THE SPATIAL AND SOCIAL IMPACTS OF SIERRA LEONE'S CIVIL WAR 1991-2001

Sierra Leone's Civil war A decade of civil war in Sierra Leone resulted in cataclysmic consequences, including, the massive internal displacement of civilians and the creation of refugees. The study is a detailed micro-level analysis of warfare in Sierra Leone from ‘eyewitnesses' who invariably were also ‘victims.' The study is used to examine three interconnected issues associated with the perspectives of these victims: whether explanations provided in African civil war discourse correspond with their experiences; the impacts of the war on their livelihoods; and the coping strategies they adopted to adapt to displacement. The victims believe that a socio-cultural explanation, “hatred minds” rather than neopatrimonial rule or the diamond trade as espoused in the literature, is the overriding explanation for the war. Accounts from victims reveal also that even though they were faced with numerous socio-economic difficulties, they developed and adopted a number of strategies to cope with displacement.