Jo Boyden - Children and Youth on the Front Line

Children and Youth on the Front Line

General Editors: Stephen Castles and Dawn Chatty

Christopher McDowell

Edited by Christopher McDowell

Johnathan B. Bascom

Edited by Richard Black and Khalid Koser

Edited by Doreen Indra

Ahmed Karadawi

Edited by Frederick L. Ahearn, Jr.

Marc Sommers

Louise Pirouet

Edited by Dawn Chatty and Marcus Colchester

Anne Frechette

Edited by Rene Hirschon

Edited by Philomena Essed, Georg Frerks and Joke Schrijvers

Edited by Jo Boyden and Joanna de Berry

Kathryn Spellman

ETHNOGRAPHY, ARMED CONFLICT AND DISPLACEMENT

Edited by

Jo Boyden and Joanna de Berry

First published in 2004 by

Berghahn Books
www.berghahnbooks.com

2004 Jo Boyden and Joanna de Berry
Reprinted in 2007

All rights reserved.
Except for the quotation of short passages
for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented,
without the written permission of the publisher.

Children and youth on the front line: ethnography, armed conflict, and displacement/edited by Jo Boyden and Joanna de Berry.

p. cm. -- (Studies in forced migration ; v. 13)

ISBN -578-883-9 (alk. paper)

1. Children and war. 2. Children--Relocation. 3. Children and violence. 4. Child soldiers. 5. Child psychology. I. Boyden, Jo. II. Berry, Joanna de. III. Series

HQ784.W3C535 2004
35.23--DC22

2004043378

A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.

Printed in the United States on acid-free paper.

ISBN 978-1-57181-883-6 (hardback) 978-1-84545-034-2 (paperback)

Jo Boyden and Joanna de Berry

Aisling Swaine with Thomas Feeny

Carola Eyber and Alastair Ager

This book is the result of a collective process far beyond the editors and authors alone. Every chapter is based on and informed by personal conversations with children and young people, their parents and families, who know what it is to suffer the atrocities of war. Many of these remain nameless contributors in this volume, but every author would acknowledge the humbling privilege of meeting them. They have given freely of a lifetime of experience to affirm principles of strength in suffering and humanity in wartime. Deepest thanks are due to them.

Several of the chapters started as papers presented at the Children in Adversity consultation, July 2000, which was hosted by the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford and the Centre for Child-Focused Anthropological Research, Brunel University. The event was funded by The Department for International Development, The Canadian International Development Agency, UNICEF, The Bernard Van Leer Foundation, The Save the Children Alliance, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Queen Elizabeth House Oppenheimer Fund. Other chapters were presented initially at the Child Soldiers: An Anthropological Perspective workshop June 2000, hosted by the Center for Child-Focused Anthropology Research, Brunel University and funded by the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Trust. In addition, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation generously provided the funds that underpinned the work of compiling and editing the volume. We are very grateful to all of these organisations for the support and encouragement they have given us throughout.

Especial acknowledgements are due to Margaret Okole, Thomas Feeny, Jason Hart, Brian Pratt and Dawn Chatty for their comments on early drafts of the book, editorial advice and input. Margaret Okole in particular worked tirelessly to keep the editorial process going while several of the contributors were as far a field as Canada, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Sudan, East Timor and Tanzania.

Finally, we wish to thank Emmy Werner who has been a constant source of inspiration and guidance to us throughout the production of this volume and generously shared with us her wisdom and insight.