Social Integration of Ex-combatants after Civil War

Civil war is commonly viewed as the result of a fracturing of society resulting in social disintegration. As such, post-conflict reconstruction programs often aim at social integration in order to rebuild the social fabric that existed prior to the conflict, including special programs to re-integrate ex-combatants following their disarmament and demobilisation. Yet this perception of civil war as disintegration and the post-conflict phase as integration (or re-integration) obfuscates the reality of civil war. Civil war is not purely the disintegration of society. Instead, it is more accurate to describe it as the disintegration of the broad social community, and the social integration of certain members of the community into a new social fabric: the war family. In other words, civil war is both a destructive and constructive process; disintegrating broader social bonds, while constructing smaller more exclusive ones. Social integration is not only a positive process with a peaceful outcome, but can also provide a foundation for the formation of competing group identities. The challenge after war is not only to reintegrate combatants into society, but also to address the social bonds of the war family and combatant society. This paper argues that social disintegration must take place once again at the end of war to eliminate these combatant bonds before positive reintegration aimed at strengthening norms of non-violence and peaceful co-existence, building social relations, and sustaining the peace process can occur.