Beyond the ‘Crisis of Youth’? Mining, farming, and civil society in post-war Sierra Leone

摘要

Sierra Leone’s conflict has often been characterized as a ‘crisis of youth’.nFor some, the post-war resurgence of grassroots associational life representsnthe unleashing of long-suppressed youth egalitarianism, yet thisnanalysis tends to ignore the role of international aid in providing an economicnincentive for impoverished Sierra Leoneans to embrace formalnassociation. Case study evidence also shows that politics of ‘community’nidentification and moral economies of patronage continue to affect postwarnaid. Evidence of post-war social change can nevertheless be found outsidenthe development sector. Diamond mining has long served as a drivernof cultural modernization in Sierra Leone and detailed examination ofnpost-war associational life in Kono District reveals that new foci and techniquesnof social activism have emerged since the end of the civil war. Thendecline of artisanal mining, with the expansion of large-scale industrialnmining, and renewed interest in farming are driving a parallel resurgencenof associational life in rural areas. Given that most Sierra Leoneans continuento depend on farming, this rural resurgence could yet represent thenmost durable basis for democratic change in Sierra Leone.