Peace building and the depoliticisation of civil society: Sierra Leone 2002–13

Datzberger, Simone

doi:10.1080/01436597.2015.1043990

Cited by 17 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…First, in the case of peacebuilding and development assistance the costs are amplified technocracy and bureaucracy. To give an example, field research and interviews with 41 local CSOs in Sierra Leone (conducted in 2011 and in 2012) revealed that local civil society actors felt repeatedly challenged by external bureaucratic structures, log-frames and administrative procedures during collaborations with aid agencies, governments, or INGOs (Datzberger 2014). The majority of interviewees listed the following aspects: too rigid funding criteria, too high expectations of donors, unrealistic timeframes, difficulties in adapting external management systems (e.g., format of project proposals or other documents), or lack of ownership (ibid., pp.…”

Section: Measuring Civil Society's Effectiveness In Peacebuilding Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Puzzlingly, this growing support did not necessarily translate into social transformation stemming from the wider civil sphere in fragile or developing environments. Instead, we witness processes of instrumentalization (Howell and Pearce 2002;Kaldor 2003), depoliticization (Datzberger 2014;Datzberger 2015b) or technocratization (Choudry and Kapoor 2013;Goetschel and Hagmann 2009) of civil societies in their transition from conflict to development and peace.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Deconstructing Civil Society Actors and Functions: On the Limitations of International Frameworks for Fragile States

Datzberger

Nguyen

2018

Social Sciences

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Over the past three decades, there has been a steady increase of funds by the international community to support civil society organizations (CSOs) in fragile states. Surprisingly, this growing attention has not strengthened local civil society landscapes in a way that it would lead to processes of social transformation. On the contrary, civic freedom and space is shrinking around the globe. In analyzing prominent international aid-effectiveness frameworks and donor strategies towards civil society, this paper will put forward one central argument. The way in which civil society actors and functions are currently appropriated threatens deep-rooted social transformation thereby impeding processes of structural and political change-necessary for the transition from conflict to sustainable peace. In delineating, how actors and functional approaches informed peacebuilding and development policy and practice, their strengths and limitations will be examined. Doing so, we draw on different case studies and examples from the literature. We find that existing frameworks for fragile states operate on a presumed model of a public sphere and civil society that may or may not exist. Such an approach disregards an organic formation of a civil society landscape thereby impeding processes of structural, social, and political change in times of fragility.

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Section: Measuring Civil Society's Effectiveness In Peacebuilding Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Deconstructing Civil Society Actors and Functions: On the Limitations of International Frameworks for Fragile States

Datzberger

Nguyen

2018

Social Sciences

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“…In 2009, a survey carried in Freetown asked 'If you had three wishes for the future of your country, what would they be? '; Sierra Leonean placed education and vocational training as their first priority, before democracy and good governance and youth empowerment and employment generation (Datzberger 2015). Yet, in the same year, we found only half of the adult population had access to school indicating that more needs to be accomplished to fulfill existing needs and aspirations to education and to address remaining injustice and inequalities (Novelli and Higgins 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disability, Poverty, and Schooling in Post-civil War in Sierra Leone

Bakhshi

Babulal²,

Trani

2020

Eur J Dev Res

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Sierra Leone has invested in education after the civil war but it is unclear if persons with disabilities have benefited from this effort. In 2009, we conducted a household field survey in 17 randomly selected localities of Sierra Leone. Findings show that persons disabled before school-going age, those with multiple disabilities, girls, elderly children, the poorest, and those residing in rural areas were less likely to participate in primary and secondary education. The same predictors were associated with lower odds of being literate except the age of disability onset. Our findings indicate that quality and equity in learning require policy that prioritize vulnerable groups especially in post-conflict context. Keywords Conflict/post conflict • Inclusive education • Disability • Sierra Leone RésuméLa Sierra Leone a investi dans son système éducatif après la guerre civile mais il demeure incertain de savoir si les personnes en situation de handicap en ont été les bénéficiaires. En 2009, nous avons conduit une enquête de terrain auprès des ménages dans 17 localités de la Sierra Leone sélectionnées aléatoirement. Nos résultats montrent que les personnes handicapées avant l'âge de début de scolarité, les personnes ayant de multiples handicaps, les filles, les enfants plus âgés, les plus pauvres et

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“…This potential is recognised in an internal report by the SLP's Freetown East Region, which recommends assisting gangs in transitioning to ‘Community Development Associations’ (SLP 2020). Such efforts must contend with the vulnerability of youth associations to co-option by patronage networks (Boersch-Supan 2013; Datzberger 2015) and avoid reproducing the very marginalising dynamics that created gangs. This points towards the need for change in a political system that has tended to exploit cliques rather than offer viable routes for their transformation.…”

Section: Concluding Reflections: Changing the Gamementioning

confidence: 99%

‘A Game of Pain’: youth marginalisation and the gangs of Freetown

Mitton

2022

J. Mod. Afr. Stud.

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Within two decades, Sierra Leone's ‘cliques’ have transformed from peripheral social clubs to warring Crips, Bloods, and Black street gangs at the heart of criminal and political violence. Nevertheless, they remain severely under-studied, with scholarship on Sierra Leonean youth marginality heavily focused on ex-combatants. Drawing on extended fieldwork with Freetown's cliques as they played the ‘game’ – the daily hustle to survive and resist the ‘system’ – this article offers two main contributions. First, it addresses the knowledge gap by charting the origins, evolution and contemporary organisation of these new urban players. Second, it argues that although this history reveals continuity in perennial forms of youth marginalisation, it also shows that the game itself has changed. Cycles of escalating violence and growth are hardwired into this new game. Exacerbated by a political system that sustains and exploits them, cliques present a far greater challenge to everyday peace than has hitherto been recognised.

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Peace building and the depoliticisation of civil society: Sierra Leone 2002–13

Cited by 17 publications

References 34 publications

Deconstructing Civil Society Actors and Functions: On the Limitations of International Frameworks for Fragile States

Deconstructing Civil Society Actors and Functions: On the Limitations of International Frameworks for Fragile States

Disability, Poverty, and Schooling in Post-civil War in Sierra Leone

‘A Game of Pain’: youth marginalisation and the gangs of Freetown

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