ISTR Sixth International Conference Toronto, Canada / July 11-14, 2004 Contesting Citizenship and Civil Society in a Divided World

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How 'Civil' is the Society in Post-War Countries? Challenges and Opportunities facing Civil Societies in Liberia and Sierra Leone
by
Charles Ukeje
Department of International Relations, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife

When the guns are silent, and the tasks of post-war reconstruction and governance commence, post-conflict societies are generally confronted with overwhelming challenges they often lacked the capacity and wherewithal to effectively cope with. In Africa, in particular, such challenges range from rehabilitating war-affected and displaced persons to that of reconstructing the war-ravaged economies. Often, the challenges manifest in the sheer inability of (or lack of capacity by) post-conflict societies to cope with the collapse of the economy and to rehabilitate municipal infrastructures such as health care, roads, water and housing. Others are to create employment opportunities, arrest inflation, and provide an enabling environment for genuine national reconciliation. In short, then, the basis for post-war governance and social security in war-torn societies is severely undermined.

Whereas the experiences of civil societies in developing countries like those in Africa are markedly diverse in different cultural/ institutional/ national contexts, such differences are much more profound in countries emerging from prolonged civil wars than extant literature has cared to pay attention to. Because the specific encounters of the civil society in post-war countries have not been adequately accounted for, there is tendency to generalise their specific experiences and conditions based on those of civil societies in stable political situations. The major assumption underlying this paper, then, is that the central notions of the ‘civil society’ must be applied with qualification, perhaps even caution; rather than generally, in the context of post-war countries. Accordingly, the paper interrogates critically the status of, and challenges facing the civil society in post-civil war societies, drawing on fascinating comparative materials and lessons from Liberia and Sierra Leone-- two neighbouring West African countries that imploded into brutal civil wars during much of the 1990s, and which are now coping in different ways, with the daunting challenges of post-war governance.

The paper will engage several critical questions. First, can we truly speak of a ‘civil society’ in countries emerging from protracted civil wars in the absence of the major ingredients necessary for the existence, reproduction and survival of civil society itself, defined in terms of a vibrant associational network outside the purview of, or control by government? Second, what are the characteristics of post-war civil societies? Third, how ‘civil’ are such civil societies given their prolonged exposure to violence and chaos during the civil war years, and in the context of marginalization, exclusion and denial of access to subsidised opportunities that are very rampant in post-war societies? Fourth, what factors and forces (internal and external) shape the orientation and activities of the civil society in post-war countries? Fifth, are they ma6rkedly different in form and content from the experiences of civil society in stable countries? Sixth, how do civil societies cope with ruptures in social networks and interactions occasioned by civil wars in the aftermath of such conflagrations? Seventh, what new social networks develop after civil wars end, and how do civil society groups adapt to or negate them? Eighth, what is the modus operandi of civil society in post-war countries, especially in terms of engaging and confronting new forms of political, economic and social exclusions? Ninth, what are the characters of social networks within the civil society itself, and between civil society and other categories such as the state, in post-war societies? If indeed there is a broad understanding that the civil society is much weaker in post-war countries, what should be the most innovative steps towards rebuilding them, either from within or outside? Finally, what should be the specific roles of governments, humanitarian agencies and the international donor community in such countries in terms of rebuilding the civil society forces and institutions? These, and many other critical questions shall be the focus of the paper. (616 words)

Date received: September 30, 2003

Copyright © 2003 by the author(s). The author(s) of this document and the organizers of the conference have granted their consent to include this abstract in Atlas Conferences Inc. Document # caml-84.