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1
Conteh, Abdulai Abubakarr. "A critical evaluation of the effects of neo-liberal (market-driven) reforms in achieving the goal of human security in Sierra Leone." Thesis, Brunel University, 2014. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/13236.
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This case-study provides a critical evaluation of the effects of neo-liberal (market-driven) reforms in achieving the goal of human security in Sierra Leone after the civil conflict in 2002. In the context of Sierra Leone, there are fundamental questions about the basic security of the population. This mean the ability to live without fear of conflict and the security to do with the ordinary lives of Sierra Leoneans. This is absolutely central to the post-war reconstruction of that country. It represents a major concern for the international community, the Sierra Leone Government, foreign government donors as well as the NGO communities. Underlying these issues is the subject of which development paragon is best suitable in addressing these questions, and what impact will it have on the people. To understand this, the study has framed the issues of education and health, the two aspects which this thesis focuses upon, as a commitment to human security. Human security has become a dominant theme for many development organisations around the world because of it connection with security and development. Education and health are important because they are crucial social and basic human right that should be provided without any form of unfairness by the state. Because of their multiplier effect, they assist in eradicating poverty and further the attainment of human security. The reforms, which includes privatisation and decentralisation, has been imposed primarily by the World Bank and the IMF to transform the education and health system in order to improve the human security of the Sierra Leonean people. Proponents of these reforms argued that it would provide equal access, make the system more efficient, provide more choices for the population, and enhances accountability and citizens’ participation in governance. As a result of these, the study is important for three reasons: first, it assesses the success of these reforms; second, it offers a better understanding of socio-economic development related to education and health as they are now viewed as a commodity; and third, it suggests ways of enhancing the performance of its delivery intended to assist the population. The evaluation is informed by critical theory, the theoretical framework because: of its usefulness in understanding the concept of power/knowledge, ideology and governance, as neo-liberalism has become a discourse of global common sense that frames policy options as though they were natural or not to be questioned, and yet serve to reinforce the interests of dominant groups. Critical theory enable us to make sense of the hidden power relations in the way knowledge/policy is constituted. Second, critical theory is also a qualitative approach and hence comes as a way of critiquing quantitative methodology. The study argues that it is very problematic to imagine that this strategy (neo-liberal reforms) is actually for the great masses of people living in poor conditions, while it does not address their needs and does nothing to deal with the security of their lives. The study found that the reforms were considered undemocratic, and has led to unequal access thus augmenting fears of stratification on the basis of an individual being rich or poor. Therefore, the study recommends that if the goal of human security is to be achieved, it is important to strengthen citizens’ and other local actors’ voices in governance to develop effective local policies; and government intervention and commitment is also needed to improve the performance of public schools and health care institutions in order to make them more competitive so that they can co-exist with their private counterparts. Key Words: Neo-liberalism, critical theory, education policy, health policy, human security, privatisation, decentralisation, social justice, socio-economic development.
2
Harris, David. "Sierra Leone: A Political History." Hurst, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/17555.
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No<br>Sierra Leone came to world attention in the 1990s when a catastrophic civil war linked to the diamond trade was reported globally. This fleeting and particular interest, however, obscured two crucial processes in this small West African state. On the one hand, while the civil war was momentous and brutal, affecting all Sierra Leoneans, it was also just one element in the long and faltering attempt to build a nation and state, given the country’s immensely problematic pre-colonial and British colonial legacies. On the other, the aftermath of the war precipitated a huge international effort to construct a ‘liberal peace’, with mixed results, and interrupted by the devastating Ebola pandemic. This made Sierra Leone a laboratory for both post-conflict and health crisis interventions.
Sierra Leone examines over 230 years of its history and sixty years of independence, placing state–society relations at the centre of an original and revealing investigation of those who have tried to rule or change Sierra Leone and its inhabitants, and the responses engendered. It interweaves the historical narrative with sketches of politicians, anecdotes, the landscape and environment and key turning-points, alongside theoretical and other comparisons with the rest of Africa. It is a new contribution to the debate for those who already know Sierra Leone and a solid point of entry for those who wish to.
3
Banya, Momoh Michael. "The political economy of HIV/AIDS in Sierra Leone." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.446615.
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Vandi, Sheku Wango. "Christianity and culture in Sierra Leone : with special reference to the conflict between evangelical Protestant churches and traditional practices." Thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.683307.
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Bangura, Ahmed Ojullah. "The political ecology of sustainable community development in Sierra Leone." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/13343.
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Natural resources are in abundance but have not benefited resourcebased communities. The mining industry, especially in developing countries, has fallen short of working towards sustainable community practices. Different governance initiatives adopted by governments to make the communities beneficiaries of these resources are yet to bring sustainable results. Government is seen as the sole actor on policymaking and its implementation, and the production and delivery of goods and services. Acknowledgement is not given to the roles and responsibilities of the resource-based communities to work as co-partners towards sustainable community development. Hence, this thesis argues that government policies should move away from seeing resource communities as recipients and representatives in policymaking towards co-partnership. As such, this thesis aims to explore the dynamics between resource use and achieving sustainable community development by exploring the barriers and potential for sustainable community development in diamond mining communities in Kono, Eastern Sierra Leone. To do this, the thesis uses data from a wide rage of indebt semi-structured interviews, documents and focus group discussions from four case studies representing four chiefdoms to point out a shift from the governance approach of institutionalisation to adaptive governance approach that will make the resource communities self-determined and sustainable. The thesis deals with three objectives. First, a focus is put on the relationship between resource exploitation and community governance in mining communities through an analysis of key actors and their roles at a range of scales. Second, in an attempt to find out the scope of sustainability in resource-based communities, attention is given to the ways mining communities utilise their assets and undertake practices that contribute towards sustainable community development. Third, in finding answers from issues arising in these communities and the prospect for effective mining policies, the thesis attempts to identify both the structural and community-based barriers to promoting sustainable community development in mining communities and then make policy recommendations for community development in such communities. Key Words: Resource Exploitation; Community Development, Community Governance, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Community Development
6
Sesay, Max Ahmadu. "Interdependence and dependency in the political economy of Sierra Leone." Thesis, University of Southampton, 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.357985.
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Van, Schalkwyk Denver Christopher. "Vervalle state, hulpbronoorloë en vredemaking : die gevalle Sierra Leone." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/53776.
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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis explores the issue of collapsed states with reference to William
Reno's (2001) theory. Since the end of the Cold War we find in many places that
the state itself has collapsed. According to this thesis state collapse refers to a
situation where the structure, authority, laws and political order have fallen apart.
The phenomenon of collapsed states is historic and worldwide, but nowhere are
there more examples than in contemporary Africa. Sierra Leone is an example
of a collapsed state in Africa. The state in Sierra Leone was after the
commencement of the conflict in 1991 not capable of performing the duties which
are required of a state when a state wants to be called a state. Governments in
collapsed states lack the capacity to make binding, effective decisions. As a
basic institution, the state loses its sovereignty as the most central institution in
the society.
Resource wars are nowadays a characteristic of collapsed states like Sierra
Leone. Resources are used by key figures in the resource wars to enrich
themselves. They also exploit the resources to finance their actions and
propaganda. Diamonds was the resource which was exploited commercially by
the 'government' and Foday Sankoh, a rebel/insurgent, as well as Charles
Taylor, a warlord. The resource war was one of the reasons why the state in
Sierra Leone collapsed further. It had lead to the total collapse of the state in
Sierra Leone.
With the commencement of the conflict in Sierra Leone, the issue of
peacemaking came to the fore in Sierra Leone. The conflict in Sierra Leone was
an intrastate conflict. The primary goal of the United Nations (UN) is to maintain
international security and peace. Intrastate conflicts do not form part of the UN's
traditional mandate regarding peacemaking. The UN thus had no basic
framework of how to get involved in the intrastate conflict in Sierra Leone. The
UN only became involved in 1999 in the form of UNAMSIL. Before the intervention of the UN, the 'government' of Sierra Leone turned to Private Military
Companies (PMC's) in the form of Executive Outcomes and Sandline
International. The problem with the intervention of PMC's in a conflict is that they
are not sanctioned by international organisations like the UN. As a regional
initiative, ECOWAS in the form of ECOMOG, also became involved in Sierra
Leone. The intervention of both ECOMOG and PMC's in Sierra Leone failed to
produce peace or the restoration of the state. Only the UN achieved
peacemaking and the holding of an election.
