Post-conflict reconstruction

Youth and the labour market in Liberia : on history, state structures and spheres of informalities

Upphovsperson:	Lindberg, Emy
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala, Sweden
År:	2014
Ämnesord:	Liberia, youth, labour market, Labour mobility, Informal sector, Post-conflict reconstruction, history, Labour market research, Arbetsmarknadsforskning

This study explores the historical development of the Liberian labor market with a particular focus on young men and women. It asks, what constitutes and shapes the Liberian labour market? By looking at labour mobilization and the structure of the (in)formal labour market – both in peace and war – our understanding of the contemporary Liberian labour marketis substantially enhanced. The study finds that there are many recurring patterns of labor migration, labor mobilization and distribution that have existed in the Liberian pre-war, war and post-war settings. Historical structures of informality and patrimonialism continue to dominate Liberia today. In addition to this, the study's focus on youths provides an insight into how this section of society moves through the labour market. It also examines the idea of unemployed youths as particularly prone to violence.

Commanders for good and bad : alternative post-war reconstruction and ex-commanders in Liberia

Upphovspersoner:	Utas, Mats | Themnér, Anders | Lindberg, Emy
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala, Sweden
År:	2014
Ämnesord:	Liberia, Post-conflict reconstruction, Peacebuilding, Governance, Military personnel, Employment, Informal sector, labour market

Contrary to the general conviction, collaboration with ex-commanders and their informal networks can actually promote postwar stability. When former generals are integrated into the post-conflict societal structure as brokers of socioeconomic service and mediators between governing elites and former combatants, they can help to provide security and stability. In the case of Liberia their direct access to ex-combatants makes them suitable for distributing jobs, money, food, scholarships and other resources.

When the State Fails : Studies on Intervention in the Sierra Leone Civil War

Medarbetare:	Zack-Williams, Tunde
Utgivare:	Pluto Press; Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2012
Ämnesord:	Sierra Leone, Civil war, Armed forces, Military activity, Foreign intervention, conflicts, Post-conflict reconstruction, Peacebuilding, Security sector reform, Regional security, Neoliberalism, Political science, Statsvetenskap

Compared with Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo, the recent western intervention in Sierra Leone has been largely forgotten. This book provides a comprehensive and critical overview of what happened, and examines its ongoing consequences. Sierra Leone’s civil war began in 1991 and was officially declared over in 2002 after UK, UN and regional African military intervention. The contributors provide an informed analysis of the impact of the intervention on democracy, development and society in Sierra Leone. They take a particularly critical view of the imposition of neoliberalism after the conflict.

Beyond ”Gender and Stir” : Reflections on gender and SSR in the aftermath of African conflicts

Medarbetare:	Eriksson Baaz, Maria | Utas, Mats
Utgivare:	Uppsala, Sweden
År:	2012
Ämnesord:	Africa, conflicts, Police, Armed forces, Defence policy, gender roles, Peacekeeping, Women’s participation, Security sector reform, Post-conflict reconstruction, case studies, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

As a policy field largely characterised by handbooks and manuals, gender and Security Sector Reform (SSR) has been insufficiently studied and analysed. Analytical discussion of what gendering SSRmeans is quite rare, as is the study of the already gendered nature of the security institutions that are the subject of intervention. This policy dialogue unpacks aspects of the discourses and practices regarding gender and SSR. It highlights limitations and problems both in the conceptualisation of gender and its incorporation into practical SSR work. The publication also demonstrates how researchers and policymakers often have divergent views of what gendering SSR means. Finally, it calls for closer and more constructive dialogue between researchers and practitioners, a dialogue which acknowledges the conditions and constraints in these two spheres of work.

Imagining a peaceful society : a vision of children's literature in a post-conflict Zimbabwe

Upphovsperson:	Chitando, Anna
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2008
Ämnesord:	conflicts, Political crisis, peace, literature, Authors, children, Social change, Dispute settlement, Peaceful coexistence, Post-conflict reconstruction, Zimbabwe, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

Imagining a Peaceful Society: A Vision of Children's Literature in a Post-Conflict Zimbabwe addresses the marginalisation of children's literature from the discourse on conflict and peace building in Africa. By presenting a unique perspective to how writers of children's literature, and children themselves understand, grapple with, and envision peace in a post-conflict Zimbabwean society, this Discussion Paper calls attention to the immense, but largely untapped potential of literature as a critical resource for the promotion peace in Africa.

Gender Violence and HIV/AIDS in Post-Conflict West Africa : Issues and responses

Upphovsperson:	Ahonsi, Babatunde A.
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2010
Ämnesord:	Post-conflict reconstruction, Violence against women, sexual abuse, Sexually transmitted diseases, Hiv, aids, Women’s health, Gender analysis, Liberia, Sierra Leone, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

This discussion paper examines the linkages between gender and gender inequality in the context of conflict, sexual violence and HIV transmission, and their impact on postconflict reconstruction in Sierra Leone and Liberia. It makes two critical contributions to a gendered perspective on post-conflict transitions in West Africa. First, it notes that contrary to conventional wisdom, post-war transitions to relative peace have made little difference to women’s exposure to chronic sexual violence, with potential implications for increased HIV transmission. Second, the study interrogates those assumptions linking war-related sexual violence to high HIV prevalence in post-conflict contexts, by showing that despite over a decade of armed conflict, Liberia and Sierra Leone had adult HIV prevalence rates that were among the lowest in West Africa. This paper goes beyond generally held notions of the sexual and gender dimensions of civil wars in Africa and points to a gap in, and key challenge for studies and policies on post-conflict reconstruction in Africa.

