The Social Science Library » Understanding and Addressing the Phenomenon of ‘Child Soldiers’: The Gap between the Global Humanitarian Discourse and the Local Understandings and Experiences of Young People’s Military Recruitment

Understanding and Addressing the Phenomenon of 'Child Soldiers': The Gap between the Global Humanitarian Discourse and the Local Understandings and Experiences of Young People's Military Recruitment

Author(s)	Lee, Ah-Jung
Abstract	The paper investigates how the well-intentioned global humanitarian discourse on child soldiers may be disregarding the complex local understandings and experiences of military recruitment. A case is made for a wholesale re-conceptualization of the phenomenon of ‘child soldiers’, so as to devise aid programs that can better reflect and respond to local understandings, priorities, and needs. The first chapter examines how the global discourse takes a rights-based approach to the issue of ‘child soldiers’ and conceptualizes children and childhood in a way that renders all forms of children’s military participation barbaric and abhorrent. The author reviews the historical development, provides specific examples, and outlines the key components and assumptions of the discourse. In Chapter 2, the author challenges the global discourse by investigating the socio-cultural contexts of ‘child soldiering.’ It is shown how the model of childhood in the global discourse conflicts with local models and how certain forms of ‘child soldiering’ may have particular meanings as a war-time extension of peacetime socio-cultural norms and practices concerning children. Chapter 3 will further illustrate the gap between the discourse and local realities by examining how some under-18-year-olds have participated in military activities with a sense of legitimacy and with their eyes wide open. The author highlights the social, political, and moral agency of ‘child soldiers’ and locates their ‘victimhood’ in broader socio-economic and political contexts, rather than in terms of their recruitment alone. In so doing, the author shows that while all types of underage military recruitment cannot be justified, many young people had understanding of the causes and stakes of their war and made conscious decisions to join fighting forces. Finally, the author draws from various field-based studies in post-war Sierra Leone to illustrate some of the negative consequences of the global discourse at the local level, for the ex-child combatants as well as their communities. The author thereby confirms a need for a wholesale re-configuration of the existing global framework for understanding and addressing the phenomenon of ‘child soldiers.’ The paper concludes with a discussion of practical implications for new approaches to analysis and programming.
IssueNo
Pages	1-46
Article	Access to Article
Source	Forced Migration Online – Refugee Studies Centre Working Papers
VolumeNo
PubDate	2009
ISBN_ISSN

Understanding and Addressing the Phenomenon of ‘Child Soldiers’: The Gap between the Global Humanitarian Discourse and the Local Understandings and Experiences of Young People’s Military Recruitment

War, Violence, and Hegemony