Strong militias, weak states and armed violence: Towards a theory of ‘state-parallel’ paramilitaries

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F26482789%3A_____%2F16%3AN0000149" target="_blank" >RIV/26482789:_____/16:N0000149 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0967010616669900" target="_blank" >https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0967010616669900</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0967010616669900" target="_blank" >10.1177/0967010616669900</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Strong militias, weak states and armed violence: Towards a theory of ‘state-parallel’ paramilitaries

Original language description

This article challenges the well-established presentation within conflict studies of paramilitary organizations as state-manipulated death squads or self-defence groups, and argues that some present-day militias extend their functions well beyond the role of shadowy pro-regime enforcers. Drawing its empirical insights from Ukrainian pro-government volunteer battalions and supporting its findings with empirical observations from other parts of the world, the article posits that the rise of powerful militia organizations acting in parallel with the state makes it imperative to revisit the theory and typology of paramilitary violence. The key theoretical argument of the article is that ‘state-parallel’ militias differ qualitatively from the ‘statemanipulated’ paramilitaries that are typical of the Cold War period. The article shows that although ‘stateparallel’ paramilitaries are not a new phenomenon, they have thus far remained critically understudied and undertheorized.

Czech name

—

Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

50601 - Political science

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2016

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Security Dialogue

ISSN

0967-0106

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

47

Issue of the periodical within the volume

6

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

19

Pages from-to

498-516

UT code for WoS article

000389549900003

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85000366416