Peacebuilding Inc.: neoliberal influences on Rwanda’s vulnerable youth IRB

ABSTRACT

Despite the notion that lasting peace is dependent upon youth participation, their contributions to peacebuilding are often overlooked by policymakers and scholars. Drawing on the case of Rwandan vulnerable youth, this article discusses how youth frame and describe their role in the national neoliberal peace agenda. This study draws from a mixed-method study with a survey and focus groups based at a Rwandan non-governmental organisation secondary boarding school. Findings suggest that a neoliberal national narrative plays an important role in youth prioritising economic participation and engaging in entrepreneurship as primary paths towards peacebuilding.

KEYWORDS:

• Peace education
• Sub Saharan Africa
• mixed methods
• post-conflict
• neoliberal reform

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).