The structuring effect of violence on the organization and mobilization of rural youth in Jonglei
Conference Paper
Breidlid, Ingrid Marie & Øystein H. Rolandsen (2013) The structuring effect of violence on the organization and mobilization of rural youth in Jonglei, presented at ECAS 2013, Lisbon, Portugal, 27–29 June.
"Youth” in Jonglei, South Sudan is not on the margins of society or fully
embedded in the “traditional” structures. War and recent large scale
violence have changed structures for youth mobilisation and collective
action,and transformed political, social and economic dynamics in
Jonglei.
This paper is based on in-depth
research on youth organisation and mobilisation in the state of Jonglei,
South Sudan. Widespread violence perpetrated by "youth" (young men from
15 to 40 years) is an obstacle to the post-war stabilisation efforts of
the newly independent South Sudan. The state of Jonglei became the
subject of international attention following the mass-killings in Pibor
County in December 2011. This specific attack was, however, part of a
larger spiral of violence with roots in the previous civil war
(1983-2005). This "youth violence" is often attributed to a range of
simplistic assumptions: breakdown of chiefs and elders' control of the
youth, the "cattle complex" (raiding for gain and marriage), abundance
of guns, meddling by external forces and even female infertility. The
paper problematises these explanations and the conventional
understandings of "youth" and youth mobilisation.
Preliminary
findings indicate that "rural youth" in Jonglei is neither operating on
the margins of society nor fully within the "traditional" social
structures. The civil war shaped new structures for mobilization, which
are still being used to mobilize young men in Jonglei's rural areas for
community protection, economic activities, cultural events, and
political processes. Concomitantly, war and large scale violence is
transforming local economies and generational relations as well as
blurring the historical urban/rural divide. Moreover, in the absence of a
well-functioning state authority, systems for youth mobilisation are
presently considered to be the main guarantees of security at the local
level.
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