What is the political legacy of violent conflict? This paper presents evidence for a link between war, violence and increased individual political participation and leadership among former combatants and victims of violence, and uses this link to understand the deeper determinants of individual political behavior. The setting is northern Uganda, where rebel recruitment methods generated quasi-experimental variation in who became a rebel conscript and who did not. Original survey data shows that the exogenous element of conscription (by abduction) leads to significantly greater political participation later in life. The principal determinant of this increased political participation, moreover, appears to be war violence experienced. Meanwhile, abduction and violence do not appear to affect multiple non-political types of community participation. I show that these patterns are not easily explained by models of participation based on simple rational preferences, social preferences, mobilization by elites, or information availability. Only 'expressive' theories of participation appear consistent with the patterns observed, whereby exposure to violence augments the value a person places on the act of political expression itself. The implications for general theories of political participation are discussed.

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From Violence to Voting: War and Political Participation in Uganda

What is the political legacy of violent conflict? I present evidence for a link from past violence to increased political engagement among excombatants. The evidence comes from northern Uganda, where rebel recruitment generated quasiexperimental variation in who was conscripted by abduction. Survey data suggest that abduction leads to substantial increases in voting and community leadership, largely due to elevated levels of violence witnessed. Meanwhile, abduction and violence do not appear to affect nonpolitical participation. These patterns are not easily explained by conventional theories of participation, including mobilization by elites, differential costs, and altruistic preferences. Qualitative interviews suggest that violence may lead to personal growth and political activation, a possibility supported by psychological research on the positive effects of traumatic events. Although the generalizability of these results requires more evidence to judge, the findings challenge our understanding of political behavior and point to important new avenues of research.

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Since 1989, international efforts to end protracted conflicts have included sustained investments in the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) of combatants. Yet while policy analyst...

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Demobilization and Reintegration

In the past decade, nearly 20 studies have found a strong, persistent pattern in surveys and behavioral experiments from over 40 countries: individual exposure to war violence tends to increase social cooperation at the local level, including community participation and prosocial behavior. Thus while war has many negative legacies for individuals and societies, it appears to leave a positive legacy in terms of local cooperation and civic engagement. We discuss, synthesize and reanalyze the emerging body of evidence, and weigh alternative explanations. There is some indication that war violence especially enhances in-group or "parochial" norms and preferences, a finding that, if true, suggests that the rising social cohesion we document need not promote broader peace.

Can War Foster Cooperation

We study a government program in Uganda designed to help the poor and unemployed become self-employed artisans, increase incomes, and thus promote social stability. Young adults in Uganda’s conflict-affected north were invited to form groups and submit grant proposals for vocational training and business start-up. Funding was randomly assigned among screened and eligible groups. Treatment groups received unsupervised grants of $382 per member. Grant recipients invest some in skills training but most in tools and materials. After four years, half practice a skilled trade. Relative to the control group, the program increases business assets by 57%, work hours by 17%, and earnings by 38%. Many also formalize their enterprises and hire labor. We see no effect, however, on social cohesion, antisocial behavior, or protest. Effects are similar by gender but are qualitatively different for women because they begin poorer (meaning the impact is larger relative to their starting point) and because women’s work and earnings stagnate without the program but take off with it. The patterns we observe are consistent with credit constraints.

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Generating Skilled Self-Employment in Developing Countries: Experimental Evidence from Uganda*

CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIES/LES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. Vancouver: Liu Institute for Global Issues, University of British Columbia, 2004. Human Rights Watch. The War Within the War: Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls in Eastern Congo. 2002. Online: http://hrw. org/reports/2002/drc. Human Rights Watch. Struggling To Survive: Barriers to Justice for Rape Victims in Rwanda. 2004. Online . Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Task Force on Gender and Humanitarian Assistance Guidelines for Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings. Focusing on Prevention of and Response to Sexual Violence in Emergencies. 2005. Online :http:// www.humanitarian info.org/iasc/ c o n t e n t / p r o d u c t s / d o c s / t f g e n d e r _ G B V G u i d e l i n e s 2005.pdf McKay, Susan and Dyan Mazurana. Where are the Girls? Girls in Fighting Forces in Northern Uganda, Sierra Leone and Mozambique: Their Lives During and After War. Montreal: Rights and Democracy. Ottawa: CIDA, 2004. NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security. Four years On: An Alternative Report and Progress Check on the Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325. Online: http://www.peacewomen. o r g / u n / U N 1 3 2 5 / u n / n g o / ngopub/FourYearsOnOct04.pdf. United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and Save the Children–UK Note for Implementing and Operational Partners on Sexual Violence and Exploitation: The Experience of Refugee Children in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. 2002 Online: http://www.savethechildren. org.uk/scuk_cache/scuk/cache/ cmsattach/1550_unhcr-scuk_ wafrica_report.pdf. faded to deep peony from the original rose, but ever small and elegant as would become any young lady who traveled in the cool days of Frank and Ella, wearing white gloves like Grace and a knotted silk square like Audrey.

