War Trauma and Psychosocial Disorders among African Combatants (20th-21st centuries)
Interroger les traumatismes de guerre. Combattant·e·s africain·e·s et désordres psychosociaux (XXe-XXIe siècles)
Published on Monday, April 28, 2025
Abstract
The aim of this special issue is to examine the notion of ‘war trauma’ in the light of the experiences of 20th- and 21st-century African combatants affected by violence in which they played an active part—to the point where a return to life before the fighting has become impossible.
Announcement
Argument
The aim of this special issue is to examine the notion of “war trauma” in the light of the experiences of 20th- and 21st-century African combatants affected by violence in which they played an active part—to the point where a return to life before the fighting has become impossible. The term “combatant” includes people who have the legal status of members of the armed forces of State and who take a direct part in hostilities. The term “fighter” is used to described members of organized non-state armed groups who participate in hostilities. For the purposes of this call, we use the term “combatant” to refer to both combatants and fighters.
Firstly, we would like to document the experiences of combatants confronted with psychological or social disorders, breakdowns, and suffering. Secondly, we need to analyse the care and support provided, or the lack thereof, whether they are linked to biomedical, military, family, or religious institutions, or whether they are seen in social or therapeutic terms. Finally, it is important to study the issues associated with the moral, social, and political (non-)recognition of the combat experience, as well as reparations and their consequences for individuals—taking into account the multiple temporalities in which these phenomena are embedded or sometimes (re)activated.
Few research studies have focused on the “abnormal” manifestations, psychic decompensation, mental “disorders,” psychological suffering, and social breakdown affecting African combatants. Historians have broken new ground by documenting, for example, the traumatic memories of South African veterans of the First World War who returned home (Delport 2016) or the war neuroses analysed by the French military among North African soldiers during the Second World War (Le Gac 2017). Others have examined the psychiatric care of former Moroccan riflemen returning from the Indochina War (Doudou 2018), and the notion of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been criticized in the light of published memoirs of South African conscripts sent to fight in the South African Border War of 1966-1988 (Doherty 2015).
In more contemporary settings and situations of so-called civil wars or violent insurgencies and counterinsurgencies, the scholarly literature is more varied and based on clinical studies, social sciences, or grey literature. One example is the contribution by clinical psychologists and researchers on the traumatic memories of Algerian soldiers, police officers and gendarmes who served during the Black Decade (Bahmed & Beddad 2019). There is also a growing interest among clinicians in the military in connection with the current critical situation in the Sahel and as far as north Cameroon. Some authors describe the specificity of psycho-trauma among soldiers faced with Boko Haram attacks (Nguimfack & Ovambe Mbarga 2021, 2022 ; Umeh, Olawa & Abel 2023), others examine the personal management of psychological suffering among Togolese soldiers exposed during peacekeeping operations (Baoutou & Vinay 2021) and the ability of
African military institutions to provide the necessary care, support, and compensation for families of fallen servicemen (Ajala & Heinecken 2025). More broadly, research on armed groups and disengagement can provide important information on the suffering of combatants who do not come from State bodies : “reformed” combatants (Sumo Tayo 2024), women (Coulter, Persson & Utas 2008), and children (Hynd 2021).
Definition issues
In view of the diversity of combat situations and their effects on individuals, the notion of trauma is used as openly as possible in this call for papers. It encompasses traumatic neurosis in the strictly psychiatric or psychological sense, which refers to disorders associated with confronting the reality of death. However, it can also, following social sciences approaches, embrace situations of rupture or atypia that are far more diverse and phenomena that escape understanding or norms. The notions of care (Borgeaud- Garciandía, Araujo Guimarães & Hirata 2020) or support are also understood in a broad sense, referring to a variety of therapeutic responses within or outside the biomedical field. The issue includes, within its scope, beliefs and practices of care, caring, support, and therapy that are rooted in the local histories and narratives of the different social contexts.
