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Converts to Human Rights? Popular Debate About War and justice in Rural Central Sierra Leone

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Steven Archibald  and
Paul Richards
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Abstract

Internationally, war in Sierra Leone (1991–2002) is regarded as an instance of violent conflict driven by economic factors (attempts to control the mining of alluvial diamonds). Fieldwork (2000–01) in rural areas recovering from war suggests a very different picture. War victims and combatants from different factions stress the importance of political decay, corruption, injustice and the social exclusion of young people. Other studies confirm the picture. There is broadly based discussion in rural communities about how to address the injustices held to have been responsible for the war. It seems in line with wider debate about human rights. Are people being converted to international ideals? Applying a neo-Durkheimian perspective, the article shows that this discourse about rights is a product of local social changes brought about by the war itself. The article concludes by asking how it might be consolidated by rights-oriented reconstruction activity. Human rights in Sierra Leone are as much a local development as an imposed change. In this respect the study confirms the importance of local agency already argued by anthropologists who have studied the process of conversion to world religions.

Résumé

Au plan international, la guerre au Sierra Leone (1991–2002) est considérée comme un exemple de conflit violent poussé par des facteurs économiques (spécifiquement, des tentatives de contrôle de l'extraction minière alluviale de diamants). Des recherches menées sur le terrain (2000–2001) dans des régions rurales affectées par la guerre suggèrent une situation très différente. Les victimes de la guerre et ceux qui ont combattu auprès de factions différentes insistent sur l'importance de la dégradation du paysage politique, de la corruption, de l'injustice et de l'exclusion sociale des jeunes. D'autres études confirment cette situation. Un large débat s'est engagé au sein des communautés rurales pour identifier des moyens de lutter contre les injustices tenues pour responsables de la guerre. Ce débat semble correspondre à un débat plus large sur les droits de l'homme. Assiste-t-on à une conversion aux idéaux internationaux? Adoptant une perspective néodurkheimienne, l'article montre que ce discours sur les droits est un produit des changements sociaux locaux provoqués par la guerre elle-même. L'article conclut en demandant comment une action de reconstruction axée sur les droits peut permettre une consolidation. Au Sierra Leone, les droits de l'homme sont autant une émergence locale qu'un changement imposé. A cet égard, l'étude confirme l'importance de l'action locale déjà invoquée par les anthropologues qui ont étudié le processus de conversion aux religions du monde.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 72 , Issue 3 , August 2002 , pp. 339 - 367
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2002

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