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Fighting for the Rain Forest: War, Youth and Resources in Sierra Leone (African Issues)
 
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Fighting for the Rain Forest: War, Youth and Resources in Sierra Leone (African Issues) [Paperback]

Paul Richards (Author)

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Paul Richards
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?A perceptive, passionate, and disturbing book which sheds light on issues of great current importance.?-The Journal of Development Studies

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This important book addresses several misconceptions about war, youth, and resources in Sierra Leone. Paul Richards argues that the war in Sierra Leone and other small wars in Africa do not manifest a "new barbarism." What appears as random, anarchic violence is no such thing. The terrifying military methods of Sierra Leone's soldiers may not fit Western models of warfare, but they are rational and effective. The war must be understood partly as "performance," in which techniques of terror compensate for lack of equipment.

Richards points out that Sierra Leone's war is a crisis of modernity. Sierra Leone's youth belong to a modern, trans-Atlantic culture. In remote diamond-digging camps, young people watch Rambo videos and listen to BBC news. These are part of the cultural resources with which the war is fought. The frustrations of these young people underlie the crisis. Not only the soldiers but most of the commanders are teenagers. Their aspirations are for schools and jobs. Financial stringency and the decay of the patrimonial state led directly to the government's surrender of much of the countryside.

The rain forest is also central to the war. The war is fought in the rain forest and can only be understood in the context of old traditions of social and technical management of the forest. There is no evidence that a crisis of deforestation or overpopulation has contributed to the war.

Rebuilding the state - and giving young Sierra Leoneans confidence in it - is essential for peace. But in the meantime, many people are learning to live with war, and building limited peace locally. Richards argues that aid agencies must learn from these initiatives to avoid becoming part of the economy of conflict.

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Amazon.com:  3 reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
I enjoyed this book, but had problems with certain analyses. 8 July 1999
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I feel that Richards' focus is to dispute Kaplan's New Barbarism theory, and for the most part is successful. He contends that the youth involved in the war point to political causes as their reason for fighting. This is the crux of his argument, yet I feel his evidence is not necessarily in line with such a bold statement. Chapter Four outlines his findings regarding how young people experience and react to war in contemporary Africa. While I agree that the New Barbarism theory does not consider this aspect, I do not agree with Richards' argument that these young people who are fighting the power are fully conscious of the political ramifications. My interpretations of Richards' interviews form my opinion, as I understood many of the young soldiers (particularly one named "Charlie") to have joined based on sheer survival, not due to political loyalties. While Richards tediously delineates the conflict in Sierra Leone from any inkling of the New Barbarism theory, I find it difficult to follow his argument from the angle of what is and what is not political. Part of providing a counterattack on a theory or supplying fodder for an original theory is to disprove the argument and then build yours. I feel Richards has dismantled New Barbarism, but does not necessarily provide the reader with the proper tools and equipment to rebuild it.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Worth the reading time if you are a lover of African studies 31 Aug 1999
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Richards translates sucessfully the complex background history of the current Sierra Leonean crisis into a quantified language suitable for further policy research and study on similar models. His threading of Sierra Leonean nation state history with the ongoing conflict makes his work more active. It is a great upgraded handbook for readers who seek to de-mystify the African learning experience. In that same light Richards' book lacks emotional connection with pan-African political ideology.

Read it.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Fighting for Comprehension 20 Mar 2001
By "outofafricaagain" - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Paul Richards writes this book from a controversial -- and certainly not typical -- perspective. While refreshing in this innovation, the argument is poorly structured, and Richards' writing nearly impossible to follow. I found reading this work unbelievably frustrating, and the convoluted presentation of both fact and theory inappropriate to a work of social science. Where were the editors?!?

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