Dr Gauthier Marchais will be discussing his latest research at the second “Conversations about Conflict and Violence” being held this term. He presents the results of a recent survey of participation in armed groups in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
About the Seminar:
The study of determinants of participation in armed groups has a long and rich pedigree in the social sciences, but it is only recently that the literature has started looking into multi-causal and dynamic explanations, which often face severe methodological and measurement limitations.
Gauthier Marchais will present the results of a recent survey of participation in armed groups in Eastern DRC, that used recall data to reconstitute ‘village histories’ of 134 villages of eastern DRC, and argue that ‘protection’ constitutes a major driver of participation in armed groups. Reflecting on the methodological challenges that the study faced, he will then present and discuss preliminary ideas to address them, which will serve to design a new study to be carried out this year.
About the Speaker:
Dr Gauthier Marchais is a Research Fellow in the Conflict and Violence Cluster at the Institute for Development Studies (IDS). He recently completed a PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) on the dynamics of participation in armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and has been involved in several research projects focused on the region.
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