Introduction

According to the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration framework and post-conflict reconstruction scholarship, returning rebel abducted persons formerly to their original home communities is the most effective solution to the challenge of reintegration. It is hoped that immediate families and communities will support the process of reintegration through familial and community ties, care and general acceptance. While this undoubtedly sounds good in theory, experiences in northern Uganda show that reintegration can be fraught with difficulties. They show that ‘home’—a place of hope and comfort—can also be a hostile environment, which leaves formerly abducted persons particularly women in precarious and vulnerable situations. This chapter introduces the central argument of the book which is reintegration is not reintegration at all, as it can—and often does—coincide with further exclusion and alienation of persons returning home from rebel groups. The chapter also introduces core themes of the book, with a specific focus on reintegration, gender and post-conflict reconstruction. It considers the theory and practice behind reintegration and introduces the fieldwork that was used to evaluate the reintegration process in northern Uganda.