Youngest recruits: Pre-war, war and post-war experiences in Western Cotê d’ Ivoire.
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Date
2010
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Social Intervention: Theory and Practice
Abstract
Chelpi-den Hamer’s book on the youngest
recruits brings to attention the prevalence of
the problem of children involved in conflict
in Cotê d’ Ivoire. This is important because
the problem of the involvement of children in
conflict in the West African region has been
dominated by the cases in Liberia and Sierra
Leone. In this regard, the book flags another
area where attention needs to be paid in
relation to children in war. However, as the
reader goes on, the lack of comprehensive
information on the conflict in Cotê d’ Ivoire
as the context for Chelpi-den Hamer’s “child
soldiering” does not clarify to the reader if the
phenomenon occurs in Liberia, Cotê d’ Ivoire
or in both countries.
By use of the term “child soldiers”, Chelpiden
Hamer’s book is part of the dominant
literature referring to children who have been
involved in conflict as such. This reference
is the unforgiving stigma the academia, the
humanitarian industry and the common man
attach to these children who have been both
victims and victimizers. She has no reflections
on how to change the discourse on “child
soldiers” by use of alternative language to
be able to see such children, for instance, as
“war-affected”, however differently.
Description
Keywords
Youngest recruits, Pre-war, Post-war experiences, Western Cotê d’ Ivoire
Citation
Angucia, M. (2010). Youngest recruits: Pre-war, war and post-war experiences in Western Cotê d’Ivoire. Journal of Social Intervention: Theory and Practice, 19(2), 92-95.