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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/15060 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Agoha, Christopher |
| Contributors | Pankhurst, Donna T. |
| Publisher | University of Bradford, Department of Peace Studies |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, doctoral, PhD |
| Rights | <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>. |
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