Roads as Imaginary for Employing Idle Youth in the Post-Conflict Liberian State

Abstract

Emergency employment has become an established element in post-conflict interventions as a way to stabilize income generation for specific groups of conflict-affected individuals. The typical target groups are ex-combatants and “idle” youth. Munive addresses one of the central analytical problems of understanding postwar rebuilding in Liberia, namely the recuperation of national infrastructural systems that provide employment opportunities for “idle” youth. The major area for boosting employment was public works investments, for example, the rehabilitation of infrastructure such as schools, markets, and, more importantly, dilapidated roads. Employment through the reconstruction of road infrastructure produced new dynamics at the local level, territorializing the reach of the state and, most importantly, producing new hopes among Liberians.