Suchergebnisse

An introduction -- Recruitment and training -- Military intelligence, politics and loyalty in combat uniform -- Empty combat bellies, troop canteens: barracks of hunger -- Promotion and demotion of rank -- Military prosecution and detention -- Dreaming the military: re-living the barracks in exile -- Mobilising the coup in the barracks -- Concluding remarks.

While killing is delegitimised by law, gangs who kill their rivals are legitimated within their social group. The central analytical argument is that the killing of gang rivals is a form of "capital" (Bourdieu 1986) that forges and produces enduring social networking relationships among gang groups. Killing is a celebrated practice within certain gang groups. The act of killing is also a rite of passage, which establishes a member within the gang group. Killing defines the "commanders" of gang groups and those who have the potential to lead a gang in the future. Killing is a source of identity and recognition. It produces certain kinds of statuses within the gang group. Those who kill the most are honoured in the gang group, while feared by the rivals. While this paper argues that killing sustains gang practices, it also examines the increased invisibility of gangs as victims of the same violence that they perpetrate.

The "making" of gang relationships has remained at the periphery of research, yet it is critical in understanding the continuity and sustainability of gangsterism in different contexts. This paper examines the ways in which young men involved in gang violence forge and sustain their relationships in the streets of a black township in South Africa. I argue that the "making" of gang relationships is never easy; rather, it is characterised by violence within and outside gang membership. The article asserts that, within gangs, violence is a technique which sustains their relationships, as it acts as a source of social and emotional support—especially in a context characterised by fractured families as well as social and economic marginalisation. The paper draws from an ethnography of walking the township streets, being in gang streets, talking to gang members, engaging with and observing young men involved in gang violence.

The gun is not just an object and or a weapon; it has particular, deep relations with those who carry and possess it. The gun is embedded in the mentality of the man who uses it. Once gun life is inculcated in the mind, it is difficult to leave it behind. In post-apartheid South Africa, gangs and the use of guns have continued unabated. Despite this continued relationship between gangs and guns, studies have skirted around the ways in which guns are experienced and embodied in a context which is imbued with violence. Guns define the gang members who carry them in their everyday lives, as well as the spaces in which gangs operate. Importantly, understanding the spaces of gangs, such as the streets, is critical to understanding the ways in which they help gangs to forge a particular relationship with guns. This article is based on an ethnography of the black township Gugulethu in Cape Town, South Africa.

ABSTRACT
This article examines the ways in which Zimbabwean foot soldiers engaged in military corrupt activities, stealing army rations from the trenches to resell in neighbouring civilian communities and Congolese soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The practice became widespread among and between senior and junior officers. However, this practice did not end with the war; rather it was carried over from the DRC war to the Zimbabwean army barracks. The article contends that the practice of stealing army rations was a deeply unprofessional practice. The article draws from life history stories of Zimbabwean former soldiers who deserted the army and are now living in South Africa.