Yvan Guichaoua
University of Kent, Brussels School of International Studies, Faculty Member
- I teach on Governance, Civil Wars and Humanitarian practice and study collective political violence in West Africa, w... moreI teach on Governance, Civil Wars and Humanitarian practice and study collective political violence in West Africa, with particular interest in Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria and the Sahel.edit
An abundance of natural resources affect and often undermine healthy institution building and policy making over time. Taking cases of apparent success and failure, the authors identify how historical legacy and agency interact to shape... more
An abundance of natural resources affect and often undermine healthy institution building and policy making over time. Taking cases of apparent success and failure, the authors identify how historical legacy and agency interact to shape today's options. The analysis crosses continents with cases from Sub-Saharan Africa (Botswana, Niger and Nigeria) and Latin America (Bolivia, Chile and Peru). The contributors develop a comparative study, and explore the implications for sustainable development. This book will be an essential resource for all those who want to understand why development based on mining or oil often goes wrong, and why so many countries have not yet been able to transform this national wealth into the basis for sustained development. All concerned with public policy issues in the context of development will find this a thought-provoking and accessible text.
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Understanding Political Violence offers crucial insights on processes damaging lives and polities in a variety of places across the globe: in Africa, in Latin America, in South East Asia and in the Middle East. By adopting a rich,... more
Understanding Political Violence offers crucial insights on processes damaging lives and polities in a variety of places across the globe: in Africa, in Latin America, in South East Asia and in the Middle East. By adopting a rich, evidence-based micro-level perspective, the authors provide critical answers to these questions: Who are the perpetrators of political violence? How do they get organized? The book pays particular attention to unconventional combatants such as women and children and details the drivers of their violent mobilization. It also makes considerable theoretical advances in understanding the diversity of forms of organized violence and analyzing its dynamics. The volume's approach is two-pronged: It first details carefully the wide array of factors pushing individuals to embrace political violence, then studies their interactions within armed groups, as leaders or rank and file.
For a review in French (in Afrique Contemporaine):
http://www.cairn.info/revue-afrique-contemporaine-2012-2-page-123.htm
For a review in French (in Afrique Contemporaine):
http://www.cairn.info/revue-afrique-contemporaine-2012-2-page-123.htm
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La présente étude cherche à lever certaines des lacunes de l'analyse microéconomique des relations d'emploi du large « secteur informel » des économies en développement, considéré à tort comme un marché de type walrasien. S'appuyant sur... more
La présente étude cherche à lever certaines des lacunes de l'analyse microéconomique des relations d'emploi du large « secteur informel » des économies en développement, considéré à tort comme un marché de type walrasien. S'appuyant sur une enquête menée auprès de travailleurs de la petite industrie abidjanaise, en Cote d'Ivoire, la thèse établit une taxonomie des relations d'emploi originale qui est ensuite analysée à l'aide des outils standard de la microéconomie. Cette démarche de vérification des modèles montre que les agents ne se comportent conformément aux prédictions de l'approche néo-classique que lorsque des circonstances sociales spécifiques sont réunies. Cette thèse met ainsi l'accent sur la nécessité d'articuler les approches économiques standard à l'analyse des contextes sociaux dans lesquels se dessinent les décisions des agents.
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Research Interests: Political Science and J
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An abundance of natural resources affect and often undermine healthy institution building and policy making over time. Taking cases of apparent success and failure, the authors identify how historical legacy and agency interact to shape... more
An abundance of natural resources affect and often undermine healthy institution building and policy making over time. Taking cases of apparent success and failure, the authors identify how historical legacy and agency interact to shape today's options. The analysis crosses continents with cases from Sub-Saharan Africa (Botswana, Niger and Nigeria) and Latin America (Bolivia, Chile and Peru). The contributors develop a comparative study, and explore the implications for sustainable development. This book will be an essential resource for all those who want to understand why development based on mining or oil often goes wrong, and why so many countries have not yet been able to transform this national wealth into the basis for sustained development. All concerned with public policy issues in the context of development will find this a thought-provoking and accessible text.
