ABSTRACT
So far this book has forwarded the case that the practice of new war in Sierra Leone and South Sudan can be understood only with reference to local configurations of gender. The previous two chapters argued that masculinity was essential in developing the practices of new warrior groups at the local and organisational levels. This chapter looks at the structural forces which propelled men to initiate new war in each situation, and the implications this has for the study of contemporary conflict. The societal dynamics of conflict are explored through R. W. Connell’s (2005, p. 111) understandings of protest masculinity and oppositional masculinity, in conjunction with Deniz Kandiyoti’s (1988) concept of patriarchal bargains.