The conclusion of this thesis is that Sierra Leone fits in the theory of Reno (2001 )
re collapsed states. Sierra Leone is a typical example of a collapsed state and it
also illustrates the validity of the concept. This however does not mean that
Sierra Leone will be a collapsed state forever. There is the possibility that Sierra
Leone can make a transition from a collapsed state to a stronger state to a more
stable and functional state. It need, however, be noted that all conclusions in this
thesis are of a preliminary nature. The conclusions will therefore be subject to
further confirmation by later studies.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis verken die kwessie van vervalle state met verwysing na William
Reno (2001) se teorie. Sedert veral die einde van die Koue Oorlog vind ons die
tendens dat verskeie state verval het. In hierdie tesis verwys die konsep van 'n
vervalle staat na 'n situasie waar die struktuur, gesag, politieke orde en wette
uitmekaar geval het. Die verskynsel van vervalle state is histories en kom
wêreldwyd voor. Kontemporêre Afrika verskaf egter die meeste voorbeelde van
vervalle state. Sierra Leone is 'n voorbeeld van so 'n vervalle staat. Na die
aanvang van die konflik in 1991 was die staat in Sierra Leone nie meer daartoe
instaat om die funksies te verrig wat van 'n staat vereis word indien so 'n staat as
'n staat geag wil word nie. Die 'regering' in 'n vervalle staat beskik nie meer oor
die kapasiteit om bindende, effektiewe besluite te neem nie. Die staat, as 'n
basiese instelling, verloor sy soewereiniteit as die sentrale instelling in die
samelewing.
Die verval van 'n staat word toenemend met die uitbreek van 'n konflik- in hierdie
geval 'n- hulpbronoorlog gekenmerk. Hulpbronne word deur die sleutelfigure,
wat betrokke is in die hulpbronoorlog in die vervalle staat, gebruik om hulself te
verryk. Hierdie hulpbronne word ook gebruik om die sleutelfigure se aksies en
propaganda te finansier. Diamante is as hulpbron in Sierra Leone deur die
'regering' en Foday Sankoh, 'n rebellinsurgent, asook Charles Taylor, 'n
oorlogsbaron, kommersieël uitgebuit. Die burgeroorlog met sy talle fasette, het
tot die totale verval van die staat aanleiding gegee.
Die kwessie van vredemaak het met die uitbreek van die konflik in Sierra Leone
na vore getree. Die konflik in Sierra Leone was 'n intrastaatkonflik. Die primêre
doel van die Verenigde Nasies (VN) is om internasionale vrede en sekuriteit te
handhaaf. Intrastaatkonflikte as sulks maak nie deel uit van die tradisionele
opdrag van die VN betreffende vredemaak nie. Die VN het gevolglik nie oor 'n
basiese raamwerk beskik van hoe om by die intrastaatkonflik in Sierra Leone betrokke te raak nie. Die VN het eers in 1999 in die vorm van UNAMSIL in
Sierra Leone betrokke geraak. Voor die intervensie van die VN het die 'regering'
van Sierra Leone hom tot Private Militêre Bystand (PMB) in die vorm van
'Executive Outcomes' en 'Sandline International' gewend. Die problematiek
insake PMB is dat dit nie deur internasioale organisasies soos die VN
gesanksioneer word nie. As 'n regionale inisiatief het ECOWAS ook in die vorm
van ECOMOG by die intrastaatkonflik in Sierra Leone betrokke geraak. In
hierdie tesis sal daar gemeld word dat beide ECOMOG en PMB, met die
uitsondering van die VN, se pogings vir vredemaak in Sierra Leone gefaal het.
Die slotsom waartoe hierdie tesis kom is dat Sierra Leone inpas by Reno (2001)
se teorie insake die verskynsel van vervalle state. Sierra Leone is 'n tipiese
voorbeeld van 'n vervalle staat en dit illustreer die geldigheid van die konsep. Dit
beteken egter nie dat Sierra Leone permanent 'n vervalle staat hoef te wees nie.
Die moontlikheid bestaan wel dat Sierra Leone die oorgang vanaf 'n vervalle
staat na 'n stabieler, meer funksionele staat kan maak. Dit dien egter gemeld te
word dat alle afleidings in hierdie tesis as voorlopig van aard beskou kan word.
Hierdie afleidings is onderhewig aan verdere bevestiging of weerlegging deur
latere studies.
8
Lindmark, Linnea. "Kan naturvård bidra till fred? : Miljö- och fredsbyggande i Sierra Leone." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Statsvetenskapliga institutionen, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-92993.
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9
Iro, Andrea. "The UN Peacebuilding Commission : lessons from Sierra Leone." Potsdam Univ.-Verl, 2009. http://d-nb.info/994073453/04.
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Enria, Luisa. ""An idle mind is the Devil's workshop"? : the politics of work amongst Freetown's youth." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2015. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:ba12e38c-1fb8-4ccb-8222-5ed9326ae9e1.
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Youth unemployment has been presented as a security risk to countries emerging from civil war. These assessments often rely on the assumption of a direct relationship between labour market exclusion and political violence. This thesis challenges this assumption, not by denying that the connection exists, but by suggesting that we need a better understanding of how the two are related. Through qualitative research with young people engaged precariously on the margins of the informal economy in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, the thesis explores how labour market experiences influence different patterns of political mobilisation. It puts forward that violence is not inherent to unemployment, but that the impact of joblessness on mobilisation is mediated by social factors and the specific nature of the post-war political economy. For Freetown's youth, labour market exclusion has implications for social status, identities, norms and the nature of social relations. This in turn shapes their political subjectivities and claims on the state; it structures the opportunities and constraints to their collective action; and influences their trajectories towards political violence. These processes reflect a fraught articulation between tactics employed expediently to respond to structural circumstances and longer-term aspirations. Individual attempts to survive adverse economic and political terrains coexist with work-based political claims placed on the state and aspirations of social and political inclusion, even if the two are often at odds and the former undermine the latter.
11
Krige, Greta. "Perspectives on "New wars" in Africa: the case of Sierra Leone." Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/2601.
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Thesis (MPhil (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008.<br>The primary goal of this thesis is to explore, analyse and apply the New War theory to
the West African case of Sierra Leone. The motivation for conducting a study of this
nature was that much literature exists on the assumption that the Sierra Leonean
conflict equates to a resource war. This research project attempts to bridge the gap
between the New War schools of thought and those who maintain a resource war
approach.
Although Kaldor’s (2006) work on New Wars is significant, she does not place much
emphasis on Africa. In order to supplement this, William Reno (2001) and Paul
Collier (2000) have also been studied. Both write about Africa.
The RUF virtually razed the Sierra Leonean society to the ground. The overtly violent
methods employed were dissimilar to the interstate and intrastate wars of the past.
Blatant exploitation of the country’s mineral wealth aggravated the situation. In
attempting to reach a relevant finding, this study is divided into distinctive sections.
Chapter two documents the theoretical background. The writings of Kaldor (2006),
Reno (2001) and Collier (2000) are explored and applied.
The third chapter investigates the factors in the conflict. Issues such as the resource
factor (diamonds) and poverty are discussed; the failed state in Sierra Leone; criminal
networks; social conditions; arms; and the role of youth and children. The general
finding of this chapter indicates that Sierra Leone fits this model. Chapter four
describes and analyses the actors. Identity was not an issue in the Sierra Leone war;
thus a large part of Kaldor’s theory becomes redundant.
In the final assessment the study establishes what Sierra Leone’s position is: New
War or merely resource war? The bulk of the applied theory proved to be applicable
to this case; but the study also acknowledges the mistaken views regarding Kaldor’s
identity theories. Collier and Reno’s works prove to be significantly more relevant.
This study was able to determine that Sierra Leone was indeed an example of New
Wars, albeit considerably affected and influenced by greed.
12
Osofisan, Babafemi Adewale. "The role of regionalism in post-conflict political reconstruction : Liberia and Sierra Leone." Thesis, University of York, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.538638.
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Storo, Christine. "Risk Analysis in Post-Conflict African Countries: Sierra Leone as a Case Study." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/4158.
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Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Political risk analysis is considered one of the essential ingredients in decision making
processes when investing abroad. The Iranian Revolution and the oil crisis in the 1970s
accentuated this need as investors increasingly felt the need for a proper assessment of the
risks involved in establishing a business in other countries.
Negative images of African countries combined with conventional risk models which are not
able to accurately assess the political risk realities of post-conflict African countries, may be
one of the reasons for why African countries struggle to attract a substantial amount of FDI.
This study suggests that alternative risk models which are more African-orientated may aid in
improving this situation.
This study has analysed the political risk of Sierra Leone using a conventional risk model, and
an African-orientated political risk model. The aim of this study was to assess whether
conventional political risk models need to be adjusted to be able to more accurately assess the
political risk of post-conflict African countries. The main research question guiding this study
was:
Are conventional risk models able to objectively rate the political risk of post-conflict
countries in Africa?