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Research Interests: Niger Delta and J
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Cette intervention présente des résultats préliminaires d'une enquête effectuée à la fin de l'année 1998, à Abidjan, auprès de travailleurs des ateliers de couture et du bâtiment 1. Cette enquête s' inscrit elle-même dans... more
Cette intervention présente des résultats préliminaires d'une enquête effectuée à la fin de l'année 1998, à Abidjan, auprès de travailleurs des ateliers de couture et du bâtiment 1. Cette enquête s' inscrit elle-même dans une recherche effectuée dans le cadre d'un doctorat d'Économie.
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Protection against risks in developing countries has become for the international organizations one of the major thrusts of the fight against poverty. Many informal mechanisms for protection against risks exist in the developing... more
Protection against risks in developing countries has become for the international organizations one of the major thrusts of the fight against poverty. Many informal mechanisms for protection against risks exist in the developing countries. Are these mechanisms effective safety nets for the poorest sections of society? This article examines some of these mechanisms as practised among construction workers in Abidjan at the end of the 1990s. It shows, by referring to existing economics literature, that it is difficult for informal assurance to be set up on the basis of the sole rational membership of individuals. In practice, this situation depends on the solvency of the persons involved and their freedom from social regulation or populism.
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¿Por qué la abundancia de recursos naturales afecta y muchas veces socava las construcción de políticas públicas y relaciones institucionales sanas? En este libro los autores identifican, a través del estudio de casos de éxitos y fracasos... more
¿Por qué la abundancia de recursos naturales afecta y muchas veces socava las construcción de políticas públicas y relaciones institucionales sanas? En este libro los autores identifican, a través del estudio de casos de éxitos y fracasos aparentes, cómo interactúan el legado histórico y la agencia para configurar las opciones actuales. Se trata de un análisis transcontinental, que utiliza casos del África Subsahariana (Botswana, Níger y Nigeria) y Latinoamérica (Bolivia, Chile y Perú). Los artículos desarrollan un estudio comparativo y exploran las implicancias de las industrias extractivas en el desarrollo sostenible.
The authors explain why the discovery and development of natural resources is commonly associated with unstable and unequal development, and frequently with violence. They demonstrate the need for policies and institutions by reflecting... more
The authors explain why the discovery and development of natural resources is commonly associated with unstable and unequal development, and frequently with violence. They demonstrate the need for policies and institutions by reflecting on both successes and failures in case studies on Botswana, Nigeria and Niger as well as Bolivia, Chile and Peru.
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How irregular armed groups emerge and evolve, how they recruit, how and why people — including women and, sometimes, alarmingly, children — join them are critical issues in the early twenty-first century, with resonance throughout the... more
How irregular armed groups emerge and evolve, how they recruit, how and why people — including women and, sometimes, alarmingly, children — join them are critical issues in the early twenty-first century, with resonance throughout the world. These are the questions this book tackles. Specifically, the present collection explores the latest empirical findings and analytical developments in this intellectually buoyant research field, investigating the origins and dynamics of collective political violence.
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The microeconomic analysis of labour mobilisation and labour relationships in developing countries has generated a series of models which clearly differentiate behaviour presumably prevailing in urban settings from those presumably... more
The microeconomic analysis of labour mobilisation and labour relationships in developing countries has generated a series of models which clearly differentiate behaviour presumably prevailing in urban settings from those presumably prevailing in rural ones. Rural economics has focused extensively on land tenancy contracts, bonded labour and risk-sharing arrangements (in which the exchange of “free” labour services can be categorised, see Stiglitz, JE (1988), Bhaduri, A.(1973), Bardhan, P.(1989), Coate, S. and M. Ravallion.( ...
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For several months now, the chronic political instability in the Niger Delta, the principal area of hydrocarbons exploita-tion in Nigeria, the world’s eleventh largest oil producer, has provided the media with spectacular stories of... more
For several months now, the chronic political instability in the Niger Delta, the principal area of hydrocarbons exploita-tion in Nigeria, the world’s eleventh largest oil producer, has provided the media with spectacular stories of violence. Hardly a week goes by without an act of sabotage against an industrial facility, the kidnapping of an employee of an oil company (foreign or otherwise), or deadly clashes between security forces and militants from a complex network of heavily armed insurgency movements. Each day, tens of thousands of barrels of oil are stolen, sometimes illegally refined, and sold on the black market, robbing Nigerians of considerable revenue. It is estimated that between 100,000 and 500,000 additional barrels of oil per day, depending on the time period, could be produced if the country were secure. Before the current global financial crisis hit, the Niger Delta’s recurrent political problems significantly contributed to the spike in crude oil prices, in a glo...
