War Veterans in Postwar Situations / The Sciences Po Series in International Relations and Political Economy (PDF)

NATHALIE DUCLOS Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Tours, France.

"This collection of studies significantly expands the debate on programs of disarmament, demobilization and social reintegration of ex-combatants after violent conflict. Based on extensive fieldwork over a dozen case studies, it further demonstrates the value of bringing together sociological, historical and political science approaches to the configurations of peace, and will be welcomed by scholars of other disciplines including international relations, peace studies and political economy." - Michael Pugh, professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Bradford, United Kingdom

'This edited book is a welcome addition to the ever-growing literature on ex-combatants. It breaks new ground by comparing and contrasting the experiences of combatants in 'old' and 'new' wars, interstate and intrastate conflicts, and by recasting the issue of 'post-war' demobilization and disarmament in historical light. In so doing, Duclos and her collaborators break free from the limits of evaluative approaches to DDR programs. By focusing on the trajectories of combatants, the various chapters stress the importance of often discounted factors in shaping the experiences of soldiers and rebels alike. The volume highlights elements such as public discourse commemorating or denying the war experiences of combatants, veteran policies or the lack thereof, sociability networks and identity transformations. Most importantly, the volume reminds us that demobilization and disarmament are but a first step; assessing the endurance or the fading of 'brutalization', or the socialization of combatants into a very specific and violent repertoire of actions, is a much more nuanced and useful way to assess whether the return of ex-combatants to civilian life will bear the seeds of destabilization." - Marie-Joëlle Zahar, Associate Professor of Political Science and Research Director of the Réseau des opérations de paix, Université de Montréal