Beirens, Hanne Lena Maria Andrea (2004) Voluntary child soldiering : a case-study of the anti-apartheid struggle. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

In this thesis, I
present a
theoretical framework in
which children's voluntary
participation
in
armed conflict
becomes
a reasonable act within
their
social
environment.
I
argue that in
order to gain a more analytical understanding of why
children volunteer, social scientists require an
in-depth knowledge
of
the
political,
social and economic conditions
in
which
they join
up
And
of
the
meanings
that
children attach to those situations and their
reactions. Prior
quantitative
data
on the
social
distribution
of child volunteering
have
often
been used
to
proclaim that `the
most vulnerable of
the
vulnerable' are recruited. On
the
basis of a
discourse analysis
of
UNHCR's
policies and activities
in
relation to under-age recruitment,
I illustrate
my claim
that dominant Euro-American
conceptualisations of childhood
have
primarily shaped research and
humanitarian
aid regarding child soldiering and
resulted in the portrayal of child soldiers as
innocent
victims who are corrupted by
adult wars.
I
subsequently go on to show
how
a new paradigm
for
the study of childhood can
enhance contemporary
knowledge
on
the
social processes and
factors that lead
children
to consider and eventually
join
a military group or opt
for
an alternative
mode of action
to
cope with
their dire
situation.
In
my qualitative case-study of child
soldiering in the
anti-apartheid struggle, I found that in joining
a political organisation
and subsequently
its
military wing, young
South Africans
sought
to
assert
their
(political)
agency within the structural and cultural
features that
shaped their
social
environment. Within the context of changing peer and
intergenerational relationships,
these
children carved out more powerful
identities for them to
address the social
injustices that had affected their personal and collective lives.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DT Africa H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Children and war -- South Africa, Apartheid -- South Africa, Child soldiers -- South Africa
Official Date:	October 2004
Dates:	Date Event October 2004 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Sociology
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Carter, Bob, 1948- ; Cohen, Robin, 1944-
Extent:	xii, 286 leaves, [xiii] leaves : illustrations
Language:	eng

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