Governance and Citizenship in Protracted Conflict

The research project focuses on (changing) governance constellations and forms of citizenship in contexts of protracted conflict. It aims to develop a multidisciplinary and policy-oriented research agenda to investigate questions such as: What kinds of governance arrangements emerge in areas of protracted conflict? What kinds of institutions and citizenship experiences does this produce? To what extent do non-state (armed) actors attain legitimacy in such arrangements? How can these institutions and arrangements be acknowledged and regulated by (international) law?  

The project is exploring how changing landscapes of power and order are affecting not only state structures and institutions, but also people’s claims to citizenship and participation.

The project is exploring how changing landscapes of power and order are affecting not only state structures and institutions, but also people’s claims to citizenship and participation. The project is made up of researchers from cultural anthropology, conflict studies and international law. The project investigates how these themes are studied in different disciplines and seeks to understand what different disciplines can learn from each other when looking at governance constellations and forms of citizenship in protracted conflict.  

Our project aims to have an impact on the scholarly discourse, building bridges between disciplines and furthering the debate on the role of laws and rules in territory controlled by non-state actors.

Over the last three years, we have organised several seminars on rebel governance and armed groups and religion. We have also organised a day-long workshop on ‘rules and laws in protracted conflict’, the submissions for which are coming out in a special issue. The special issue brings together authors writing on different forms of non state actors, gangs, corporate entities, armed groups, and customary leaders.   

Our project aims to have an impact on the scholarly discourse, building bridges between disciplines and furthering the debate on the role of laws and rules in territory controlled by non-state actors. We believe that this discussion holds potential to have an impact on societal issues.  

Project Members