BOOK PROJECT

Civilians Behind Front Lines: Cooperation and Survival Inside Boko Haram

Civilians Behind Front Lines investigates civilian engagement with militant organizations, asking why people in some rebel-controlled areas become deeply embedded in an insurgent group while others do not. Challenging the conventional wisdom that individuals either support or resist rebels, depending on whether they share their political cause, I explore the complex realities of life under insurgent control, where civilian behavior rarely fits into neat categories. Through a case study of Boko Haram’s insurgency in Northeast Nigeria, I introduce an original typology of stable and turbulent cooperation. The inductively developed theoretical framework explains how civilians adapt to two different modes of insurgent governance, resulting in these varied patterns of engagement. Counterintuitively, high militarized control in core territories draws civilians into turbulent engagement, frequently shifting their roles, both embracing and resisting militarism, as they navigate vulnerability and empowerment within rebel ranks. Conversely, in militarily less important areas, the predictability of governance by the civilian wing fosters more stable, low-risk roles and relationships with familiar practices of authority and labor persisting.

The analysis draws on rare qualitative data collected during a year of immersive fieldwork in Nigeria. It includes in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 166 informants, ranging from former Boko Haram civilians and combatants to conflict-affected community members and experts. By tracing insurgent-civilian relationships within their specific institutional settings, my work reveals how the micro-dynamics of cooperation are shaped by the organizational needs of war-making. In doing so, it bridges growing scholarly debates about civilian agency, rebel governance, and their impact on the conduct and legacies of war. Moreover, it provides intimate insights into life under one of the most brutal Islamic extremist groups in recent history, contributing to policy debates on the radicalization, retention, and reintegration of individuals under jihadist rule in Africa and beyond. 

ARTICLES & WORKS-IN-PROGRESS

2024. “From Snapshots to Panoramas: Navigating Power, Space, and Time in the Study of Armed Groups,” Conflict, Security & Development, 1-31 (with Kai M. Thaler and Sean Paul Ashley). DOI: 10.1080/14678802.2024.2390407.

The complex nature of civil conflict makes it inherently difficult to study, which is exacerbated by the challenges of conducting field research in volatile conflict zones. How do these challenges affect the data gathered and inferences drawn about armed groups? This article examines the epistemological, practical, and ethical issues of researching armed organizations across varying power relations, space, and time. We highlight the divergent perspectives that emerge within armed group hierarchies, the varying realities across conflict geographies, and shifts in armed group trajectories and narratives that arise over time. Based on research in Africa and Latin America, we identify the pitfalls of capturing isolated ‘snapshots’ related to with whom, where, and when research was conducted, and we advocate for a ‘panoramic’ approach to the study of armed groups, recognising both limits to available data and the evolving nature of armed groups and their behavior. Ultimately, we offer a conceptual roadmap for understanding the main axes along which variation in armed group organization and behavior unfolds, provide recommendations on how to navigate them, and call for caution in the generalization of research findings and policy prescriptions, given the limitations and liminal nature of knowledge about armed groups.

Civilian Rebels: Coercion, Social Mobility, and Turbulent Cooperation (under review)

What happens when civilians get trapped and subsumed into a militant organization? Research on combatants suggests that coerced recruits are typically unmotivated and prone to disobedience. At the same time, it is also widely assumed that high levels of control produce maximum compliance and eventually allegiance. This article proposes a more nuanced perspective, introducing the concept of turbulent cooperation to explain the frequent shifts in roles and relations among the overlooked class of non-combatant rebels. I argue that turbulent cooperation results from civilians’ navigation of social mobility within militarized hierarchies. Uncovering the logics and practices of social mobility demonstrates that it is not merely an opportunistic pursuit of personal gain. Instead, it reflects a complex social landscape where involvement with militant actors offers temporary security but risks violent engagement. Civilians must therefore constantly adapt their behavior—cooperating or resisting—to maneuver within the rebel hierarchy, sometimes seeking to rise, avoid sliding down, or even prevent ascending too high. Analyzing role transitions over time through the lens of upward and downward mobility shows how power is leveraged and lost, thus providing insights into war-making as a dynamic social process, with implications for our understanding of civilian participation and retention in armed groups.

This article won the 2025 Kenneth Boulding Award, Peace Studies Section, International Studies Association.

Bounded Risk Assessment of Pandemic Virus Identification Through Laboratory Characterization (with Geetha Jeyapragasan, Jakob Graabak, and Kevin Esvelt)

Beyond Belief: The Pragmatic Use of Ideology in Extremist Organizations (manuscript in progress)

While scholars have emphasized the role of indoctrination to turn captives into loyal members of extremist organizations, we know that ideology uptake varies and often fails. However, why do individuals who explicitly disavow a group’s belief system still employ the language and invoke tenets of the very ideology they reject? This disconnect between beliefs and behaviors, observed among former Boko Haram associates, raises important questions about the functions of ideology. This article suggests that individuals within extremist groups often engage with ideology in far more adaptive and pragmatic ways than previously recognized. I argue that the dual nature of religious ideology—conferring not only duties but also entitlements—provides tools for people to gain benefits, challenge authority, and claim rights. They thus leverage religious tenets, not out of conviction, but to improve their position and chance of survival, legitimizing the social order along the way. The article thus demonstrates the mutually reinforcing roles of ideology as a vehicle for protection at the individual-level and for social control and cohesion at group-level.

Contours of Control: A Typology of Civilian and Militarized Rebel Governance (manuscript in progress)