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Abstract: The economic analysis of conflicts assigns a crucial role to the rebellion making process. However, the existing literature on this issue often rests on unsatisfactory microfoundations. It tends to overemphasize two extreme... more
Abstract: The economic analysis of conflicts assigns a crucial role to the rebellion making process. However, the existing literature on this issue often rests on unsatisfactory microfoundations. It tends to overemphasize two extreme forms of mobilisation, namely purely greed-driven or, alternatively, purely ideology-driven. It does not fully address the puzzles associated with the leader-followers interaction within violent organisations. The present paper is an empirical account describing how rank and file members of an ethnic militia are mobilised. The survey shows that the purely economic explanation of violent mobilisation does not hold despite the fact the militia levers its own funds. At least two other considerations are at play for members: first, the feeling of danger, the desire of protection against fuzzily identified risks (criminality, unknown future, menace from other ethnic groups etc.); second, the social proximity to militia insiders. In fact, vulnerability (eithe...
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The economic analysis of conflicts assigns a crucial role to the rebellion making process. However, the existing literature on this issue often rests on unsatisfactory micro-foundations. It tends to overemphasize two extreme forms of... more
The economic analysis of conflicts assigns a crucial role to the rebellion making process. However, the existing literature on this issue often rests on unsatisfactory micro-foundations. It tends to overemphasize two extreme forms of mobilisation, namely purely greed-driven or, alternatively, purely ideology-driven. It doesn’t fully address the puzzles associated with the leader-followers interaction within violent organisations. The present paper is an empirical account describing how rank and file members of an ethnic militia are mobilised. The survey shows that the purely economic explanation of violent mobilisation doesn’t hold despite the fact the militia levers its own funds. At least two other considerations are at play for members: first, the feeling of danger, the desire of protection against fuzzily identified risks (criminality, unknown future, menace from other ethnic groups etc.); second, the social proximity to militia insiders. In fact, vulnerability (either perceived...
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Cet article s'intéresse à un phénomène très fréquemment observé dans les économies africaines : celui de l'influence de l'environnement social des agents sur leurs choix économiques. Les logiques... more
Cet article s'intéresse à un phénomène très fréquemment observé dans les économies africaines : celui de l'influence de l'environnement social des agents sur leurs choix économiques. Les logiques patrimoniales au sein des élites politiques [Fauré et Médard, 1995], l'ancrage ...
LE PRÉSENT ARTICLE DÉCRIT L'ÉVOLUTION D'UNE MILICE ETHNIQUE DU SUD-OUEST NIGÉRIAN, L'OODUA PEOPLE'S CONGRESS (OPC) SOUS LA IV e RÉPUBLIQUE. INITIALEMENT NÉ EN RÉACTION FACE À LA RÉPRESSION DE LA DICTATURE MILITAIRE, CE... more
LE PRÉSENT ARTICLE DÉCRIT L'ÉVOLUTION D'UNE MILICE ETHNIQUE DU SUD-OUEST NIGÉRIAN, L'OODUA PEOPLE'S CONGRESS (OPC) SOUS LA IV e RÉPUBLIQUE. INITIALEMENT NÉ EN RÉACTION FACE À LA RÉPRESSION DE LA DICTATURE MILITAIRE, CE ...
