And then your soul is gone: moral injury and U.S. war-culture

Abstract

simultaneously mediated by, interacted with, and engaged in re-figurations of resilience, protection, enlistment, and unequal relations of power, in a number of contexts, namely Kashmir (India), Ukraine, Bastar (India), and the United States. The part is finally concluded with Chapter 12 focusing on the procedures of child discipline and caregiver rituals. The volume’s core strength lies upon the eclectic positionality of the contributors. Seventeen authors from a wide range of geographies have contributed to this 245-page volume. More interestingly, one of the chapters (Chapter 3) is coauthored by an ex-child soldier in the civic war of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The contributors of the book have successfully provided new insights within the studies of children in peace and conflict settings, as well as the pedagogical dimensions of it. As reflected from the authors’ origins, the coverage of the book includes countries with conflict and war track records, such as those within the European and Asia Pacific territories. However, the book may have missed one (or two) thing(s): the conclusion (and the implications). While we, the readers, expect this conclusion will be presented in the last chapter (Chapter 12), as admitted by the editor himself, the chapter is rather ‘outwardly distinct from many of the contributions to this volume’ (16). The book may have been better if it provides more accounts and voices of the children from both peace and conflict settings from various contexts for comparison purposes – while the book provides only a chapter on this (Chapter 3). Despite this shortcoming, Childhoods in Peace and Conflict should be regarded as an important and novel resource in the studies about the intersections of children, conflict, and peace. The volume makes a significant contribution to the area of peace and conflict studies, including peace pedagogy.