Guerrillas and Violence in the War in Mozambique: De‐Socialization or Re‐Socialization?

Sub-Saharan Africa: Societal Reintegration of Ex-Militant Youths

“…In various African societies, traditional cleansing rituals have been used to reconcile former combatants with their receptor communities, as in the case of Mozambique (Granjo, 2007;Schafer, 2001) or in Sierra Leone (Stovel, 2008;Buxton, 2008). These rituals expurgate the individual ex-combatant both from danger and from being considered dangerous to the community, freeing them from stigma.…”

The Power to Hurt in Civil War: The Strategic Aim of RENAMO Violence**

“…76 Other accounts suggest that the government's army was, in fact, responsible for most of the violence against civilians in RENAMO-controlled areas. 77 The most important cause of the regional differences can be traced back to the time of independence. After independence, the new FRELIMO government was dominated by people from the south: the FRELIMO leadership was mainly drawn from the south, except for its military elite who were also from Cabo Delgado in the north, where the independence war started.…”

Violence, Sacrifice and Chiefship in Central Equatoria, Southern Sudan

“…While the strong links between urban-centred government and home villages lead Geschiere and Gugler (1998) to conclude that everyone is 'both citizen and subject ', Fanthorpe (2001) focuses on youth in Sierra Leone who were 'neither citizen nor subject' as a result of the exclusionary legacy of colonial chiefdom policies. Different analyses have emerged of the relationship between chiefs and rebel forces even within the same country, as is apparent for Zimbabwe (Alexander 1996;Kriger 1992;Lan 1985), Mozambique (Alexander 1997;McGregor 1998;Schafer 2001;West and Kloeck-Jenson 1999), and most recently for Sierra Leone: Richards (2005;cf. Keen 2005: 41-2, 60-9) concludes that resentment towards a chiefly elite motivated excluded rural youth to join armed groups, but Fanthorpe (2006) argues that chiefship, however contested, has continued to be valued by the rural poor because it is the one political institution upon which they can exert some leverage.…”