How Insurgency Begins - Rebel Group Formation in Uganda and Beyond

Why do only some incipient rebel groups become viable challengers to governments? Only those that control local rumor networks survive.

List of contents

Part I: Rethinking How Armed Conflicts Begin; 1. Introduction; 2. A theory of rebel group formation; Part II: Uganda and Beyond; 3. Context and initial conditions; 4. The rebels; 5. Civilians; 6. The state; Part III: Implications; 7. Implications for scholarship and policy; Appendices; References; Index.

About the author

Janet I. Lewis is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the George Washington University. Her research and teaching focus on political violence, ethnic conflict, and state formation, especially in Africa. Her work has received several honors, including awards for Best Article published in 2017 in Comparative Political Studies, Best Article published in 2017 in the American Journal of Political Science, and Best Article or Chapter using qualitative methods published in 2018 from the Qualitative and Multi-Methods Section of the American Political Science Association.

Summary

How and why do armed rebellions start? This study offers a rare look into the incipient stages of rebellion, arguing that only rebel groups controlling local rumor networks survive and become viable challengers to governments. It is a valuable resource for both scholars and policymakers of political science.

Additional text

'This is the book we have all been waiting for! Lewis's extraordinary research reveals the origins of rebel groups long before they emerge as viable, visible forces. Using micro-level data from Uganda, Lewis carefully analyzes where and when even the smallest groups form, why only a few of them survive, and how local intelligence determines whether they grow or perish. Nascent rebel groups all have the motive to rebel. But it's only the ones that control local information networks (and these are almost always concentrated ethnic groups) that endure.' Barbara F. Walter, University of California, San Diego

Product details

• Authors: Lewis Janet I. Lewis, Janet I Lewis, Janet I. Lewis, Janet I. (George Washington University Lewis
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.09.2020
• EAN: 9781108790475
• ISBN: 978-1-108-79047-5
• No. of pages: 200
• Series: Cambridge Studies in Comparati; Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Natural sciences (general); Social sciences, law, business > Media, communication > Communication science; Sociology, POLITICAL SCIENCE / General, Revolutions, uprisings, rebellions, Comparative Politics, Revolutionary groups & movements, Armed Conflict, Revolutionary groups and movements, Research methods: general, Research methods / methodology