Legacies of civil wars: A 14‐year study of social conflicts and well‐being outcomes in farming economies

Community processes to address fractured social relationships and well‐being remain the least examined dimensions in studies of legacies of civil wars. This article addresses these limitations by analyzing how the wartime and postwar generations have negotiated the legacies of the civil war (1976–1992) in a farming economy region in Mozambique. Based on a 14‐year (2002–2015) study of community courts in Mozambique, we analyzed the types of social conflicts and the associations with gender, age, risk factors, self‐described health impairments, and the timing of farming activities. We identified n = 3,456 participants and found that perennial sources of disputes were related to family formation and maintenance, defamation, accusations of perpetration of serious civil wartime violations, mistrust, debts, and domestic violence. Furthermore, conflict relations were associated with gender, age, risk factors, and health problems. This study concludes that civil wars have lasting multifaceted legacies, but generational tensions, availability of community institutions, and economic resources shape social relationships and well‐being outcomes while averting revenge cycles among civilian war survivors.