The conclusion of this research was that African-orientated political risk models are able to
more accurately assess the political risk of a post-conflict African country such as Sierra
Leone. This is mainly due to the soft variables used in a political risk model and also the
relationship between the variables included in the models. The African-orientated political
risk model needs to be analysed further, but this research has made clear the need for a reevaluation
of existing political risk models to be better equipped when analysing post-conflict
African countries. This will not only benefit African post-conflict countries in improving their
risk ratings, but also provide foreign investors with a more accurate identification of the
potential political risks facing an investment in post-conflict African countries. It was
acknowledged in this study that the political risk analyses of Sierra Leone were not conducted
by someone who has inside information of the political risk models used which is a limitation
iii
for the results of this study. It is, however, possible to detect potential weaknesses with each
political risk model and possible areas of improvements.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Politieke Risiko Analise word as een van die belangrikste bestandele in die besluitnemingsproses
geag wanneer daar oorsee belê word. Die Iranese Rewolusie en die Olie krisis in die
1970’s het hierdie nood beklemtoon, aangesien beleggers toenemend die belang van deurdagte
assesering van die risikos in verband met die oprigting en instandhouding van besighede
in ander lande erken het.
Negatiewe opvattings van Afrika lande, tesame met konventionele risiko modelle wat nie
geskik is on akkurate asseserings van politike risiko realiteite op te lewer, is dalk van die
redes waarom Afrika lande sukkel om groot Direkte Buitelandse Beleggings te lok. Hierdie
studie stel voor dat alternatiewe risiko modelle wat meer Afrika-gesind van aard is die situasie
kan help oorbrug.
Hierdie studie het die politieke risiko situasie van die Sierra Leone analiseer aangaande‘n
konvensionele riskio model en met behulp van’n Afrika-georienteerde politieke risiko model.
Die studie het gepoog om te assesseer of die konvensionele modelle van politieke risiko
gewysig moet word om in staat te wees om meer akkuraat te oordeel in verband met politieke
risiko in post-konflik Afrika lande. Die hoof navorsingsvraag wat die studie gedryf het is die
volgende: Is die konvensionele risiko modelle in staat om objektief te werk te gaan om die
politieke risiko van post-konflik lande in Afrika te meet?
Die gevolgtrekking van hierdie navorsing is dat die Afrika-georienteerde politieke risiko
modelle meer gepas is om die politike risiko van post-konflik lande soos Sierra Leone te
meet. Dit is hoofsaaklik die geval weens die sagte veranderlikes wat gebruik word in’n
politieke risiko model asook die verband tussen die veranderlikes wat in die model ingesluit
word. Die Afrika-georienteerde politieke risiko model moet verder uitgebrei word, alhoewel
hierdie navorsing dit duidelik maak dat die belang bestaan vir‘n herevaluering van die
bestaande politieke risiko modelle om beter toegerus te wees om analise van post-konflik
Afrika lande uit te voer. Dit word erken dat hierdie studie van die politieke risiko van Sierra
Leone nie uitgevoer was deur iemand wat‘n intieme kennis van politieke risiko modelle het
nie. Dit is uiteindelik wel moontlik on potensiele swak plekke in die mondering van elke
politieke risiko model uit te sonder, en moontlike areas van verbetering voor te stel.
14
Esser, Daniel Eric. "How local is urban governance in fragile states? : theory and practice of capital city politics in Sierra Leone and Afghanistan." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2008. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2961/.
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Historically capital cities in less developed countries such as Sierra Leone and Afghanistan have served as sites of deliberate attempts to bring about change in both local and national political systems. Ranging from modernist agendas to contemporary donor-driven 'reconstruction' efforts, strategies to build effective state structures, including local governance institutions, have been at the core of such politics. Drawing on a multidisciplinary methodology that combines historical analysis with micro- and meso-level field research, the thesis explores the dynamics of agency and structure in an investigation of the function of capital cities as political arenas. It reviews key strands of urban political theory for their applicability to developing country contexts and situations of state fragility. The thesis finds existing approaches to be insufficiently suited to explaining political processes operating in and on war-affected capital cities. Current theoretical treatments present cities as distinct or contained political spaces, which in these contexts they are not. They also fail to account for radical changes in the polities in which they are embedded and underestimate the degree of coercion exercised towards local stakeholders by supra-local actors, highlighting the need for a revised interpretative framework. The study juxtaposes policies and programmes targeted at urban and national level institutional change with urban political trajectories in war-affected Freetown and Kabul. The thesis examines how external resources and lines of control create political axes that intersect and transcend urban spaces. The research finds that these axes work to the detriment of local political deliberation and explains why institutional reforms aimed at strengthening local political agency have given rise to the opposite outcome. The research thus illustrates the importance of political economy factors related to international intervention and shows how these have served to influence the nature of capital city politics in least developed countries. Empirically the study establishes why the two capital cities function as linchpins of international assistance yet fail to benefit from local political empowerment and equitable urban recovery. It is concluded that local politics in these two cities are overdetermined by national and international interests and agendas. Theoretically the thesis offers the concept of 'tri-axial urban governance,' which combines historically informed political economy analysis with an explicitly spatial framework for analysing politics in and on war- affected cities. This reconfigured conceptual scaffolding exposes power relations operative in city politics in fragile states and explains their impact on dynamics of structure and agency.
15
Tom, Patrick. "The liberal peace and post-conflict peacebuilding in Africa : Sierra Leone." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/2469.
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This thesis critiques liberal peacebuilding in Africa, with a particular focus on Sierra Leone. In particular, it examines the interface between the liberal peace and the “local”, the forms of agency that various local actors are expressing in response to the liberal peace and the hybrid forms of peace that are emerging in Sierra Leone. The thesis is built from an emerging critical literature that has argued for the need to shift from merely criticising liberal peacebuilding to examining local and contextual responses to it. Such contextualisation is crucial mainly because it helps us to develop a better understanding of the complex dynamics on the ground. The aim of this thesis is not to provide a new theory but to attempt to use the emerging insights from the critical scholarship through adopting the concept of hybridity in order to gain an understanding of the forms of peace that are emerging in post-conflict zones in Africa. This has not been comprehensively addressed in the context of post-conflict societies in Africa. Yet, much contemporary peace support operations are taking place in these societies that are characterised by multiple sources of legitimacy, authority and sovereignty. The thesis shows that in Sierra Leone local actors – from state elites to chiefs to civil society to ordinary people on the “margins of the state” – are not passive recipients of the liberal peace. It sheds new light on how hybridity can be created “from below” as citizens do not engage in outright resistance, but express various forms of agency including partial acceptance and internalisation of some elements of the liberal peace that they find useful to them; and use them to make demands for reforms against state elites who they do not trust and often criticise for their pre-occupation with political survival and consolidation of power. Further, it notes that in Sierra Leone a “post-liberal peace” that is locally-oriented might emerge on the “margins of the state” where culture, custom and tradition are predominant, and where neo-traditional civil society organisations act as vehicles for both the liberal peace and customary peacebuilding while allowing locals to lead the peacebuilding process. In Sierra Leone, there are also peace processes that are based on custom that are operating in parallel to the liberal peace, particularly in remote parts of the country.
16
Francis, David J. "Sierra Leone in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) : political and economic implications." Thesis, University of Southampton, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.264687.
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Holmqvist, Sara. "Sierra Leone och Botswana : Hur kan ett land nå demokrati och ekonomisk tillväxt?" Thesis, Växjö University, School of Social Sciences, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-1902.
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<p>Abstract</p><p>Sierra Leone is a very poor country in Africa. Botswana is another country, that has a similar history and the same deposit; diamonds. Botswana has reached economic growth and democracy and Sierra Leone has not.</p><p>The purpose with this study is to explain why Botswana is more democratic and has reached a better result economic than Sierra Leone.</p><p>The questions in this study are:</p><p>What explains the democratic and the economic results in Sierra Leone and Botswana?</p><p>* Dahl’s institutions that furthers a polyarchy?</p><p>* Gunnarsson’s and Rojas’ institutional explanations?</p><p>* Diamond’s and Morlino’s ”rule of law”?</p><p>* Other explanations or a combination of the above-mentioned explanations?</p><p>The method that has been used in this study is a comparative case study with a qualitative contents analysis. The result is that it’s hard to say that one explanation is the right one. It’s more likely a combination of multiple factors that furthers democracy and economic development. Not just one combination is the right one, but the institutional explanation about the autonomy of the state is very important for the result.</p>
18
Strober, Rashida. "The Impact of Structural Adjustment on Health, Education and Employment: A Case Study on Sierra Leone." Scholar Commons, 2005. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7115.
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Since their inception in African countries, structural adjustment has tended to cause more harm than help. This thesis aims to answer the question, in what ways have structural adjustment policies impacted Africa in general and Sierra Leone in particular? This question is highly relevant when it is considered that Africa is one of the poorest regions in the world and has experiences much conflict and suffering. In addition, much is known about the impact of structural adjustment in many African countries. However, little has been written on the impact of structural adjustment in Sierra Leone, especially in terms of the impact of structural adjustment on conflict. The hypothesis of this thesis is that the impact of structural adjustment policies has tended to increase poverty. Poverty has led to frustration and conflict in Africa in general and Sierra Leone in particular. In order to substantiate this hypothesis I have elected to focus on the years between 1960 and the late 1980s. The finding contained within this thesis show that structural adjustment policies may have led to a reduction of social services that include health, education and unemployment.
