“The Boys Are Coming to Town”: Youth, Armed Conflict and Urban Violence in Developing Countries
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University of Bielefeld
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doaj-91dd425aba33420cb0819b9a1cab3c172020-11-25T01:50:36ZengUniversity 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 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Krijn Peters Josjah Betina Kunkeler |
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 |
author_facet |
Krijn Peters Josjah Betina Kunkeler |
author_sort |
Krijn Peters |
title |
“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_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_sort |
“the boys are coming to town”: youth, armed conflict and urban violence in developing countries |
publisher |
University of Bielefeld |
series |
International Journal of Conflict and Violence |
issn |
1864-1385 |
publishDate |
2011-12-01 |
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> |
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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AT krijnpeters theboysarecomingtotownyoutharmedconflictandurbanviolenceindevelopingcountries AT josjahbetinakunkeler theboysarecomingtotownyoutharmedconflictandurbanviolenceindevelopingcountries |
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