Liberia Incorporated: military contracting, cohesion and inclusion in Charles Taylor’s Liberia

Käihkö, Ilmari

doi:10.1080/14678802.2017.1261446

Cited by 13 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…While a former combatant, Musa never commanded troops on the frontlines. This suggests that the ambiguous and typically undefined term of commander-in Liberian English 'general'-was likely often lost in translation in Liberia, and that the adoption of a Western military conceptual apparatus with its many implicit assumptions can easily lead one astray (Käihkö 2017). It was nevertheless first in 2013, and only when I lived together with Musa for the second time, when I began to fathom his wartime status, and only then gradually.…”

Section: Truth Power and Brokersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Brutal but individual acts of coercion have obfuscated the fact that the warring factions in Liberia possessed much less coercive power than their Western equivalents. Much remained ad hoc, fluid and based on consent, with the great mobility of combatants alone questioning assumptions based on tight-knit military units in the West (Käihkö 2016(Käihkö , 2017.…”

Section: Brokerage and Commodification Of Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On Brokers, Commodification of Information and Liberian Former Combatants

Käihkö

2019

Civil Wars

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This article investigates research brokers and commodification of information. When combined with inherently asymmetric research relationships and successful gatekeeping, brokers create demand and become indispensable. Potential negative effects of brokerage and commodification of information are discussed through experiences studying former combatants in Liberia. There bargains with brokers who could facilitate access to this hidden population resulted in a vicious circle as brokers confirmed what researchers wanted to hear. The attention to this issue was first brought by subsequent ethnography and participant observation, which also offer the promise of an ethically defensible way of collecting information.

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Section: Truth Power and Brokersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Brokerage and Commodification Of Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

On Brokers, Commodification of Information and Liberian Former Combatants

Käihkö

2019

Civil Wars

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“…But you have to reward them at the end of the day" (interview, Moriba Town, 11 April 2017). Becoming a Kamajor and participating in the war offered an opportunity to expand and upgrade one's sociopolitical networks and the promise to "transcend peacetime limitations of establishing status" (Hoffman, 2011: 137; see also, Käihkö, 2017). As a matter of fact, these expectations did mostly materialise for those Kamajor who had maintained influential patron-client relations before the war such as Amara, who largely benefitted from his strong land-holding family background.…”

Section: The Kamajor's Reintegration Into Rural Post-war Sierra Leonementioning

confidence: 99%

From Bullets to Banners and Back Again? The Ambivalent Role of Ex-combatants in Contested Land Deals in Sierra Leone

Hennings¹

2019

Africa Spectrum

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The rise of land deals poses unpredictable risks to war-torn societies, exposing them to the violent folds of the global economy. In Sierra Leone, commercial land leases have perpetuated the chieftaincy monopoly, further curtailed social mobility, and sparked particular resentment among youths and ex-combatants. Drawing on the concept of the "war machine," I analyse how Kamajor militia fighters shape contestation against land deals and explore the attendant risks for remobilisation and conflict transformation. My findings, based on in-depth ethnographic field research, indicate that while aggrieved communities turn to Kamajor-run civil society organisations for support, Kamajor living in precarious conditions largely shy away from open contestation. While the historically close ties between the Kamajor and the chieftaincy have eroded in the wake of commercial land leases, complex patronage networks along with the moral setback encountered from the Special Court proceedings and tight surveillance thwart a more overt response. Yet, the Kamajor's background support remains key to the struggle of anti-plantation and mining activists.

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“…In there they were again accused of behaving in ways considered inappropriate to the local context by both the LURD rebels, 66 as well as the government militias. 67 Whereas war in Liberia and Sierra Leone portrayed some similarities, the war in Liberia is often described as a "tribal conflict" (in Liberian English ethnic groups are colloquially called "tribes") by Liberian civilians and former fighters alike, whereas the one in Sierra Leone is more often connected to atrocities. From the perspective of military professionals the war in Liberia was often described as a rebel war, signifying a qualitative difference from the war they were trained and equipped to fight.…”

Section: Liberia and Sierra Leonementioning

confidence: 99%

Constructing war in West Africa (and beyond)

Käihkö

2018

Comparative Strategy

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This article investigates the variation of the conduct of war in three Mano River countries in West Africa-Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone. A theoretical framework that views war as an institution is provided to explain this variation. While an existing idea in social sciences, to date it has largely been used to understand historical case. This article extends its scope to encompass non-state actors and the modern era through an account of how war was constructed in the Mano River region. The idea of war as an institution highlights the value of cultural sociological investigations of war. As institutions structure action, the framework offered carries immediate consequences for strategic thought.

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Liberia Incorporated: military contracting, cohesion and inclusion in Charles Taylor’s Liberia

Cited by 13 publications

References 38 publications

On Brokers, Commodification of Information and Liberian Former Combatants

On Brokers, Commodification of Information and Liberian Former Combatants

From Bullets to Banners and Back Again? The Ambivalent Role of Ex-combatants in Contested Land Deals in Sierra Leone

Constructing war in West Africa (and beyond)

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