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7 - New battlefields

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2010

Myriam Denov
Affiliation:
McGill University, Montréal
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Summary

Sometimes I think that I am a good person.

But then how can I say that I'm a good person after all

the horrible things that I've done?

(Boy)

Helping children recover from … their [wartime] experiences

and ensuring their long term reintegration into their communities

remains a considerable challenge.

(United Nations 2007)

While Sierra Leone is slowly recovering from the brutal civil war, remnants of the violence remain apparent throughout the country; the sight of amputees and crushing poverty are only a few of the daily reminders of the brutal violence of the past. In addition, less visible markers of violence inevitably pervade the hearts and minds of all those who lived through the war. For the participants in this study, the remnants of violence are powerful and ever-present, although often concealed and spoken of only in highly selective contexts. As this final chapter will illuminate, the narratives gathered from the young people reveal some of the post-war opportunities and challenges for former child soldiers. The chapter addresses some of the new and figurative battlefields that exist at the war's end – for both the child soldiers in this study, as well as the many institutions working on their behalf. The chapter begins by summarizing the link between structure and agency in the process of making and unmaking, underscoring the utility of Giddens' concepts in enabling a greater understanding of the wartime and post-war lives of child soldiers.

Type
Chapter
Information
Child Soldiers
Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front
, pp. 180 - 204
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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  • New battlefields
  • Myriam Denov, McGill University, Montréal
  • Book: Child Soldiers
  • Online publication: 04 May 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511676475.009
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  • New battlefields
  • Myriam Denov, McGill University, Montréal
  • Book: Child Soldiers
  • Online publication: 04 May 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511676475.009
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • New battlefields
  • Myriam Denov, McGill University, Montréal
  • Book: Child Soldiers
  • Online publication: 04 May 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511676475.009
Available formats
×