International relations

The Politics of Armed Groups: Rebels, State and Society

Module code: 014IR
Level 6
30 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Seminar
Assessment modes: Coursework, Essay

Why do people take up arms? How do armed groups govern in contexts of fragmented statehood? If wars are so profitable, how can peace come about?

On this module, you’ll explore armed groups to understand today’s violent conflicts and ways to address them.

You’ll develop the analytical tools to understand mobilisation, organisation, governance and the political economy of armed groups. You’ll evaluate policies that seek to end armed conflict, including in a policy brief that develops your employability skills. You’ll do this by choosing an armed group to study from around the world.

Module learning outcomes

• Systematically understand different theories of armed mobilisation and the behaviour of armed organisations during war
• Devise arguments in relation to armed mobilisation and armed organisations based on in-depth knowledge of the state of the art of the relevant fields
• Show appreciation of the difficulties of data collection on armed mobilisation and how this affects scholarly analysis and media reporting
• Critically evaluate the assumptions underlying common policy interventions addressing armed organisations during and after war
• Applying the acquired analytical skills to extend knowledge of armed mobilisation to concrete empirical cases
• Communicate knowledge and analysis of both theories and policies related to armed mobilisation to specialist and non-specialist audience