Youth in Conflict and Peacebuilding Mobilization, Reintegration and Reconciliation

Youth in Conflict and Peacebuilding gives weight to the role of youth in peacebuilding, with specific reference to the processes of mobilisation, reintegration and reconciliation. Özerdem and Podder reject the pejorative notion of youth as a security threat, a notion that still pervades the literature and practice of peacebuilding. The main objective of this study is, therefore, to provide a new conceptualisation of youth as a harbinger of peace, whether at an international or local level.

By adopting a multi-disciplinary approach that identifies key themes in the analysis of its two main case studies of Liberia and Mindanao in the Philippines, this study maps out the debate surrounding the role of youth in post-conflict environments and draws from a wide range of cross-cultural examples. The failure to recognise youths as political actors can result in their contribution to peacebuilding being ignored, wasted and, at best, under-utilised. In recognising their agency as legitimate political actors, Özerdem and Podder address the need for a comprehensive understanding of their valuable contribution to peacebuilding.

Professor Alpaslan Özerdem is Co-Director of the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University, UK. He specialises in the politics of post-conflict reconstruction; reintegration of ex-combatants and peacebuilding. Professor Özerdem and Dr Podder are the editors of Child Soldiers: From Recruitment to Reintegration (Palgrave, 2011).

Sukanya Podder is Assistant Professor at the Centre for International Security and Resilience at Cranfield University, UK. Her research, advisory and consulting work is focused upon issues of post-conflict reconstruction; statebuilding; non-state armed groups; security sector reform and youth involvement in conflict and peacebuilding.