About this Research Topic
The short-, medium- and long-term impact of armed conflict, occupation and post-conflict peace support operations on children is immense. This is particularly so, when a child is associated with the ‘enemy’. Among those children linked most directly to the enemy or ‘the other’ are Children Born of War (CBOW). Fathered by foreign enemy, occupation, or peacekeeping soldiers and born to local mothers, they may be connected with the conflict and the enemy in a unique way that makes them vulnerable to a range of adversities. Yet, at the same time, children whose biological provenance has placed them at the intersection of former adversaries also provides them with a unique opportunity to act as a bridge between communities that had previously been in conflict and thus they might be uniquely placed to drive forward transitional justice agendas that provide sustainable solutions for fragile post-conflict societies.
In recent years, academic research and policy-focused work have explored an increasingly broad range of themes related both to the life course experience of children born of war as well as their exclusion from and inclusion in post-conflict reconciliation. This was done from a variety of disciplinary angles including history, anthropology, law, psychology, psychiatry and public health, but often research has remained localised and fragmented; the perspectives of the different stakeholders (children, mothers, fathers, local communities, political actors, policymakers, rights’ advocates) continue to be frequently disconnected.
For this Research Topic we are particularly interested in contributions that:
• Bridge perspectives of different stakeholders,
• Explore some of the under-researched areas in CBOW research including underrepresented geographical areas (e.g. Asia, the Middle East, Oceania and Latin America,
• The perspectives of the children born of war as minors to develop research that moves beyond retrospective perspective on childhood experiences,
• The perspectives of the fathers and the role assigned to fathers in post-conflict justice for children and mothers,
• Family and kinship relations around CBOW in fragile post-conflict situations,
• The intersection of different challenges (e.g. economic hardship, single-parent families, ethnicity, fatherlessness, resultant stigmatization),
• Discuss transgenerational themes,
• Introduce innovative methodological approaches to CBOW research, particular with view to inclusion of children as participants, use of mixed qualitative/quantitative methodologies or longitudinal research,
• Investigate internationally comparative topics,
• Analyze intersectoral aspects that relate research insights and programming or evaluate current policies and programming in light of recent progress in research,
• Explore conceptualizations or methodologies of knowledge translation beyond traditional programming (e.g. arts or performance-based projects, educational initiatives, community-based grassroots initiatives).
In recent years, academic research and policy-focused work have explored an increasingly broad range of themes related both to the life course experience of children born of war as well as their exclusion from and inclusion in post-conflict reconciliation. This was done from a variety of disciplinary angles including history, anthropology, law, psychology, psychiatry and public health, but often research has remained localised and fragmented; the perspectives of the different stakeholders (children, mothers, fathers, local communities, political actors, policymakers, rights’ advocates) continue to be frequently disconnected.
For this Research Topic we are particularly interested in contributions that:
• Bridge perspectives of different stakeholders,
• Explore some of the under-researched areas in CBOW research including underrepresented geographical areas (e.g. Asia, the Middle East, Oceania and Latin America,
• The perspectives of the children born of war as minors to develop research that moves beyond retrospective perspective on childhood experiences,
• The perspectives of the fathers and the role assigned to fathers in post-conflict justice for children and mothers,
• Family and kinship relations around CBOW in fragile post-conflict situations,
• The intersection of different challenges (e.g. economic hardship, single-parent families, ethnicity, fatherlessness, resultant stigmatization),
• Discuss transgenerational themes,
• Introduce innovative methodological approaches to CBOW research, particular with view to inclusion of children as participants, use of mixed qualitative/quantitative methodologies or longitudinal research,
• Investigate internationally comparative topics,
• Analyze intersectoral aspects that relate research insights and programming or evaluate current policies and programming in light of recent progress in research,
• Explore conceptualizations or methodologies of knowledge translation beyond traditional programming (e.g. arts or performance-based projects, educational initiatives, community-based grassroots initiatives).
Keywords: Children born of war, transitional justice, stigma, identity, peacekeeper-fathered children, peacebuilding, political participation
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