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Renner, Jasmine, and Arnold Nyarambi. ""Historical, Political, Cultural, Socio-Economic and Religious Forces Influencing Gender Equality Experiences in Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone"." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2013. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/8249.
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Cheng, Zhangxi. ""Friendship" in China's foreign aid to Africa : case studies from Ghana and Sierra Leone." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/12007.
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Following the dramatic takeoff of contemporary China-Africa relationship in the late 1990s, this once neglected international phenomenon has become one of the most topical themes over the past decade. This new popularity is due not only to the growing importance of both China and Africa on the global stage, but also China's rapidly increasing foreign aid on the continent. However, whilst most scholars are focusing on the financial side of the story – the massive concessional loan deals, the generous investments in natural resources and so forth, the primary purpose of this foreign aid – assisting African recipient countries' economic and welfare development – has only generated minimal interest. Little is known regarding how China delivers its foreign aid, and even less about how this foreign aid actually works in the African recipient countries. In light of this situation, this study asks: How has China's foreign aid been assisting Africa's development? On the basis of drawing specific attention to the effectiveness and sustainability of China's foreign aid in Africa, this study also explores the factors that affect these outcomes. Which, as this study finds out in the end, friendship – a factor that is often overlooked by Western scholars and patriotically examined by Chinese scholars. Not only has it continuously played a substantial role in shaping the development of China's foreign aid in Africa, but it is also frequently the most influential underlying consideration that practically undermines China's foreign aid outcomes. All in all, whilst purposed to promote China's foreign aid outcomes, this study improves our understanding of China's foreign aid in Africa. As well it delves into the development of China's foreign aid in Africa, assesses its performance, this study finds the shortcomings of China's foreign aid at present and searches for practical solutions that may contribute to its future development.
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Massaquoi, Abu-Bakkar Siddiq. "Exploring the pathways, prospects, and pitfalls of adaptive collaborative management in Sierra Leone : a critical political ecology analysis." Thesis, University of Reading, 2017. http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/78263/.
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Using the lens of critical political ecology, this thesis explores the pathways, prospects, and pitfalls of Adaptive Collaborative Management (ACM) of Forest Protected Areas (FPAs) in Sierra Leone based on two case studies in the Gola Rainforest National Park (GRNP). ACM has been extensively promoted in recent years among policy-makers and researchers as an interdisciplinary method to address multi-scale, multi-level society-environment dilemmas because of its strong emphasis on participation and learning. Yet, the concept of ACM is very broad, and documentation of its main achievements and shortcomings, especially in resource and capacity-challenged African countries has been very limited. The situation is particularly worrisome given that many scholars are already proposing that ACM could provide a useful mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) in the context of global climate change governance. To effectively explore the nature of participation and learning in ACM, as well as the underlying influence of institutions and power relations, the thesis utilizes a mixed method approach combining surveys, interviews, focus groups, and documents-in-use. The results indicate that despite considerable effort and some success, significant shortcomings are evident. The ACM-based forest governance in the GRNP scarcely resulted in shared decision-making; downward accountability; and increased opportunities for knowledge co-production. Severe challenges were also noted regarding the equitable distribution of benefits; ownership, commitment and trust. Furthermore, ACM practices appear to provide a facade for centralized forest governance by surreptitiously strengthening the remits and political influence of the state and international agencies at the expense of local communities. In the context of REDD+, ACM could reinforce, or at least be undermined by power asymmetries and capacity challenges that can affect its legitimacy and effectiveness. Therefore, this thesis recommends priority investments in enhancing the adaptive capacity of local institutions and improving access to, and allocation of conservation benefits.
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Josiah, B. P. "Farmers' perceptions of innovative practices and decision-making with reference to cocoa and swamp rice cultivation in eastern Sierra Leone." Thesis, University of Reading, 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.380645.
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Krogstad, Erlend Grøner. "Enduring challenges of statebuilding : British-led police reforms in Sierra Leone, 1945-1961 and 1998-2007." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2013. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:c03fb7a0-4725-4142-864e-f9ff24578851.
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This study analyzes two British-led police reforms in Sierra Leone from 1945-1961 and 1998-2007, exploring how reinterpretations of sovereignty, security and statehood affected strategies of statebuilding over time. Tracing the effects of reform from the first to the second period, it focuses on three practical questions facing reformers: what kind of coercive capacity the police should be invested with (force); where they should be and for what purposes (territoriality); and in what relation they ought to stand with nonstate policing actors (legitimate authority). A key finding is that reinterpretations of security and sovereignty to center on internal threats and state-society relations served to channel more international attention and resources to police forces in weak states. From a relatively restricted field whose impulses came from policing experiences in other colonies and in Britain, recent post-conflict police reforms were informed by knowledge about economic growth, social mobility and global security. However, strategy was muddled when donors committed to conflicting agendas entered the fray. As a result, the latest reform was profoundly shaped by negotiations of the meaning of key concepts like ‘security’. The second part of the study draws on insights about reform to address debates on intervention and sovereignty. Against the image of Western-led interventions suspending local sovereignty, it is argued that the colonial legacy allowed the Sierra Leonean government to prolong and deepen the recent intervention. Contrary to the image of Sierra Leone’s international relations as exploitative and personalized, the study explores how policing became a field where new and legitimate links with the outside world were established after reform.
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Tarawallie, Idrissa Mamoud. "Public services and social cohesion at risk? : the political economy of democratic decentralisation in post-war Sierra Leone (2004-2014)." Thesis, SOAS, University of London, 2018. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/26185/.
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On account of the many failures of the centralised state, decentralisation has become the preferred mode of governance in many countries in the developing world. Widely supported by international development agencies, it promises efficiency and equity in public service delivery and social cohesion in post-war societies by bringing government closer to the people. Crucial in the decentralisation promise, is resource diversion through clientelistic networks at the local level to consolidate political strongholds. But despite the ubiquitous nature of decentralisation interventions in sub-Saharan Africa, the continent has the smallest number of formal political economy-based analytical reviews of decentralisation and public service delivery, and research into the nexus between decentralisation and social cohesion remains an unexplored academic territory. This thesis seeks to compensate for this literature gap, provide critical insights into the politics of post-war governance reform and its neoliberal institutionalism, and the unexplored relationship between decentralisation and social cohesion in post-war Sierra Leone. Based on a qualitative multi-site case study in four local councils selected across Sierra Leone's geo-political divide, the thesis unpacks the politics of democratic decentralisation and its neoliberal governance reform agenda. It provides a thick critical analysis of the motivations of Sierra Leone's post-war decentralisation reform and its uneven public service delivery across localities. It argues that Sierra Leone's decentralisation project is a patchwork of disparate socio-political, economic and ideological interests at the local, national and international levels. And while some progress has been made in local public service delivery, this cannot be linked solely to decentralisation. In addition, Sierra Leone's decentralisation project lacks a holistic inclusion of crucial elements of social capital and has negative effect on social cohesion, especially in ethnically diverse localities. The thesis concludes that political affiliation does not necessarily determine a council's service delivery and management performance outcomes. And measuring councils' performance outcomes with technocratic tools unproductively seeks to transform political entities into barometers to measure donor investment in the decentralisation process, and not councils' accountability to their electorates. Such a technocratic approach to governance is both normatively intricate and empirically unrealistic.
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Vidler, Elizabeth. "Regime survival in the Gambia and Sierra Leone : a comparative study of the People's Progressive Party (1965-1994) and the All People's Congress (1968-1992)." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10443/1024.
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The People's Progressive Party of The Gambia and the All People's Congress of Sierra Leone provide two outstanding examples of regime survival. They form part of a select group of African states which, for many years, escaped the cycle of coup and counter-coup seen elsewhere on the continent. Africanist political scientists have neglected the phenomenon of political survival, concentrating instead on accounting for the frequency of military intervention. This study goes some way to redressing the imbalance. It explains the importance of studying survival and assesses the comparability of The Gambia and Sierra Leone. Despite the absence of an overarching theory of survival, elements of the conceptual literature (including the theory of personal rule, work undertaken on civilian control of the military, elections and international relations) provide a theoretical framework.
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Palliere, Augustin. "" Un sac de riz vide ne tient pas debout ". Dynamiques agraires régionales et marginalisation de la paysannerie sierra-léonaise." Phd thesis, Université de Nanterre - Paris X, 2014. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01055562.
