Fighting for the Rain Forest: War, Youth & Resources in Sierra LeonePaul Richards argues that the war in Sierra Leone and other small wars in Africa do not manifest a new barbarism. What appears as random, anarchic violence is no such thing. The terrifying military methods of Sierra Leone's soldiers may not fit Western models of warfare, but they are rational and effective. The war must be understood partly as performance, in which techniques of terror compensate for lack of equipment.Richards points out that Sierra Leone's war is a crisis of modernity. Sierra Leone's youth belongs to a modern, trans-Atlantic culture. In remote diamond-digging camps, young people watch Rambo videos and listen to BBC news. These are part of the cultural resources with which the war is fought. The frustrations of these young people underlie the crisis. Not only the soldiers but most of the commanders are teenagers. Their aspirations are for schools and jobs. Financial stringency and the decay of the patrimonial state led directly to the government's surrender of much of the countryside.The rain forest is also central to the war. The war is fought in the rain forest and can only be understood in the context of old traditions of social and technical management of the forest. There is no evidence that a crisis of deforestation or overpopulation has contributed to the war.Rebuilding the state -- and giving young Sierra Leoneans confidence in it -- is essential for peace. But in the meantime, many people are learning to live with war and building limited peace locally. Richards argues that aid agencies must learn from these initiatives to avoid becoming part of the economy of conflict. |
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Page 67
... savanna , and has been a mainstay of forest - savanna trade throughout West Africa over many centuries . The nut is harvested from several species of forest tree . The main kola of commerce is Cola nitida , but Cola acuminata and ...
... savanna , and has been a mainstay of forest - savanna trade throughout West Africa over many centuries . The nut is harvested from several species of forest tree . The main kola of commerce is Cola nitida , but Cola acuminata and ...
Page 76
... savanna culture attracted to the coast by trade in salt and kola ( or , alternatively , forced into the forest by changes in the balance of power in savanna and desert - edge medieval polities ) ; Mende and related languages were ...
... savanna culture attracted to the coast by trade in salt and kola ( or , alternatively , forced into the forest by changes in the balance of power in savanna and desert - edge medieval polities ) ; Mende and related languages were ...
Page 120
... savanna to be one of the most serious ecological problems facing Sierra Leone . Although spreading at a much less rapid rate than they predicted , grassland invasion is a problem to some farmers within the forest - savanna transition ...
... savanna to be one of the most serious ecological problems facing Sierra Leone . Although spreading at a much less rapid rate than they predicted , grassland invasion is a problem to some farmers within the forest - savanna transition ...
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African agriculture areas army attack Barbarism Bopolu bush camp Cape Mount cent Chapter chiefdom civil civilians coast conflict Côte d'Ivoire creolization cultural diamond mining ECOMOG economic elephant elite environmental Executive Outcomes farmers farming fighters fighting films Foday Sankoh forest conversion Forest Reserve forest society Freetown global Gola Forest Gola North government troops Guinea hostages ideas initiation insurgency intellectual interviewees Kailahun District Kambia Kenema Kono Krio Lalehun language leader Liberia Liberia and Sierra Liberian border London Mende military modern Momoh Monrovia movement NPFL NPRC Pandebu patrimonial peace Pendembu perhaps political population Pujehun District radio rain forest Rambo rebels recruited refugees regime rice Richards RSLMF RUF leadership RUF/SL rural savanna Shining Path Siaka Stevens Sierra Leonean slaves strangers Taylor Toffler town trade tributors ULIMO Upper Guinean forest villages violence West Africa women young Sierra Leoneans youth zone