Children as Neglected Agents in Theory and Post-Conflict Reintegration

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate the current state of literature surrounding childhood and child agency, and how dominant notions of these concepts result in practical implications pertaining to the nature of the participation of former child soldiers in post-conflict reintegration programmes. As the literature and practice surrounding children in post-conflict environments currently stands, there is a recurring preoccupation with traditional notions of childhood which uphold notions of innocence, vulnerability, and dependency, with only minimal attempts to conceptualise child agency as a crucial factor once the guns have been put down. This ultimately results in former child soldiers being dealt with as objects to be secured, as opposed to fully-fledged participants and agents in their own reintegration processes. This research thereby seeks to answer the question: “How would the formulation of a normative framework of child agency alter the orientation of post-conflict reintegration programmes in the future?”

The researcher will engage the matter of child agency in post-conflict reintegration through a critical lens, both in terms of the literary and conceptual foundations contributing towards current narratives, as well as the current state of reintegration programmes as they target former child soldiers in northern Uganda. The qualitative approach of a critical literature review, followed by a critical analysis of the case of northern Uganda, will be employed as the key methods of this research. The literature to be used will be purposively sampled secondary sources. This mini-dissertation upholds the position that, in order for post-conflict reintegration programmes to be successful in their endeavour to reintegrate former child soldiers, children should not be rendered as peripheral actors in these processes. Rather, they should be present as key participatory agents in their own right.