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En Sierra Leone, la marginalisation de l'agriculture est une composante essentielle de la crise économique, sociale et politique dont la manifestation la plus tragique a été la guerre civile entre 1991 et 2001. À l'échelle nationale, le secteur agricole représente toujours la majorité des actifs, mais la production alimentaire a chuté depuis les années 1970. Parallèlement au développement du secteur diamantifère, les importations massives de riz à bas coût ont dévalorisé le travail des producteurs nationaux. Cette marginalisation se poursuit avec l'émergence, récente, d'un secteur agro-industriel financé par des capitaux internationaux. A l'échelle d'une petite région, cette crise des agricultures paysannes se décline selon une trajectoire spécifique. La diversité de la mosaïque paysagère témoigne de la transformation profonde des modes d'exploitation du milieu. Les paysans combinent la culture sur brûlis historique avec la riziculture inondée, le billonnage des savanes, les plantations pérennes, ... La pression démographique a pesé sur ces dynamiques mais c'est la marchandisation des rapports sociaux qui a constitué la tendance déterminante. Les grands groupes domestiques, structurés par les rapports lignagers, ont éclaté. Aujourd'hui, les échanges de force de travail entre producteurs sont à l'origine de disparités économiques non négligeables. Cependant, dans des conditions d'intégration économique défavorables, la productivité du travail a stagné voire à reculé. De ce fait, la persistance de rapports sociaux d'antériorité, notamment l'adoption enfantine comme modalité d'accumulation, limite les processus de différenciation au sein de la paysannerie.
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Kitchen, Ashley D. "When Laws and Representation Are Not Enough: Enduring Impunity and Post-Conflict Sexual Violence in Liberia and Sierra Leone." Wright State University / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1363784056.
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Jalloh, Mohamed. "Effondrement et reconstruction de l'Etat : les continuités de la formation de l'Etat sierra léonais." Phd thesis, Université Montesquieu - Bordeaux IV, 2011. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00878694.
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Cette thèse avance que le cas de la Sierra Leone est édifiant pour comprendre le paradoxe de l'effondrement et de la reconstruction des Etats africains néo-patrimoniaux dans l'ère post-Guerre Froide. Il vise à identifier les processus historiques, politiques et sociaux spécifiques qui ont mené à l'effondrement de l'Etat en Sierra Leone, mais aussi les dynamiques à l'oeuvre dans sa reconstruction. Elle s'appuie sur l"hypothèse selon laquelle l'effondrement et la reconstruction de l'Etat révèlent des continuités de la formation de l'Etat en Sierra Leone.
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Kanu, Abdul Morlai. "The potential of small and medium enterprises in reducing poverty in Sierra Leone : An investigation of the role of management practices and institutional support." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.515137.
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Cele, Thabile Lorraine Sheila. "Do men have any influence in stopping women and girls from undergoing FGM in Sierra Leone? The case of Mabonkani Village in Bombali District." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Teologiska institutionen, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-415561.
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ABSTRACT “FGM is known to have no health benefits and has serious, immediate and long-term physical and psychological health consequences, which can be severe, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and reduced desire or sexual satisfaction” (28 Too Many, 2014, p5). This master thesis is an attempt to gain male perspectives in strategies to eradicate Female Genital Mutilation, FGM. The aim is to gain an understanding on how men view the concept of FGM in relation to existing norms such as gender, social and international norms. Literature tends to focus less on men’s roles and views compared to on women´s for how to end FGM. The male perspective is very important especially as literature shows that cultural practices in most cases benefit men compared to women as is shown in the case of FGM. Men are held in high esteem as the ones with a final deciding voice in the homes, institutions and the general community. This was also the case in the village of Mabonkani. Men hold powers to enable or prohibit actions and practices. Therefore, if FGM is to end, men can, because of their positionality spearhead effective campaigns and awareness raising messages. Focus groups and interviews were used to obtain information. The empirical findings were analysed and categorised and then presented in tables, graphs and themes. The findings revealed a conflictual decision making that men face if/when they decide to abandon FGM as it is heavily tied to their cultural and social identity. Abandoning the practice also means that they face ostracism by their own community members, loss of identity as a family man and community member, breaking up social cohesion among other reasons. Men are keen on ending FGM after lengthy discussions on its complications at a personal and social level. Men expressed that they preferred the training of women than the removal of clitoris. They offered various solutions including sending girls to schools to address issues of informed consent/age as well as getting young people to be more involved in and to include all actors instead of picking just a few. The views of household men and youth were different. The youth embraced international norms. They suggested that it is up to them to change the future of the next generation through the information available and they no longer claim ignorance about FGM as was the case earlier. All men interviewed cited challenges of identity, ostracism by their own community and lack of national laws to support their actions. The analysis looked at the human rights approach, how local communities can be influenced to abandon traditional harmful practices in favour of international norms that will promote gender equality and breakdown structural and systematic norms that discriminate.
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Marks, Zoe E. Z. "The internal dynamics of rebel groups : politics of material viability and organisational capacity in the RUF of Sierra Leone." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2013. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:99c334c8-132d-41b7-8d9b-3ed52147dac8.
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This thesis examines the internal dynamics of the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone over the course of the civil war waged from 1991-2002. It does so in two parts, looking first at the RUF’s organizational capacity—its ability to emerge and survive as a group; and second, at its material viability—the logistics and procurement of food, weapons, and other resources required to sustain war. The RUF has become a paradigmatic case for the study of war and rebel groups in Africa. Although much has been written on the group and its violence, comparatively little is known about the inner-workings of the organization and how a largely forcibly recruited group of ill-equipped thousands managed to pose a viable threat to the state for over a decade. Through a fine-grained, case-based analysis, this study applies research on the microdynamics of violence in civil war to the structural and logistical mechanics that underpin it. Doing so contextualizes debates about resource wars, collective violence, and mobilization and onset within the RUF’s own strategies for controlling these aspects of war- making. New primary material, including rebel archive documents, describes the extensive military and civilian governance structures through which order and cohesion were established and enforced. Tracking the success and failure of these mechanisms helps explain the disconnect between rebel rhetoric and behaviour. A detailed examination of the RUF’s material capacity applies this organizational analysis to the group’s strategic priorities for survival. It reorients the resource war debate toward what actually fuels fighting on the ground. Food has long been overlooked as the primary requirement for group survival, and ammunition the basic element of military viability. These ‘low politics’ of survival explain the nature of the war and underscore the importance of shifting factors, such as territorial control, in shaping rebel behaviour. Finally, the ‘high politics’ of international arms trades and global diamond markets illumine changes in the RUF’s firepower and personalization of power, returning to the organizational failings that ultimately led to the group’s dissolution.
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Osborn, Barrett J. "Peacekeeping and Peace Kept: Third Party Interventions and Recurrences of Civil War." UKnowledge, 2013. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/polysci_etds/7.
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Civil wars have become more prevalent in modern times and present unique challenges to conflict resolution. Third parties often intervene in civil wars attempting to insure that peace is imposed and will persist. However, the impact of third parties on intrastate conflicts remains incomplete. The civil conflict literature does not sufficiently distinguish how third parties promote peaceful outcomes during a peacekeeping operation and why a state remains stable after the peacekeepers leave. By examining data on third party interventions from 1946-2006 and individually examining the case of Sierra Leone, this research concludes that peacekeeping missions promoting transparency, credible information sharing, and strong signals of commitment present the best possibilities for peace during and after the mission. Analysis from empirical tests and case study support that peacekeeping missions are most effective when they allow for credible and reliable communication between domestic adversaries. Ultimately, third parties must promote a political solution between rebel and government factions in civil wars so that peaceful methods of dispute resolution are promoted in the absence of a third party preventing the recurrence of war.
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Conaway, Matthew Bolyn. "When "Boys Will Not Be Boys": Variations of Wartime Sexual Violence by Armed Opposition Groups in Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, and Nepal." Wright State University / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1340376879.
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Sesay, Mohamed. "La gouvernance sans État : une étude de cas sur les territoires contrôlés par le Front Révolutionnaire Uni en Sierra Leone." Phd thesis, Université Montesquieu - Bordeaux IV, 2013. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00958107.
