Child Soldiering Global Perspectives and in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the historical background of child soldiering, its causes (pull and push factors), as well as the variations in modes of recruitment (conscriptions and voluntary enlistments). The use of children in armed conflict is referenced to three worldviews, where childhood is explained in dynamic terms and how this conceptualisation of childhood differs from African and Western perspectives, and from the point of view of international legislation. This chapter further explores the variations in child soldiers’ recruitment, paradoxical child soldiering portrayals, child agency and resilience. It finally examines the concept of globalisation and the challenges that it poses to the child soldiering phenomenon, and the opportunities it offers to protect children and prevent them from joining fighting forces.