Contextualising reintegration: conceptualising and measuring ex-combatant reintegration relative to civilians
In: Civil wars, Band 22, Heft 4, S. 453-477
ISSN: 1743-968X
Reintegrating ex-combatants back into society is central to peace building, yet remains poorly understood. This is largely due to the difficulties of conceptualising and measuring reintegration. This paper argues that comparing ex-combatants and civilians can contribute to improved measures of reintegration, and to a better understanding of what it means in a given context. A novel theoretical and methodological approach is proposed, drawing on social cohesion research and creating a composite indicator of reintegration, allowing for comparisons between ex-combatants and civilians, and providing insights about how they differ and why. The approach is demonstrated using surveys from Colombia.