In search for emancipatory hybridity: the case of post-war Sierra Leone

Abstract

Hybridity is increasingly becoming a common terminology in the study of contemporary peacebuilding in post-war societies. While the literature on hybridity has offered us insights into the existence of ‘local’ agency in peacebuilding as well as the limits of the liberal peace, much of the literature fails to engage with the types of hybridity that are emerging in these contexts and their implications for durable peace. Drawing on fieldwork in Sierra Leone and expanding on Robert Belloni's typology of hybridity, this article examines the types of hybridity that are emerging in post-war Sierra Leone including the possibilities of hybridity that is emancipatory or transformative. I argue that the different types of hybridity that are emerging in Sierra Leone do not necessarily lead to emancipation as some of them have failed to promote welfare, human interests and needs, as well as reinforce patron–client ties which risks creating conditions for war or instability.