study argues that an awareness of ex-combatants’ vulnerability and re-marginalization should put state actors in a position to better predict their violent inclinations. It further notes that ex-combatant re-engagement in violence is largely manifested at the political and economic levels and this has the potential to lead to a renewed conflict if not mitigated. This study by no means completes the tasks of research and analysis on violence and excombatants, but it outlines theoretical propositions and conclusions, which can hopefully spark further debate and collective efforts among researchers to push this field of study forward.

In a world where conflict is common, effective programs for reintegration of the combatants must exist for the post conflict societies. There is also a growing presence not only of gangs, but also of reintegration programs for those that chose to leave said gangs. To find what parts of those processes are alike and what parts are different is the objective of this thesis. For the former combatants, the thesis focuses on those of the former rebel group, meaning the illegally armed group. The reasons for comparing the two processes are that they outwardly look quite similar in the sense that the both deal with reintegration of formerly armed groups. Both groups have also been involved in some sort of violent action, and they are both being reintegrated into a society that they are not actively full members of. The research is carried out through a desk study using the method of a qualitative research through and abductive approach. The theoretical framework that is used is the inclusion-exclusion framework from the security-development nexus. This is also combined with the use of an analytical framework which was created using three different parts of full reintegration, namely social, political and economical reintegration. Through the usage of the case study of El Salvador, the thesis found that there were both similarities and differences between the two types of reintegration, however, the differences far outweighed the similarities. The thesis also found that while the two processes may be alike from an outside perspective, they are dealing with people of quite different needs. However, some potential can be seen for changes in both processes in order to improve their efficiency, though more research is needed.

Liberia emerged from 14 years of brutal civil conflict, demobilized and “reintegrated” large numbers of ex-combatants, but there are still concerns about ex-combatants’ re-engagement in violence. Yet, adequate knowledge and empirical evidence about this are still sketchy. Qualitative fieldwork among ex-combatants conducted in five locations in Monrovia from 2012-2013, suggests that ex-combatants are re-marginalized. This research presents excombatants’ current status, their re-marginalization, and factors indicative of their re-engagement in violence in post-conflict Liberia. The study contends that ex-combatants were apparently not satisfied with the outcome of the DDRR programme, as it failed to reintegrate them successfully. The study developed a four dimensional analytical framework that includes, (a) re-marginalization (b) re-criminalization (c) exploitation, and (d) economic insecurity, which are then applied to the outcome of the reintegration of ex-combatants in Liberia. On the basis of the data collected in fieldwork, the analytical framework reveals how these factors and dynamics interacted and facilitated the occurrence of violence. The study argues that an awareness of ex-combatants’ vulnerability and re-marginalization should put state actors in a position to better predict their violent inclinations. It further notes that ex-combatant re-engagement in violence is largely manifested at the political and economic levels and this has the potential to lead to a renewed conflict if not mitigated. This study by no means completes the tasks of research and analysis on violence and excombatants, but it outlines theoretical propositions and conclusions, which can hopefully spark further debate and collective efforts among researchers to push this field of study forward.

yes / Much has been written about the high rates of rape and other forms of violence against ‘enemy’ women in wartime, and sustained violences against women in post-war contexts. Research on violence against women, recognised as a problem for peace and development and even a threat to international security, has begun to identify and explain contrasts between different locations. The explanations focus on men, their behaviour and ‘masculinities’, some of which, and even some military codes, may even proscribe such violence. By contrast, research on the mental health of male former combatants, and possibly other male survivors of war trauma, suggests that there is a strong risk of them perpetrating violence specifically against women, even in cases where the highest standard of veteran care is expected, but without much explanation. This article considers what potential there is in this topic for lessons in peacebuilding policy and identifies areas for future research.