Rebels and robbers : violence in post-colonial Angola

Upphovsperson:	Malaquias, Assis
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2007
Ämnesord:	violence, Social structure, Obstacles to development, Political aspects, Political power, Civil war, peace, Nation Building, national security, Post-conflict reconstruction, Angola, Political science, Statsvetenskap

Rebels and Robbers is about the political economy of violence in post-colonial Angola. This book provides the first comprehensive attempt at analyzing how the military and non-military dynamics of more than four decades of conflict created the structural violence that stubbornly defines Angolan society even in the absence of war. The book clearly demonstrates that the end of the civil war has not ushered in positive peace. The focus on structural violence enables the author to explore the continuities since colonial times, especially in the ways race, class, ethnicity, and power have been used by governing elites as mechanisms to oppress the powerless. Thus, although corruption as structural violence manifesting itself so ubiquitously in Angola today may have been taken to new levels after independence, its origin is unmistakably colonial. Similarly, the zero-sum character of political interactions that defined colonial Angola is yet to be fully exorcized. But there are also important discontinuities. The unabashed propensity to capture public resources for personal aggrandizement is purely post-colonial. So is the tendency toward personal, unaccountable rule. Given its rich endowments, the end of the civil war provides Angola with an opportunity to finally realize its developmental potential. This will depend on whether the wealth resulting from the exploration of natural resources is directed toward creating the conditions for the citizens' realization of their aspirations for the good life thus ensuring sustainable peace.

African conflicts and Informal Power : Big Men and Networks

Medarbetare:	Utas, Mats
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet; Zed Books
År:	2012
Ämnesord:	Africa, conflicts, Foreign intervention, Dispute settlement, International politics, International relations, Post-conflict reconstruction, State, Local government, Political power, Informal sector, case studies, Political science, Statsvetenskap

Through a variety of indepth case studies – from DRC to Somalia to Liberia amongst others – this book shows how important informal political and economic networks are in many of the continent’s  conflict areas.

Reflections on the Challenge of Reconstructing Post-Conflict States in West Africa : Insights From Claude Ake’s Political Writings

Upphovsperson:	Arowosegbe, Jeremiah O.
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2011
Ämnesord:	political development, Democratization, Post-conflict reconstruction, State Nation-building, Peacebuilding, Political theory, Nigeria, Niger Delta, Sierra Leone, Political science, Statsvetenskap

This Discussion Paper is based on a theoretical exploration of state reconstruction and the prospects for peacebuilding in post-conflict West African countries based on critical reflections on the political thought of Claude Ake, one of Nigeria’s foremost political thinkers. Its point of departure is the refutation of the view that the state project in Africa is ‘hopeless’ or at a dead-end. It therefore revisits the debate on the viability of the state project in the continent, particularly as it relates to those West African states emerging from or affected by violent conflict. While acknowledging the shortcomings of the state-formation project in some post conflict West African countries, the author argues that the state remains a key institutional and social actor that needs to be understood more in terms of its historical moorings, political economy and marginal position in the international order. Drawing on Ake’s postulations about the limited autonomy of the state in Africa and its links to political violence and conflict, the author critiques both the hegemonic discourses on the nature of the state in Africa and those relating to post-conflict peacebuilding in the continent. The analysis of the latter focuses on the epistemological groundings of mainstream peacebuilding discourses, and posits that there is no guarantee that such imported models ensure sustainable peace in West Africa. Thus, the paper makes a compelling case for reinventing the state in West Africa based on autochthonous democratic transformation in favour of ordinary people. In this regard, it argues for an endogenous transformation of the state in Africa in ways that can strongly root it in the people as a fundamental step towards sustainable and locally owned participatory peacebuilding. It thereby opens up a new perspective on state reconstruction as a step towards ending violent conflict in the sub-region.

Gender and Security in Africa : An Overview

Upphovsperson:	Hendricks, Cheryl
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2011
Ämnesord:	Africa, conflicts, Women’s role, gender relations, Post-conflict reconstruction, Peacebuilding, Women’s participation, Security sector reform, feminism, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

This Discussion Paper explores the debates, theoretical perspectives and current trends in gender, conflict and post-conflict reconstruction, and security sector reform (SSR) in Africa. It provides a broad overview of and critical insights into the gender-conflict-security nexus, capturing the trends in the discourses, identifying the gaps in the literature and prioritising issues and areas for future research. This Discussion Paper is essential reading for all those with a deep interest in gender, peace, development and security in Africa, particularly gender scholars, students, activists and practitioners.

Sidor