What constitutes the morals of a warrior or drug dealer?

A stay with a street gang in Freetown, Sierra Leone, spurred ethical reflections in Mats Utas, cultural anthropologist and senior researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden. What constitutes a “good” person? Does a warrior or drug dealer have a set of morals different from his own, or are we all the same deep down?

Mats Utas has spent long periods during several years in slum areas in Sierra Leone and Liberia, two of Africa’s poorest countries torn by violent civil wars. In the larger cities groups of young men gather who share a past in rebel armies led by different warlords. Many of the men carry difficult memories from the war and find it hard to adapt to society.

In the Annual Report “The Rise of Africa – Miracle or Mirage?”, from the Nordic Africa Institute, Mats Utas writes about the making of the documentary Jew-Man Business. The film tells the story of the three young men Ice T, Bone Thugs and Junior who live in the rough neighborhood Belgium in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

– I don’t think I’ve ever been in an environment where moral issues were discussed so intensely. Many of the young men saw themselves as “legal hustlers” who had committed evil acts because they were forced to do so by an immoral political elite, not because they themselves lacked morality, says Mats Utas.

The film, which he made with fellow researcher Maya Christensen and film-maker Christian Vium, both from Denmark, will be shown in the Nordic countries this spring.

In the Annual Report the scholars of the Nordic Africa Institute write about their research in an accessible and intriguing way. Last year’s report “Africa in Uncertain Times” was awarded for its high quality and engaging articles.

For more information contact Mats Utas on +46 18 56 22 32 or Mattias Sköld, press officer, on +46 18 56 22 47.