Justice and Security Reform : Development Agencies and Informal Institutions in Sierra Leone

In a context in which security sector reform has become a pervasive development strategy, Justice and Security Reform considers the necessity and difficulty of engaging with informal (as well as formal) actors in this context, whilst assessing the impact of this engagement on the effectiveness of development programming. The book argues that in not engaging with the primary locus of security provision , informal actors such as chiefs and secret societies, the effectiveness of reforms has remained limited. Informal actors are a common feature of many fragile and conflict-affected states, and including them in SSR programming is, it is argued, crucial if reforms are to produce sustainable improvements.

Justice and Security Reform: Development Agencies and Informal Institutions in Sierra Leone undertakes a deep contextual analysis of the reform of the country’s security and justice sectors since the end of the civil war in 2002. Arguing that the political and bureaucratic nature of development agencies leads to a lack of engagement with informal institutions, this book examines the challenges of sustainably transforming security and justice in fragile states. Through the analysis of a post-conflict context often held up as an example of successful peacebuilding, Lisa Denney reveals how the politics of development agencies is an often forgotten constraint in security and justice reform and development efforts more broadly.

Particularly suited to upper-level undergraduates and postgraduate students, as well as practitioners, this book is relevant to those interested in security and justice reform and statebuilding, as well Sierra Leone’s post-conflict recovery.