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Introduction: Individual Drivers of Collective Violence and the Dynamics of Armed Groups Y.Guichaoua PART I: JOINING INSURGENCIES: CONTEXTS, BELIEFS AND AGENCY Militarized Youth in Western Cote d'Ivoire: Who are They? Why did They... more
Introduction: Individual Drivers of Collective Violence and the Dynamics of Armed Groups Y.Guichaoua PART I: JOINING INSURGENCIES: CONTEXTS, BELIEFS AND AGENCY Militarized Youth in Western Cote d'Ivoire: Who are They? Why did They Fight? M.C.den Hamer Political Cultures and Tuareg Mobilizations: Rebels of Niger, from Kaocen to the Mouvement des Nigeriens Pour la Justice F.Deycard The Mobilization of Children: What's the Difference? J.Hart Gendered Patterns of Mobilisation and Recruitment for Political Violence, Experiences from Three Latin American Countries L.M.D.Ortega Have Gun, Will Travel: Interpreting the Trajectories of Female Irregular Combatants L.Gayer Engendering Armed Militancy in Kashmir: Women as Perpetrators of Violence S.Shekhawat Recruitment into Armed Groups in Colombia: A Survey of Demobilized Fighters A.M.Arjona & S.Kalyvas PART II: THE DYNAMICS OF INSURGENT GROUPS The Dilemmas of Recruitment: The Colombian Case F.G.Sanin Religion versus Ethnicity as a Source of Mobilisation: Are There Differences? F.Stewart The Politics of Counter-insurgency: How did the Young Patriots Emerge in Cote d'Ivoire? G.Kone Circumstantial Alliances and Loose Loyalties in Rebellion Making: The Case of Tuareg Insurgency in Northern Niger (2007-2009) Y.Guichaoua Concluding Remarks Y.Guichaoua
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Oil and insurgency in the Niger Delta: managing the complex politics of petrol violence, edited by Cyril Obi and Siri Aas Rustad, Uppsala, Nordic Africa Institute and London, Zed Books, 2011, x + 2...
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In recent years, violent insurgency has gripped the margins of Kenya, Mali and Nigeria. Militant Islamist groups have attacked civilian populations, state security personnel and political-administrative officials, spreading insecurity... more
In recent years, violent insurgency has gripped the margins of Kenya, Mali and Nigeria. Militant Islamist groups have attacked civilian populations, state security personnel and political-administrative officials, spreading insecurity across large areas and exploiting the mistrust between societies at the margins and central authorities.
Just two days before the presidential transition took place in Nigeria and following the upswing of violence in Mali that is undermining the already fragile peace process, this timely debate organised in collaboration with the Institute of Development Studies, brought together an expert panel to examine the drivers of insurgent violence in Kenya, Mali and Nigeria.
Speakers: Dr Jeremy Lind, Institute of Development Studies (IDS); Caitriona Dowd, Armed Conflict Location & Event Dataset (ACLED); Aden Abdi, Conciliation Resources ; Dr Yvan Guichaoua, University of East Anglia; Bala Liman, SOAS. Chaired by Professor Stephen Chan, SOAS.
Just two days before the presidential transition took place in Nigeria and following the upswing of violence in Mali that is undermining the already fragile peace process, this timely debate organised in collaboration with the Institute of Development Studies, brought together an expert panel to examine the drivers of insurgent violence in Kenya, Mali and Nigeria.
Speakers: Dr Jeremy Lind, Institute of Development Studies (IDS); Caitriona Dowd, Armed Conflict Location & Event Dataset (ACLED); Aden Abdi, Conciliation Resources ; Dr Yvan Guichaoua, University of East Anglia; Bala Liman, SOAS. Chaired by Professor Stephen Chan, SOAS.
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Et pourtant, ils communiquent. L'Etat islamique, Al-Qaida, Boko Haram : ces mouvements djihadistes qui depuis quelques mois font régulièrement la Une de la presse mondiale ne se contentent pas de guerroyer. Ils font de la com', par le... more
Et pourtant, ils communiquent. L'Etat islamique, Al-Qaida, Boko Haram : ces mouvements djihadistes qui depuis quelques mois font régulièrement la Une de la presse mondiale ne se contentent pas de guerroyer. Ils font de la com', par le biais de vidéos et de journaux, pour magnifier leurs faits d'armes et leurs réalisations sur le terrain.
Que nous apprennent leurs messages sur eux, et sur les territoires qu'ils contrôlent ? Quelles sont dans cette propagande la part de vérité et la part de tromperie, si tant est qu'on puisse les distinguer ? Que nous apprennent enfin leurs messages sur les liens qu'ils entretiennent éventuellement entre eux ? Pour répondre à ces questions, nos invités sont David Thomson, journaliste à RFI et auteur de Les Français djihadistes (Les Arènes, 2014), et Yvan Guichaoua, enseignant-chercheur à l'université de East Anglia, spécialiste des groupes armés opérant au Sahel.
