“The Boys Are Coming to Town”: Youth, Armed Conflict and Urban Violence in Developing Countries
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">&nbsp;</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Bielefeld
2011-12-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Conflict and Violence |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/155 |
| _version_ | 1818259189351317504 |
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| author | Krijn Peters Josjah Betina Kunkeler |
| author_facet | Krijn Peters Josjah Betina Kunkeler |
| author_sort | Krijn Peters |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">&nbsp;</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Young people are major participants in contemporary intra-state armed conflicts. Since the end of the Cold War there has been a trend to portray these as&nbsp;criminal violence for private (economic) ends, rather than politically or ideologically motivated. Hence, the perception of young people&rsquo;s role has moved from&nbsp;&ldquo;freedom fighters&rdquo; to &ldquo;violent criminals.&rdquo; Our discursive and conceptual reconsideration based on a case study of Sierra Leone finds that the associated dichotomies&nbsp;(&ldquo;new war/old war,&rdquo; &ldquo;greed/grievance,&rdquo; &ldquo;criminal/political violence&rdquo;) are grounded in traditional modernization assumptions and/or constructed&nbsp;for policy purposes, rather than reflecting reality on the ground. Urban and rural youth violence in developing countries cannot be separated from its political&nbsp;roots. Moreover, the violent dynamics in which urban youth violence is embedded challenge our conceptions of what an armed conflict is. Including this form&nbsp;of violence in mainstream conflict theory would open the way for a new interpretation and more effective policy interventions. Extrapolating the experience of&nbsp;Latin American cities plagued by drug violence, the recent and significant increase in drug trafficking on the West African seaboard could mark the beginning&nbsp;of another armed conflict with high youth involvement, this time playing out in urban settings.</p></span></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T18:11:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-91dd425aba33420cb0819b9a1cab3c17 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1864-1385 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T18:11:29Z |
| publishDate | 2011-12-01 |
| publisher | University of Bielefeld |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Conflict and Violence |
| spelling | doaj.art-91dd425aba33420cb0819b9a1cab3c172022-12-22T00:16:23ZengUniversity of BielefeldInternational Journal of Conflict and Violence1864-13852011-12-0152277291“The Boys Are Coming to Town”: Youth, Armed Conflict and Urban Violence in Developing CountriesKrijn PetersJosjah Betina Kunkeler<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">&nbsp;</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Young people are major participants in contemporary intra-state armed conflicts. Since the end of the Cold War there has been a trend to portray these as&nbsp;criminal violence for private (economic) ends, rather than politically or ideologically motivated. Hence, the perception of young people&rsquo;s role has moved from&nbsp;&ldquo;freedom fighters&rdquo; to &ldquo;violent criminals.&rdquo; Our discursive and conceptual reconsideration based on a case study of Sierra Leone finds that the associated dichotomies&nbsp;(&ldquo;new war/old war,&rdquo; &ldquo;greed/grievance,&rdquo; &ldquo;criminal/political violence&rdquo;) are grounded in traditional modernization assumptions and/or constructed&nbsp;for policy purposes, rather than reflecting reality on the ground. Urban and rural youth violence in developing countries cannot be separated from its political&nbsp;roots. Moreover, the violent dynamics in which urban youth violence is embedded challenge our conceptions of what an armed conflict is. Including this form&nbsp;of violence in mainstream conflict theory would open the way for a new interpretation and more effective policy interventions. Extrapolating the experience of&nbsp;Latin American cities plagued by drug violence, the recent and significant increase in drug trafficking on the West African seaboard could mark the beginning&nbsp;of another armed conflict with high youth involvement, this time playing out in urban settings.</p></span></span></p><p>&nbsp;</p>http://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/155youtharmed conflicturban violenceSierra Leonenew wars |
| spellingShingle | Krijn Peters Josjah Betina Kunkeler “The Boys Are Coming to Town”: Youth, Armed Conflict and Urban Violence in Developing Countries International Journal of Conflict and Violence youth armed conflict urban violence Sierra Leone new wars |
| title | “The Boys Are Coming to Town”: Youth, Armed Conflict and Urban Violence in Developing Countries |
| title_full | “The Boys Are Coming to Town”: Youth, Armed Conflict and Urban Violence in Developing Countries |
| title_fullStr | “The Boys Are Coming to Town”: Youth, Armed Conflict and Urban Violence in Developing Countries |
| title_full_unstemmed | “The Boys Are Coming to Town”: Youth, Armed Conflict and Urban Violence in Developing Countries |
| title_short | “The Boys Are Coming to Town”: Youth, Armed Conflict and Urban Violence in Developing Countries |
| title_sort | the boys are coming to town youth armed conflict and urban violence in developing countries |
| topic | youth armed conflict urban violence Sierra Leone new wars |
| url | http://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/155 |
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