Where Are the Girls? Girls in Fighting Forces in Northern Uganda, Sierra Leone and Mozambique: Their Lives During and After War

What are the impacts of war on the participants, and do they vary by gender? Are ex-combatants damaged pariahs who threaten social stability, as some fear? Existing theory and evidence are both inconclusive and focused on males. New data and a tragic natural quasi-experiment in Uganda allow us to estimate the impacts of war on both genders, and assess how war experiences affect reintegration success. As expected, violence drives social and psychological problems, especially among females. Unexpectedly, however, most women returning from armed groups reintegrate socially and are resilient. Partly for this reason, postconflict hostility is low. Theories that war conditions youth into violence find little support. Finally, the findings confirm a human capital view of recruitment: economic gaps are driven by time away from civilian education and labor markets. Unlike males, however, females have few civilian opportunities and so they see little adverse economic impact of recruitment.

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Civil War, Reintegration, and Gender in Northern Uganda:

The Survey for War Affected Youth (SWAY) is a research program dedicated to evidence-based humanitarian aid and development SWAY employs new data tools and analysis to improve the design and targeting of protection assistance and reintegration programs for youth in northern Uganda Youth have been both the primary victims and the primary actors in the protracted war between the Government of Uganda (GoU) and the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) It is not clear however exactly who is suffering how much and in what ways We also have little sense of the magnitude incidence and nature of the violence trauma and suffering of youth in northern Uganda Our understanding of the effects of war on women and girls is especially lacking whether they abducted or impacted in other ways Government and NGO officials admit that they have little sense of the true scale of the problems facing young women and the proportion of females facing particular vulnerabilities As a result programming is based on immediate and observable needs and possibly erroneous assumptions about who requires assistance and what assistance they need Likewise with only rough measures of well-being available targeting of services has been crude The overarching purpose of SWAY is to work with service providers to generate better evidence-based programming This report begins with a section describing methodology before proceeding to theme-focused sections As peace talks being brokered by the Government of Southern Sudan offer the prospect of an end to one of Africas longest conflicts we conclude by offering specific recommendations to the GoU and international and local agencies operating in northern Uganda (excerpt)

The state of female youth in northern Uganda: Findings from the Survey of War-Affected Youth (SWAY) Phase II.

The question "Where are the girls?" is seldom raised in discussions about children or adolescents who are members of fighting forces and groups. This is due in large part to the near exclusive focus on boy soldiers. Consequently, scant attention has been given to girls' active involvement and distinct experiences in these forces and groups, whether as combatants or noncombatants. The purpose of this article is to explicate the presence and experiences of girls in fighting forces and groups and some of the challenges they face after they leave these forces and groups and attempt to resume their lives within their communities. We use descriptive data gathered from a wide variety of organizational and scholarly reports to identify girls' involvement and roles in these forces and groups, detail how they are recruited and demobilized, and examine common physical and psychosocial effects of their participation. We contend that during and after armed conflicts, gender-specific physical and psychological impacts ...

Girls in fighting forces and groups: Their recruitment, participation, demobilization, and reintegration.

Chapter 1 Gender, Conflict, Peacekeeping Part 2 Gender, Complex Political Emergencies, and International Intervention Chapter 3 Gender and the Causes and Consequences of Armed Conflict Chapter 4 Gender Mainstreaming in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Talking the Talk, Tripping over the Walk Part 5 Gender, Peacekeeping, and International Humanitarian, Criminal, and Human Rights Law Chapter 6 Prosecution of Gender-based Crimes in International Law Chapter 7 The Renewed Popularity of the Rule of Law: Implications for Women, Impunity, and Peacekeeping Part 8 Inside Peacekeeping Operations Chapter 9 Peacekeeping Trends and Their Gender Implications for Regional Peacekeeping Forces in Africa: Progress and Challenges Chapter 10 Gender, War, and Peace in Mozambique and Angola: Advances and Absences Chapter 11 Peacekeeping, Alphabet Soup, and Violence Against Women in the Balkans Chapter 12 The Namibian Peace Operation in a Gender Context Part 13 Peacekeeping Operations, International Intervention and Gender-Just Peacemaking and Peacebuilding Chapter 14 The Post-Conflict Postscript: Gender and Policing in Peace Operations Chapter 15 The Guatemalan Peace Accords: Critical Reflections Chapter 16 Les Femmes Aux Milles Bras: Building Peace in Rwanda Chapter 17 State-making, Peacemaking, and the Inscription of Gendered Politics into Peace: Lessons from Angola Chapter 18 Mainstreaming Gender in United Nations Peacekeeping Training: Examples from East Timor, Ethiopia, and Eritrea Chapter 19 What if Patriarchy is The Big Picture? An Afterword

Dyan Mazurana

Papers

Where Are the Girls? Girls in Fighting Forces in Northern Uganda, Sierra Leone and Mozambique: Their Lives During and After War

Civil War, Reintegration, and Gender in Northern Uganda:

The state of female youth in northern Uganda: Findings from the Survey of War-Affected Youth (SWAY) Phase II.

Girls in fighting forces and groups: Their recruitment, participation, demobilization, and reintegration.

Gender, conflict, and peacekeeping