Que nous apprennent leurs messages sur eux, et sur les territoires qu'ils contrôlent ? Quelles sont dans cette propagande la part de vérité et la part de tromperie, si tant est qu'on puisse les distinguer ? Que nous apprennent enfin leurs messages sur les liens qu'ils entretiennent éventuellement entre eux ? Pour répondre à ces questions, nos invités sont David Thomson, journaliste à RFI et auteur de Les Français djihadistes (Les Arènes, 2014), et Yvan Guichaoua, enseignant-chercheur à l'université de East Anglia, spécialiste des groupes armés opérant au Sahel.
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The South of Algeria belongs to the widely integrated Saharan political economy also composed of large chunks of the Malian and Nigerian territories. As such, Algeria plays a key role in the livelihoods (through licit or illicit means),... more
The South of Algeria belongs to the widely integrated Saharan political economy also composed of large chunks of the Malian and Nigerian territories. As such, Algeria plays a key role in the livelihoods (through licit or illicit means), and geographical social and political mobility of Sahelian communities, using borders as resources and connected to each other through transnational networks. But Algeria is also a powerful hegemon trying to protect its domestic and regional interests in an environment where political tensions and rivalries abound: protracted Western Sahara conflict, French military deployment at Algeria’s doorstep, highly mobile Jihadist units - remnants of the Algerian civil war. As a result, Sahelian narratives on Algeria are alternatively framed through the limited experiences of participants of the Saharan political economy or through discourses produced by biased, sometimes conspirationist, decision-makers and diplomats with varying allegiances. A kaleidoscopic and intellectually frustrating image of Algeria results, whose verifiability is highly problematic. Dr Yvan Guichaoua will examine the role of Algeria in recent (Tuareg then Jihadist) insurgencies in Mali and Niger as portrayed by various actors of the political crises in the Sahel. Imad Mesdoua will be examining the rationales guiding Algerian foreign policy in light of growing instability throughout the Sahel and Maghreb regions. Prior to French intervention in Mali, there was a general sense in the West that Algeria would, as a regional power, ultimately contribute or even spearhead a potential military intervention. In the end, Algeria did not participate in the French operation, and Imad seeks to explain why this was the case. He will also examine whether Algeria's regional security policy, partly focused on countering al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s (AQIM) growing influence in neighboring states, has been a success.
Yvan Guichaoua is a lecturer in International Politics at the University of East Anglia. He is a former teaching fellow at Yale University and research officer at the University of Oxford. He has been studying the dynamics of irregular armed groups in Sub-Saharan African since 2004. Since 2007, Yvan Guichaoua has been studying insurgencies in Niger and Mali and the rise of Jihadism in the Sahel. His work explores the complex interactions between violent entrepreneurs, low level combatants and the state and forms of governance they produce. Yvan Guichaoua is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters, and the editor of Understanding Collective Political Violence and co-editor of The Developmental Challenges of Mining and Oil (Palgrave-Macmillan).
Imad Mesdoua is an Algerian political analyst specialising in the Middle East and North Africa. He has previously worked as a freelance journalist and as a political consultant, advising political officials and international organisations. He regularly provides on-air analysis as a guest commentator for the BBC, Al Jazeera and France 24.
Yvan Guichaoua is a lecturer in International Politics at the University of East Anglia. He is a former teaching fellow at Yale University and research officer at the University of Oxford. He has been studying the dynamics of irregular armed groups in Sub-Saharan African since 2004. Since 2007, Yvan Guichaoua has been studying insurgencies in Niger and Mali and the rise of Jihadism in the Sahel. His work explores the complex interactions between violent entrepreneurs, low level combatants and the state and forms of governance they produce. Yvan Guichaoua is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters, and the editor of Understanding Collective Political Violence and co-editor of The Developmental Challenges of Mining and Oil (Palgrave-Macmillan).
Imad Mesdoua is an Algerian political analyst specialising in the Middle East and North Africa. He has previously worked as a freelance journalist and as a political consultant, advising political officials and international organisations. He regularly provides on-air analysis as a guest commentator for the BBC, Al Jazeera and France 24.