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PEASANT GRIEVANCE AND INSURGENCY IN SIERRA LEONE: JUDICIAL SERFDOM AS A DRIVER OF CONFLICT
Was the civil war in Sierra Leone (1991-2002) fought for diamonds, or was it a peasant insurgency motivated by agrarian grievances? The evidence on both sides is less than conclusive. Ibis article scrutinizes the peasant insurgency argument via a more rigorous methodology. Hypotheses concerning intra-peasant tensions over marriage and farm labour are derived from an examination of the anthropological literature.
Peacebuilding in Crisis
The 1990s saw a constant increase in international peace missions, predominantly led by the United Nations, whose mandates were more and more extended to implement societal and political transformations in post-conflict societies. However, in many cases these missions did not meet the high expectations and did not acquire a sufficient legitimacy on the local level. Written by leading experts in the field, this edited volume brings together ‘liberal’ and ‘post-liberal’ approaches to peacebuilding.
KEY LAND TENURE ISSUES AND REFORM PROCESSES FOR SIERRA LEONE
This Scoping Mission Report, aimed at identifying the key land policy and land tenure reform issues and processes facing Sierra Leone, is based on extensive consultations with a wide range of stakeholders and review of available literature, undertaken in July 2009. It was commissioned by the Recovery for Development Unit of the UNDP in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands, Country Planning and the Environment. It will serve the purpose of enhancing public dialogue and programme development on land reform, and to also guide the coordination of initiatives and resource mobilization.
Governance, Natural Resources and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding
When the guns are silenced, those who have survived armed conflict need food, water, shelter, the means to earn a living, and the promise of safety and a return to civil order. Meeting these needs while sustaining peace requires more than simply having governmental structures in place; it requires good governance.
At War's End Building Peace after Civil Conflict
All fourteen major peacebuilding missions launched between 1989 and 1999 shared a common strategy for consolidating peace after internal conflicts: immediate democratization and marketization. Transforming war-shattered states into market democracies is basically sound, but pushing this process too quickly can have damaging and destabilizing effects. The process of liberalization is inherently tumultuous, and can undermine the prospects for stable peace.
Saving liberal peacebuilding
Liberal peacebuilding has become the target of considerable criticism. Although much of this criticism is warranted, a number of scholars and commentators have come to the opinion that liberal peacebuilding is either fundamentally destructive, or illegitimate, or both. On close analysis, however, many of these critiques appear to be exaggerated or misdirected.
New Perspectives on Liberal Peacebuilding
Peacebuilding in conflict-prone or post-conflict countries -- such as East Timor, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone -- aims to prevent the re-emergence or escalation of violent conflict and establish a durable peace. This volume explores and critiquesthe 'liberal' premise of contemporary peacebuilding: the promotion of democracy, market-based economic reforms and a range of other institutions associated with 'modern' states as a driving force for building peace.
Postconflict Development: Meeting New Challenges
With the proliferation of civil wars since the end of the Cold War, many developing countries now exist in a "postconflict" environment, posing enormous development challenges for the societies affected, as well as for international actors. Postconflict Development addresses these challenges in a range of vital sectors—security, justice, economic policy, education, the media, agriculture, health, and the environment in countries around the globe.
FOREIGN INVESTMENT, LARGE-SCALE LAND DEALS, AND UNCERTAIN “DEVELOPMENT“ IN SIERRA LEONE
Sierra Leone recently attracted significant inflows of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in export-oriented mining and agribusiness. These investments have usually involved large-scale land deals with local communities that have been facilitated and brokered by government officials, local politicians, and paramount chiefs. Affected people and communities were supposed to receive compensations for lost land and, in addition, they expected to find gainful employment opportunities with multinational companies.
‘New agriculture’ for sustainable development? Biofuels and agrarian change in post-war Sierra Leone
In sub-Saharan Africa, commercial bioenergy production has been hailed as a new form of ‘green capitalism’ that will deliver ‘win-win’ outcomes and ‘pro poor’ development. Yet in an era of global economic recession and soaring food prices, biofuel ‘sustainability’ has been at the centre of controversy. This paper focuses on the case of post-war Sierra Leone, a country that has over the last decade been consistently ranked as one of the poorest in the world, facing food insecurity, high unemployment and entrenched poverty.