This study examines the current socio-economic status of the ex-combatants 10 years after the conflict in Sierra Leone. It examines the job opportunities, political space, relationship with community members, challenges faced, social networks involved in, relationship with former colleagues, access to land and other issues that are significant in the reintegration process of ex-combatants. It further studies the national socio-economic environment and how ex-combatants are faring in the overall post-war recovery process in Sierra Leone. Special focus lies on the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of Ex-Combatants (DDR) programme which was part of the Lome Peace Agreement signed in 1999. The study also comes up with recommendations as to how the challenges currently faced by ex-combatants could be overcome.

The main purpose of this study is to examine the reports and memories of veterans of the Malvinas War and understand how they are treated by society and the rule of post-war until today. Question is: To what extent the ex-combatants were welcomed by society argentina in post-war? There are also other questions needed to understand the theme: how they see themselves? How want to be seen? What relationships built with their compatriots from this situation? The veterans interviewed have an average age of 43 years. Three of them were part of the 5 th Marine Battalion of Infantry (BIM 5), living in Buenos Aires, and was a part of the Argentine Army, residing in La Plata. It was used Oral History Subject, as a methodology that aims to understand and deepen knowledge about certain reality - the cultural patterns, social structures and historical processes, obtained through oral reports. Falkland was to balance more than 600 dead and 1200 injured. The conflict began abruptly on April 2, 1982, with the military occupation of the Falkland Islands by Argentine troops, causing the reaction in Britain. Argentina has lived one of the most bloody military dictatorships of Latin America, and President Leopoldo Galtiere was determined to exploit the spontaneous popular support the recovery of the islands in an attempt to awaken in people a sense that nationalist distract the attention of terrors promoted by the state. The hostilities closed on June 16, 1982, with the surrender of Argentina, after 74 days of war. The consequences of post-war were serious, translated into high rates of suicide and psychological disorders. As a result of these events, we have the silence of society on the subject and the purpose of ex-combatants to oblivion, ignoring those who supported the "cause" Malvinas, this question so passionately rooted to the heart of the people of Argentina. / O objetivo principal deste trabalho é analisar os relatos e recordações dos veteranos da Guerra das Malvinas e entender como foram tratados pela sociedade e pelo Estado do pós-guerra até hoje. Pergunta-se: Em que medida os ex-combatentes foram acolhidos pela sociedade argentina no pósguerra? Também há outros questionamentos necessários para a compreensão do tema: como vêem a si mesmos? Como querem ser vistos? Que relações construíram com seus compatriotas a partir desta situação? Os veteranos entrevistados têm idade média de 43 anos. Três deles faziam parte do 5º Batalhão de Infantaria Marinha (BIM 5), residentes em Buenos Aires, e um era parte do Exército Argentino, residente em La Plata. Utilizou-se História Oral Temática, por ser uma metodologia que objetiva conhecer e aprofundar conhecimentos sobre determinada realidade os padrões culturais, estruturas sociais e processos históricos, obtidos através de relatos orais. Malvinas teve como saldo mais de 600 mortos e 1200 feridos. O conflito iniciou abruptamente em 2 de abril de 1982, com a ocupação militar do arquipélago das Malvinas pelas tropas argentinas, provocando a reação da Grã-Bretanha. A Argentina vivia uma das ditaduras militares mais sangrentas da América Latina, e o presidente Leopoldo Galtiere estava decidido a explorar o espontâneo apoio popular a recuperação das ilhas, numa tentativa de despertar no povo um sentimento nacionalista que distraísse a atenção dos terrores promovidos pelo Estado. As hostilidades encerraram em 16 de junho de 1982, com a rendição da Argentina, após 74 dias de guerra. As conseqüências do pós-guerra foram graves, traduzidas em altos índices de suicídios e distúrbios psicológicos. Como resultado desses eventos, temos o silêncio da sociedade sobre o tema e a destinação dos ex-combatentes ao esquecimento, ignorando aqueles que defenderam a causa Malvinas, causa esta tão apaixonadamente arraigada ao coração do povo argentino.