The aim of this call is to promote approaches that go beyond the framework defined by historical studies focusing on major European conflicts and medical care, while drawing on the wealth of recent works on emotions, intimacy and the aftermath of war (Cabanes & Piketty 2009 ; Audouin-Rouzeau & Saint-Fuscien 2021 ; Guillemain & Tison 2022). We can also draw on the vast literature on trauma (Loriga 2017), memories of conflict (Leese, Köhne & Crouthamel 2021), and madness (Aïtmehdi & Tiquet 2019 ; Hunt & Büschel 2024). These are all useful approaches for questioning the experience and its impact on individuals, both at the time and in the various “aftermath” periods.
The term “combatant” is used here because it covers a wide range of situations and avoids drawing an a priori line between legitimate and illegitimate use of force. The aim is not to limit the analysis to individuals from military institutions linked to a state authority. This call rather expands the descriptive and analytical use of the terminology to encompass a range of contexts and actors’ including but not limited to : soldiers from colonial armies who served during colonial occupation, the world wars or the wars of decolonisation ; soldiers of State militaries ; revolutionaries and freedom fighters of liberation movements ; auxiliaries from counter-revolutionary movements ; child soldiers ; mercenaries ; and other contemporary armed non-State actors.
The period covered is deliberately broad, ranging from colonial wars to contemporary military operations, as the aim is to observe how these phenomena evolve over time. It should also be noted that the combats covered did not or do not always take place on the African continent—for example, the Indochina War and the world wars, international peacekeeping operations, or the various theatres of operations for Islamist terrorist groups.
Themes and cross-cutting issues
The three strands around which this issue is structured—the combat experience and the emergence of symptoms, the actors and methods of support and care, and the forms of recognition and reparation of trauma over time—require close attention to the diversity of contexts, the political and ideological positions of the parties involved in a conflict, and the professional or non-professional nature of the commitment.
First of all, how can we document and give meaning to the experience from the point of view of the individuals affected ? The factors at the root of the suffering or disorder, in their diversity but also their interrelationship, need to be considered : physical injuries, paroxysmal experiences of war, violence or imminent death, surprise attacks, sudden explosions, etc. Military life, in its everyday aspects and in the power relations and forms of domination that structure it, also shapes the experience of war : prolonged exposure to combat, injustice or racism in everyday life, malnutrition, anxiety for the family, distance, disorientation, conditions of engagement, etc.
To get a close-up view of the effects of the combat experience and how they translate into psychological and physical symptoms, we need to look at the words used to describe the illnesses when they are expressed. How do combatants describe their history and the problems it has caused in their own languages ? Do women, men, and children express their difficulties differently ? As for those involved in care, what terms do they use ? Observation of behaviour and its categorization (violent behaviour, “madness,” isolation, disruption or even exclusion from society, self-mutilation, various addictions and so on) sometimes follows gendered or racialized dividing lines, and the meaning given to them may vary depending on the persons, contexts and institutions involved.
Thinking about care requires an interest in the different forms of support adopted, such as social and family support, biomedical, traditional and/or religious, spiritual, and witchcraft therapies. Care also belongs to public and private spheres, and it is rationalized or spontaneous, using different forms of welfare and solidarity. How is it provided, organized, experienced—and why is it sometimes insufficient or absent ? How is it perceived socially, and what are the potential obstacles to care, such as the stigmatization of disorders, sometimes considered as a transgression of social norms, or shame in the face of what is experienced or perceived as a weakness ? The stigma of disorders or even “madness” weighs more heavily because it conflicts with the values of military ethics and masculinity. In this regard, do we see different expectations and support depending on whether the combatants are women or men, adults or children ?
