Militarised Minds: The Lives of Ex-combatants in South Africa

Maringira, Godfrey

doi:10.1177/0038038514523698

Cited by 20 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…In Aceh's post-conflict stage, a particular form of masculinity is associated with men and guns. The military ideology that was accepted during the war justified the use of violence; even killing the enemy (Maringira, 2015). The soldiers were trained and raised to be combatants and GAM killing machines (Anderson, 2013).…”

Section: Male Gam Ex-soldiers' Grievancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who has got what?, Why? And How?: The Political Economy of Reintegration Policy in Aceh

Abdullah

2019

jia

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This article focuses on the power relations between elite and non-elite former GAM (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka) combatants in the post conflict reintegration policy in Aceh. A number of scholars have linked the post conflict reintegration to the GAM ex-commanders conflicts over predatory processes of resource appropriation. However what is missing in their account is that the attentions to the rank and file ex-fighters, including women ex-combatants. The finding of the study suggests that the post conflict reintegration has provided opportunities for the former GAM commanders to build and consolidate their political and economic power. Since the former GAM commanders occupied the reconstruction space, they have captured the peace building processes through their predatory behaviour and patrimonial networks. In this context, the ex-commanders GAM elite has become a new dominant post conflict group while the non-elite group of the rank and file ex-combatants, particularly women ex-combatants, lost opportunities to enhance their welfare. As local elites are powerful, they have the capacity to select who are excluded from and included in their alliances. In these circumstances, the welfare outcomes from post conflict reintegration will beframed in terms of ‘who has got what?’, ‘why?’,and ‘how?’.

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Section: Male Gam Ex-soldiers' Grievancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who has got what?, Why? And How?: The Political Economy of Reintegration Policy in Aceh

Abdullah

2019

jia

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“…Frequent community requests to solve land conflicts and other disputes have largely reframed their post-war identity. This has nurtured their sense of responsibility, even if that was not their main motivation to join the militia in the first place (Maringira, 2015: 78).…”

Section: Reassembling Forces In Land Deal Contestationsmentioning

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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“…Scholarly work on veterans and their ‘mobility’ into the private security sphere has been mostly discussed in studies on former combatants in African states who are ‘demobilized’ and subsequently find their way into the private security sector ( Christensen, 2017 ; Maringira, 2015 ). There is also a body of work that focuses on different security identities that can be ‘played’ on, often relating to past military service.…”

Section: Plural Security and Identity Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between security and military identities: The case of Israeli security experts

Grassiani

2018

Security Dialogue

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The relationship between private security professionals and the military in Israel is complex. While there is growing attention to the fact that security and military actors and their activities are becoming increasingly blurred, the Israeli case shows something different. In this ground-up analysis of the relationship between private security practices and the military, I investigate its constant negotiation by private security professionals through their identification with and differentiation from the military, whereby they reconfigure the meaning of military capital. This identity work should be understood, I propose, within the strongly militarist context of Israeli society, where military capital is highly valued. I argue that actors who exit the military system feel the need to demonstrate the added value of their work in the private sector in order for it to gain value in the light of the symbolic capital given to the military. I analyse these processes as leading to a new kind of militarism, which includes security skills and ideas about professionalism. Such an approach sheds new light on the ways in which security actors can actively reconfigure the workings of military capital in and outside the nation-state and produce a different kind of militarism.

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Militarised Minds: The Lives of Ex-combatants in South Africa

Cited by 20 publications

References 26 publications

Who has got what?, Why? And How?: The Political Economy of Reintegration Policy in Aceh

Who has got what?, Why? And How?: The Political Economy of Reintegration Policy in Aceh

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

Between security and military identities: The case of Israeli security experts

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