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La guerre civile en Sierra Leone débute en 1991 et dure jusqu'en 2002. Encore aujourd'hui, les analystes sont assez partagés sur ses causes, notamment les motivations des rebelles du Front Révolutionnaire Uni (RUF), mouvement à l'origine des hostilités. De son entrée en Sierra Leone à nos jours, le RUF a été l'objet de plusieurs débats et critiques, tant sur son organisation que sur ses méthodes guerrières. En questionnant d'abord la capacité organisationnelle de ce mouvement, la thèse a pour objet de contextualiser les arguments souvent associés avec des guerres civiles de ce type. Ils insistent sur l'absence de sens : ces conflits illustreraient d'abord une situation de chaos total. Elles seraient aussi la conséquence de l'absence ou de la défaillance d'un État. Cette présente étude s'inscrit dans le prolongement des débats sur le RUF. Elle démontre que ce dernier n'était pas si désorganisé que ce que racontent les commentateurs, avertis ou non. Cette opinion répandue résulte notamment d'une médiatisation intense de son usage intensif de la violence extrême, très réelle cependant. Le RUF n'était pas qu'un groupe de voleurs de diamants sanguinaires mais aussi une force assez structurée avec une logique hiérarchique claire, voire une idéologie. Grâce à ces facteurs, il a mis en place des structures lui permettant d'établir les relations de gouvernant à gouvernés avec les populations urbaines sous son contrôle. Cette force rebelle a instauré un mode de gestion de la collectivité. Cela a modifié la nature de ce groupe armé, devenu, dans les zones sous son contrôle, un " appareil administratif " civil, loin d'être toujours performant mais bien identifiable comme tel. En juxtaposant les interactions complexes d'une gouvernance quotidienne, la thèse met en lumière les méthodes de gouvernance du RUF et les aspects dits " normaux " de la vie dans ces villes en guerre. Elle analyse les variables de la relation entre les membres du mouvement rebelle occupant ces communes et la population locale. Une fois une ville conquise, les rebelles sont obligés d'y faire quelque chose. Le RUF impose un " système administratif " instaurant un ordre de vie en commun dans toute cette zone. L'étude analyse donc ces outils de la gouvernance civile, mobilisés en temps de guerre. Au cours de cet étude, plusieurs recherches de terrain en Sierra Leone, ont été menées. Ces séjours sur place ont permis la réalisation de plusieurs entretiens, individuels et collectifs. Ils soutiennent les idées générales exposées dans cette thèse.
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Taqi, Fatmatta B. "Breaking barriers : women in transition : an investigation into the new emerging social sub-group of professional Muslim women in Sierra Leone." Thesis, Anglia Ruskin University, 2010. http://arro.anglia.ac.uk/266832/.
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Sierra Leone is in transition to peace and development, from a previous decade long civil war. Educated Muslim women appear to have a great deal of expression, interest and passion to offer the process. The study investigates the new emerging social sub group of professional Muslim women in Sierra Leone society and explores their views and experiences of identifying and attempting to overcome the burdens of patriarchy, oppression and exploitation perpetrated by religious, social and cultural beliefs. The research and thesis consider in what ways these women and their views ‘fit’ in or challenge society and their perceptions of the potential they have as models to impact on the lives of Sierra Leonean Muslim women nationwide. Using feminist influenced research practices in order to focus on the stories and voices of these women, the study contributes to the growth of knowledge related to the emergent changing roles and perceptions of Muslim women in present day Sierra Leone. This qualitative and interdisciplinary research develops a critical focus and deliberately combines literary sources in an informative context, with feminist research methods of interviews and focus groups on issues of gender equality and empowerment. Through the interviews and focus group discussions conducted, the research portrays the perceptions of the emerging social sub group of professional Muslim women, a cross section of grass-root Muslim women and a selection of male Muslims regarding empowerment, knowledge, culture, independence and oppression. These are also illustrated as the ways the participants embrace the concept of feminism and adapt it by drawing on their Sierra Leonean, Islamic, cultural and social traditions. The research examines the various ideologies that stifle the growth of Sierra Leonean Muslim women from their perspective and it analyses the strategies used by the professional women to tackle the oppressive and repressive customs and stand up against patriarchy. It was discovered through the findings that the research gives an insight into the determination and the conviction of professional Muslim women in advocating for social change and in making their voices heard. As an outcome, it is evidenced that this emerging social sub group of Muslim women appear to be inspiring self-development moves and changes not only among the uneducated grass-root majority, but in the fold of their Muslim men-folk, resulting in a visible impact of self development and self empowerment among Sierra Leonean Muslim women.
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Sunderland, Sheri D. "An Examination of Types of Peacekeeping Operations and their Effectiveness." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2015. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/364366.
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Political Science<br>Ph.D.<br>The current scale and scope of peacekeeping missions is unprecedented and with this increasing reliance on peacekeeping as a tool to manage threats to peace and security come questions about who should keep the peace. Is it, as many assume, the United Nations? Is it a regional organization, such as the African Union? Or is it an individual state? Each of these different types of peacekeeping operations have different strengths and weaknesses associated with them in terms of legitimacy, institutional capacity, local and regional awareness, resources, and military effectiveness. This dissertation analyzes types of peacekeeping operations to determine which is the most effective in restoring peace and stability and why. I use a structured, focused comparative case study methodology to examine eight cases of peacekeeping, across two countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone, each of which has been subject to all three types of peacekeeping operations. This approach allows me to hold a number of control variables constant, providing a clear test of the impact of the type of intervention. I found that the type of PKO makes a difference to the success or failure of that mission. PKOs run by lead states are more likely to be successful because they are more willing to use force and they are more likely to have the resources and capabilities necessary to implement that force. Further, I found that two types of PKOs working together can use their strengths to compensate for each other’s weaknesses. I also present a quantitative study with a larger sample size that both substantiates my findings and allows me to generalize them to a wider universe of cases.<br>Temple University--Theses
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Touray, Muhammed. "The Role of the Economic Community of West African States in Counterinsurgency and Conflict Resolution." ScholarWorks, 2019. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/6692.
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From 1991 to 2002, the Sierra Leone government and the Revolutionary United Front waged war against each other, subjecting Sierra Leone to a civil war. This war devastated the nation and resulted in many human casualties. Although many researchers have investigated the role of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in counterinsurgency and conflict resolution, few studies have been conducted on the specific role of strategic processing tools used by ECOWAS during the Sierra Leone war to sustain a durable peace resolution in the country. Using Galula's conceptualization of counterinsurgency and conflict resolution as a guide, the purpose of this qualitative, I used an explanatory case study to determine the elements that made strategic processing tools effective. Data were collected through open ended interviews with 10 Sierra Leoneans that experienced the conflict, publicly available documents, and mass media reports related to the Sierra Leone civil war. All data were manually coded and then subjected to constant comparative analytic procedures. The key finding of this study was that conflict resolution was successful because intervention by ECOWAS was largely viewed by Sierra Leoneans favorably and legitimate. The ECOWAS use of force was vital for the peace process. However, there were occurrences of human rights violations that were not fully resolved through the procedural mechanisms in place at the time. The positive social change implications stemming from this study includes recommendations to ECOWAS to establish a disciplinary unit to oversee violations of international humanitarian law and other serious abuses by ECOWAS troops. These actions may advance peace among religions, political parties, and ethnic groups in the region.
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Schroeder, Jacquelyn Ann. "NGO-State Relations: Freedom House Status and Cooperation Versus Conflict." Wright State University / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1358101658.
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Panda, Comfort Kenyeh. "Kono Members' Perceptions of Burial Practices and the Spread of Ebola Virus Disease." ScholarWorks, 2018. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/6088.
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Sierra Leone was heavily affected by the West African Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic from 2013 to 2016. Ongoing EVD transmission during the epidemic was connected to several factors including unsafe traditional burial practices. This phenomenological qualitative study addressed Kono members' perceived knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding how burial practices influenced EVD transmission. Rosenstock's health belief model provided the framework for the study. The participants purposefully selected from various religions and professions were interviewed individually and in focus group settings. Similar phrases and comments were identified from the interview responses resulted which resulted in the following 5 main themes: (a) Kono community leaders and public health workers were cognizant of important EVD issues, but there was a knowledge deficit among Konos about EVD and its mode of transmission; (b) although customary burial rituals were temporarily banned from 2014 to 2016, they were practiced among the Konos to promote culture-driven dignity and respect for the dead; (c) many Konos harbored grudges and mistrusted government officials and public health workers; (d) infrastructural deficits were a barrier to health care as private and public sectors lacked training and equipment to mitigate the 2013-2016 EVD outbreak; and (e) participants were willing to adopt safer burial practices if EVD outbreaks were to reemerge. These findings indicated that EVD transmission was connected to unsafe burial practices. Findings may be used to improve community engagement and public health outreach efforts to promote safer burial practices, especially during periods of infectious disease outbreaks.
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Estrada, Corpeño Tania Melissa. "Rebel Whispers : An issue-based approach to peace agreement success and civil war resolution." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-413294.
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While issues remain under-researched, peace agreement success has been linked primarily to the proper treatment of the parties’ security-related concerns. This study explores why some peace agreements succeed while others fail by using an issue-based approach arguing that issues are an expression of underlying grievances, which have caused the rebel groups to engage in armed conflict. Therefore, peace agreements that do not address the issues, which reflect grievances, will fail. I tested the hypothesis and the proposed theoretical relationship through the structured focused comparison of three peace agreements: The Lomé Peace Agreement, the Accra Peace Agreement and the Final Agreement National Government – Popular Liberation Army. The method employed in this study comprised first, determining the salience the rebel groups assigned to their issues -for which it was necessary to create a measure for issue salience- and second, examining the peace agreement’s provisions to determine if the rebel group’s issues were addressed. The results show that peace agreements that included the salient issues of the groups failed; however, peace agreements that did not include them, succeeded. Hence, the findings suggest that the inclusion of the rebel group’s issues in the peace agreement cannot account for the agreement’s success or failure.
