Statehood is usually defined by its legitimate monopoly on the use of force. However, in
many conflicts around the world, violent non-state actors are contesting this - for a variety
of reasons, be it for economic reasons (e.g. Mafia, Organized Crime groups), for political
reasons (irrendentist groups, guerilla groups, paramilitary groups), ideological / ethnic / religious reasons (sects, right-wing extremist groups) or a mixture of all (terrorist groups such
as the IS). By means of the threat or the direct use violence (e.g. extorsion, kidnapping,
targeted killings, bomb attacks) these groups are, however, also establishing and upholding
a certain social order and put in place forms of governance - be it in open confrontation to
the state, in cooptation of the state, complementary to the state or by completely replacing
absent of failing state structures. Any attempt at conflict resolution has thus to address questions of negotiations with these groups and of demilitarisation, demobilization and reintegration of former combatants.
During the course students will discuss from a non-normative perspective conceptual questions of statehood and state sovereignty, legitimate and illegitimate use of force, forms of
(violent) social orders and types of violent non-state actors as well as instruments of conflict
management (e.g. DDR programs). In the first part of the course students will develop a
conceptual framework based on some theoretical readings before they apply this to different
comparative case studies (e.g. FARC-EP vs. ELN; Italian Mafia vs. MARAS; IS vs. Al Qaida,
to give some possible examples). The course will be rounded up by movie screenings (e.g.
The Gatekeepers) and a real-world simulation game and case-based discussion of the
peace negotiations in Colombia with the FARC-EP.
- Trainer/in: Solveig Richter