A final aspect relates to the multiple timeframes in which the disorders occurred : during the fighting, immediately afterward, and long afterward. The study of the repercussions of the disorders, both in their physical and psychological aspects on individuals and the family, social and professional environment, is an important point. In the post-war period, failure to recognize the sacrifices made, silence, and abandonment have the potential to increase suffering and secondary trauma. The forms and mechanisms of recognition and reparation can take place at an intimate level, as well as at the level of a community, a society, or a State. Therefore, it is important to examine their logic
and effects on the problems and their individual and collective management. We would also like to think about how public discourses, competing narratives about a conflict (Was it legitimate ? Were we on the ‘right’ side ?) can (in)validate the experience of participants in these wars.
Across the board, we need to look at how the nature of the conflict and the mode of engagement affect the traumatic experience of combatants. Wars of liberation and independence, so-called revolutions and wars fought to defend the sovereignty of a nation, not to mention combat based on religious ideologies, do not involve combatants in the same way as participation in United Nations peace missions, for example, which owes a lot to real or expected financial rewards. In the same way, voluntary enlistment and forced mobilization generate very contrasting experiences. How do the way in which the conflict is viewed, the political, ideological, or religious investment, and the conditions of participation come into play ?
Finally, it seems important to question the fact that, under the combined impetus of international mechanisms on “mental health” (Doron 2015) and the involvement of many States in so-called counter-terrorist military operations, attention to the potential psychological after-effects of soldiers seems to have increased in recent years. This issue aims to stimulate reflection on the development of the application of the concept of PTSD to soldiers or demobilized combatants on African ground. The scholarly spread of the analytical model based on the notion of stress and linked to the standard post-traumatic checklist questionnaire has established new standards that aim to rationalize post-conflict care. We wonder whether these models do not reduce the combatants’ experiences to numbers and data. Comparing these approaches with qualitative observations on the intimate part of war, by documenting a very little exposed experience and by reflecting on its psychological and social cost, seems therefore particularly important to us.
This issue will bring together contributions using a variety of approaches and methodologies rooted in the social sciences. Proposals can be based on a wide range of historical and contemporary research, using a variety of processes and documentation— archival, ethnographic, oral, biographical, literary, cinematographic sources, among other sources. The difficult access to sources and fieldwork when dealing with the military or armed groups poses major methodological challenges that encourage making the most of the wealth of methodological resources. We therefore welcome a wide range of sources and investigative approaches (military, justice, medical and political archives ; interviews or testimonies, focus groups, etc.), as well as reflection on the ethics and positionality of researchers, concerning medical sources, therapeutic contexts, or interactions with vulnerable participants in the studies (Aïtmehdi, Evrard, Gallien & Marquis 2024).
Submission guidelines
The deadline for submitting abstracts (maximum 500 words) written in English or French is set
by June 10, 2025, at midnight (GMT+1).
Proposals should be sent to cahierscfp@gmail.com.
- Proposals are to be submitted in Word format, in Times New Roman font, size 12, with single-spacing. They shall include the following information : the surname, first name(s), affiliation(s), status and contact details of the author(s) ; the proposed title ; the research field(s) and the data col- lection methods presented ; and a summary of the proposed argument (maximum 500 words).
- Authors will be notified if their proposals have been selected on June 30, 2025, and the deadline for submitting first versions of article is set for November 15, 2025.
Numéro thématique coordonné par
- Olufisayo Ajala (Stellenbosch University)
- Camille Evrard (ERC MadAf, CNRS-IMAF)
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Subjects
- Africa (Main category)
Date(s)
- Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Attached files
Keywords
- traumatismes de guerre, combattant.e.s africain.e.s, vécus, accompagnement, XXe siècle, XXIe siècle
Contact(s)
- Camille Evrard
courriel : cahierscfp [at] gmail [dot] com
Reference Urls
Information source
- Nadège Chabloz
courriel : nchabloz [at] ehess [dot] fr
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« War Trauma and Psychosocial Disorders among African Combatants (20th-21st centuries) », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Monday, April 28, 2025, https://doi.org/10.58079/13trk