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Kok, Chantelle. "Warlords in Africa’s “New Wars” Jonas Savimbi and Charles Taylor compared." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/4283.
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Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to describe the factors that led to the creation of
warlords in Angola and Sierra Leone so as to better understand the dynamics and
origins of warlord politics. The two warlords that were focused on, and compared,
were Jonas Savimbi (Angola) and Charles Taylor (Liberia and Sierra Leone).
Authors like Mary Kaldor (2006), William Reno (1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006,
2007) and Collier and Hoeffler (2004) contributed toward the base of this study.
Their work captured the issues contributing toward the warlord phenomenon and
generated thought surrounding the context in which these warlords arose. John
Mackinlay (2000) was used to describe and analyse the origins of warlordism and
how the warlord phenomenon has changed with the onset of new wars, especially in
the late 20th and 21st centuries (Kaldor, 2006). Furthermore, the work of Thomas H.
Greene (1984) was used in guiding this thesis into a systematic study, focusing
mainly on the leadership, following, organization, techniques and external support of
both Jonas Savimbi and Charles Taylor as examples of contemporary warlords.
Through utilizing the contributions of the above authors on this topic, the similarities
and differences between the two warlords were explored. The study found that
while Jonas Savimbi and Charles Taylor emerged from different eras and contexts
(Savimbi out of the Cold War and Taylor as a result of globalization), they both
became typical warlords. Savimbi only became a warlord after 1992. Before, Savimbi
used Maoist ideology while an insurgent against Portugal, whereafter he became a
rebel in the Angolan civil war. Taylor was a warlord in diamond-rich neighbouring
Sierra Leone. Both used identity politics to gather a following while Taylor used brute
force and the manipulation of the youth. They both manipulated illicit criminal
networking and operated internationally, smuggling diamonds. The main difference,
however, is that Taylor was an insurgent in Liberia where he seized power in 1990
and became president in 1997, while a warlord in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
Savimbi, on the other hand, never attained presidential power even though he
participated in the 1992 Angolan elections which he lost, whereafter he ceased to be
a revolutionary, and became a real warlord without the external support he previously had. Savimbi was assassinated in 2002 and Taylor abdicated in 2003,
currently standing trial in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. He
stands trial for the human right atrocities committed in Sierra Leone. Their legacies
live on.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie was om die faktore te beskryf wat gely het tot die
ontstaan van krygshere (“warlords“)in Angola en Sierra Leone, en om die dinamika
van krygsheerpolitiek beter te verstaan. Die twee krygshere waarop gefokus en
vergelyk was, is Jonas Savimbi (Angola) en Charles Taylor (Liberië en Sierra Leone).
Die denke van skrywers soos Mary Kaldor (2006), William Reno (1995, 1997, 2000,
2001, 2002, 2006, 2007) en Collier & Hoeffler (2004) het bygedra tot die basis van
hierdie studie. Hulle werk het ingesluit die aspekte wat bygedra het tot die krygsheer
fenomeen, en het besinning aangemoedig oor die agtergrondsfaktore waaruit hierdie
twee krygshere ontstaan het.
John Mackinlay (2000) se werk is gebruik om die oorsprong van krygsheerpolitiek te
beskryf, asook hoe die krygsheerfenomeen verander het met die uitbreek van “nuwe
oorloë“ (Kaldor, 2006), veral aan die einde van die 20ste en 21ste eeue. Verder is
die werk van Thomas H. Greene (1984) gebruik om hierdie tesis ‘n sistematiese
struktuur te gee wat gefokus is op die leierskap, volgelinge, organisasie, tegnieke en
eksterne ondersteuning van Jonas Savimbi en Charles Taylor. Hierdie twee persone
is albei voorbeelde van kontemporêre krygshere in die jongste verlede.
‘n Vergelykende studie verg dat ooreenkomste en verskille tussen die twee
krygshere verken word deur gebruik te maak van die bydraes van bogenoemde
skrywers. In die studie is bevind dat alhoewel Jonas Savimbi en Charles Taylor uit
verskillende eras en agtergrond kom (Savimbi uit die Koue Oorlog en Taylor as
gevolg van globalisasie), albei tipiese krygshere geword het. Savimbi het Maoistiese
ideologie gebruik terwyl hy ’n insurgent teen Portugal was. Daarná het hy ’n rebel in
die Angolese burgeroorlog geword. Hy het eers na 1992 ‘n krygsheer geword nadat
hy die verkiesing verloor het en sy buitelandse steun verloor het. Taylor, aan die
ander kant, was ‘n krygsheer in die diamantryke buurland, Sierra Leone. Altwee
krygshere het identiteitspolitiek gebruik om volgelinge te kry, terwyl Taylor ook
brutale krag en die manipulasie van die jeug gebruik het. Hulle het beide
internasionale diamante gesmokkel deur kriminele netwerke te gebruik. Die groot
vi
verskil is egter dat terwyl Taylor ‘n krygsheer in Sierra Leone was, was hy ook ‘n
insurgent in Liberië, waar hy in 1990 mag gekry het en in 1997 president geword
het.
Savimbi, aan die ander kant, het nooit presidensiële mag verkry nie, alhoewel hy
deelgeneem het aan die 1992 Angolese verkiesing. Hy het daarna opgehou om ‘n
revolusionêr en ‘n rebel te wees en het ‘n ware krygsheer geword (sonder die
eksterne ondersteuning wat hy voorheen gehad het). Savimbi is in 2002 vermoor en
Taylor het in 2003 abdikeer. Taylor is tans onder verhoor in Den Haag waar hy tereg
staan by die Internasionale Strafhof vir oorlogsmisdade en menseregteskendings in
Sierra Leone. Beide hierdie krygshere se nalatenskap leef egter voort.
42
Aagesen, Håvard. "Maktbalanse og maktfordeling : en studie av demokratiske bestrebelser i sårbare stater /." Oslo : Statsvitenskap, Universitetet i Oslo, 2007. http://www.duo.uio.no/publ/statsvitenskap/2007/58235/HxvardxAagesenxhovedoppgavexixstatsvitenskap.pdf.
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Weski, Emelie. "Law+Impunity=Legitimacy? Rethinking liberal legitimacy of international law with a feminist critical approach." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-23954.
Full textAbstract:
In here, the criminalization of sexual violence is a manifestation of increased recognition of feminism, and proof of international law reaching at liberal criteria for legitimization. Though, in making conclusions other necessary criteria for fully recognized legitimacy are acknowledged (such as other types of rights, types of security and other levels for analysis). Though, from a strict feminist critical approach the criminalization of sexual violence, and the extent of such criminalization can by itself prove legitimacy or illegitimacy.The criminalizing of sexual violence took place over 100 years ago, yet the systematic use of it in warfare was not publicly condemned until the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda) and the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal of former Yugoslavia) (Buss, 2009, p. 356) took on the duty to prosecute and convict. Still today women’s security and sexual violence are research fields that awake a lot of hostile emotions.Findings show that there is few, if any, affects for those tribunals that fail to bring justice to rape victims; calling for an analysis of Walzer’s political fit. The international praxis of impunity supports feminism in an existing ‘male truth’ risking the security of women. The legitimacy of the institution of international law is, however, not dependent on one legal procedure.Liberalist and feminist different interpretations of adequate necessity to create peace frame after 15 224 words a utilitarian illusion which slows down the pace of the implementation of a feminist security agenda. However, the progress is still evidence of strife towards the Kantian society of states. An inconsistent moral consensus finally results in the conclusion that this thesis cannot confirm the institution of international law illegitimate, arguably validating legitimacy.
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Mahony, Christopher. "International crimes prosecution case selection : the ICC, ICTR, and SCSL." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2013. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:a390aead-46cb-42bb-baa7-431540692d9d.
Full textAbstract:
International crimes prosecutions have become more common since 1993, both domestically and at international courts and tribunals. The advance of this norm confronts realist state interests causing debate about the norm's status. Kathryn Sikkink views a norm as cascading when enough states adopt it to cause international influence, without domestic pressure, to procure levels of conformity. This thesis considers the degree of conformity by observing the level of case selection independence to determine whether this norm is cascading. By identifying the jurisdictional and functional elements of case selection independence, I develop a framework for observing the interface between politics and law. While Sikkink errs towards the quantity of international crimes prosecutions, I focus on the quality. This project examines case selection independence at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the International Criminal Court, in Uganda. The project considers whether case selection has become more or less independent at these courts - whether the norm of international crimes prosecution has cascaded or contracted. In observing the various case selection independence elements I attempt to explain the observed cascades and contractions at each court. I then consider whether a cascade or contraction occurred during the period of the courts' collective design and function. The research qualitatively observes a cumulative justice contraction. The research observes a combination of factors affecting case selection independence, including shifts in power dynamics between and among weak and powerful states, increasing state sophistication in international court engagement, a shift in jurisdiction triggering actors and forums, and realist state co-option of norm entrepreneurs via endearing explanation of independence-diminishing policies.
