Ex-combatant agency and re-recruitment

Abstract

ABSTRACTPrevious research on ex-combatant re-recruitment into armed violence has focused on the role of structures and facilitating conditions but has overlooked the question of individual agency and choices. The article fills this gap in the literature by presenting an original typology of ex-combatant agency drawing on Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory. Four types of agency, namely tactical, rational, reflective and moral are identified as corresponding with key characteristics of human agency, namely self-reactiveness, forethought, self-reflectiveness and intentionality. These interact with multiple enabling and inhibiting factors to shape ex-combatant decision-making. Premised on such a conceptualisation, at least six types of choices are observed through a process of conceptual scoping that allows structure and agency to be considered in tandem. A critical engagement with disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) as a security practice exposes the problems with core terminologies and the politics surrounding the militarisation and demilitarisation of children and youth. It advances a critical security studies agenda in the study of ex-combatant reintegration.