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Sumah, Awo Yayra. "Gender discourses and state practices in civil war: a case study of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone." Thesis, 2014. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/15660.
Full textAbstract:
The post-colonial period in many African countries was, and still is, marked by political breakdown, authoritarianism and war. African state institutions saw fragmentation, breakdown and in some cases, failure. For many Africanist scholars "state weakness" is a main cause for political violence. State weakness results from pre-colonial and colonial legacies which created authoritarian structures, supported the rise of autocratic political leaders and entrenched dysfunctional state practices. Dysfunctional state practices manifest themselves during civil wars when governments and national armies exploit and rape their civilian population, failing to provide security from rebel violence. This paper argues that dysfunctional state practices during civil war are enabled by a history of gender discourses and beliefs. In the wars of the Democratic Republic of Congo and in the Sierra Leonean war, when army soldiers abused and raped civilians, they were enabled by gendered hierarchies, norms and beliefs, which they employed to legitimize and normalize their actions.
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Kabba, Munya. "Critical Investigation of the Sierra Leone Conlfict: A Moral Practical Reconstruction of Crisis and Colonization in the Evolution of Society." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1807/33851.
Full textAbstract:
This Sierra Leone Conflict arose from the society’s failure to institutionalize the requisite post-conventional organizing principle for collective will formation and for conflict resolution. In this post-traditional society - one artificially constructed from diverse political and cultural groups, without a shared ethos – only mutual (communicative) understanding can resolve differences and ensure solidarity. A lack of mutual understanding overburdens the adaptive capacity of the society, creating crises tendencies. Repression only intensified these tendencies, ensuring their eventual catastrophic explosion, 11 years civil conflict.
State hindrances to social (communicative) interaction rendered the society incapable of realizing the requisite post conventional moral learning i.e. the social intelligence or problem-solving equipment required to resolve conflict, decolonize itself, neutralize normative power, shed dogmatic consciousness, change oppressive conventions, and influential customs. Thus, the study promotes civic virtues of post conventional morality (justice, truthfulness, moral rightness) as the key for liberating the society from its crisis-inducing colonial organizing principle.
As the basis of sociology, the discipline the remains focused on society-wide problems, the theory of social evolution is adopted here to reconstruct the crisis in Sierra Leone’s constitutional democratic development. The study uses the rational reconstructive method to explicate problematic validity claims of norms, policy decisions, or the social order. The social order was rendered crisis-ridden because the reasons - the axis around which mutual understanding revolve - adduced for it cannot admit of consensus. The emerging social disintegration exemplifies use of deficient logic in social interaction, one below the requisite categorical moral cognitive consciousness.
For this research, colonization is not necessarily externally induced, but forms of understanding in the political, legal, social, and educational interactions. The key point of the study is this: today Sierra Leone achieves solidarity, and decolonize from its conventional organizing principle, only if the state, economy, and civil society can find their limit in the socio-cultural domain.
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Harris, David. "Sierra Leone: A Political History." 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/6274.
Full textAbstract:
Sierra Leone came to world attention in the 1990s when a catastrophic civil war linked to the diamond trade was reported globally. This fleet- ing and particular interest, however, obscured two crucial processes in this small West African state. On the one hand, while the civil war was momentous, brutal and affected all Sierra Leoneans, it was also just one element in the long and faltering attempt to build a nation and state given the country's immensely problematic pre-colonial and British colonial legacies. On the other, the aftermath of the war precipitated a huge inter- national effort to construct a 'liberal peace', with mixed results, and thus made Sierra Leone a laboratory for post-Cold War interventions. Sierra Leone examines 225 years of its history and fifty years of independence, placing state- society relations at the centre of an original and revealing investigation of those who have tried to rule or change Sierra Leone and its inhabitants and the responses engendered. It interweaves the historical narrative with sketches of politicians, anecdotes, the landscape and environment and key turning-points, alongside theoretical and other comparisons with the rest of Africa. It is a new contribution to the debate for those who already know Sierra Leone and a solid point of entry for those who wish to know.
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Cooper, Neil. "As good as it gets: securing diamonds in Sierra Leone." 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/5800.
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Lifongo, Maureen Namondo. "Women and peace-building in Sierra Leone : 2002-2011." Thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8460.
Full textAbstract:
M.A. (Politics)<br>This purpose of this study was to analyse the nature of women’s involvement in peace-building in Sierra Leone. The various dimensions of peace-building as set out in the African Union’s Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PRCD) programme, adopted in June 2006 by heads of governments in Banjul, The Gambia, served as the framework for analysis. The PCRD emphasises the incorporation of women in all peace-building efforts (and the mainstreaming of gender in all policies), and sets out a range of areas in terms of which women are required to be included. These are: political transition, government and democratisation; security; human rights, justice, and reconciliation; humanitarian emergency assistance; and socio-economic reconstruction and development. The analysis of the nature of women’s involvement in peace-building in Sierra Leone in these areas is structured in terms of efforts made by the government in complying with the PCRD, the efforts made by women’s groups (local, national, provincial, regional) in the country and the involvement of international organisations in partnership with either the government or women’s groups to provide assistance to female victims of violence. This study found that the government had many policies and laws which provided for women’s inclusion in peace-building efforts in the country (i.e. de jure commitment). However, its de facto commitment is questionable, since very few of these policies have in fact borne fruit. Women, for example, were not included in the 1996 Abidjan and 1999 Lomé Peace Accords – in both these agreements they were portrayed as victims needing protection, rather than as agents of change. Moreover, female representation in parliament over the past 12 years has not exceeded 14.5 per cent; the DDR programmes was largely gender-blind; the transformation of the security sector (such as the police and military) did not result in women’s inclusion in decision-making positions within these institutions; and, finally, despite the fact that the government specifically emphasised the importance of resuscitating economic activities among women in the 2005 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, there was no concrete strategy to achieve these goals. This has affected women’s involvement in the economy, since obstacles in the form of male attitudes towards their role in the economy continue to persist. However, women’s groups, on the other hand, were actively involved in facilitating women’s inclusion in peace-building efforts in the country. Groups such as the 50/50 Group have been active in mobilising for the implementation of the 30 per cent quota for women’s representation in parliament. It also conducted capacity-building workshops and training programmes to empower potential female candidates for both local and general elections. The Sierra Leonean chapter of the Forum of African Women Educationalists (FAWE-SL) played a pivotal role in addressing the trauma caused by sexual and gender-based violence. Further efforts by women’s groups include: providing capacity-building programmes to empower women (including female ex-combatants) excluded from the DDRR programme; addressing the psycho-social needs of female survivors of war (in collaboration with international organisations); providing financial and medical assistance as well as trauma counselling and healing programmes to female and child victims of domestic violence and rape; running skills training centres and other educational activities in order to increase literacy and education among women, and building emergency schools for girls whose schools were destroyed during the conflict as well as providing educational information at entry points to female returnees on their rights; and, finally, providing micro-credit loans (by the Sierra Leone Market Women’s Association (SLMWA). This has been an important aspect of the efforts of women’s groups to resuscitate economic activities among women.
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Van, der Windt Pieter Cornelis. "The Political Economy of Heterogeneous Communities: Local Governance and Cooperation in the Congo and Sierra Leone." Thesis, 2016. https://doi.org/10.7916/D8NP245G.
Full textAbstract:
In much of the developing world, the community is the arena of social interaction. Heterogeneity at this local level, combined with a weak state and economic underdevelopment, has been found to make communities particularly receptive to conflict. We know little about cooperation between members of different groups in such communities, and we know even less about the influence of actors, such as the village chief and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), that substitute for the state at this level. What role do the village chief and NGOs play in governing communities characterized by the influx of migrants? Do NGOs strengthen cleavages in heterogeneous societies? What is the role of the village elite in managing cooperation within a village? And which tools should researchers use to understand behavior at this local level? To answer these questions, this dissertation collected original data in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone. Specifically, this project builds on carefully designed lab-in-the-field and field experiments, as well as original survey and ethnographic data, to explore the political economy of heterogeneous communities. The first essay shows how local institutions in the DRC are resilient to outside intervention. Importantly, I find causal evidence that local institutions, not NGOs, are key in sustaining high levels of intra-village cooperation in the presence of migrants. The second essay shows that NGOs in the same context influence how individuals relate to their social categories. I find that NGO activity can strengthen social categories that relate to access to development resources at the cost of those that benefit local cohesion. The final essay explores discriminatory behavior based on social status in rural Sierra Leone. I find that classic experiments may be insufficient in understanding behavior at the local level. In summary, this dissertation emphasizes the importance of research tools designed to measure local behavior, and challenges the basis for current international interventions by showing the positive role of the village chief and by providing micro-level evidence for the possible harmful role that NGOs can play in heterogeneous communities.