Description: More than half the world's population live in violent settings, such as civil wars, communal conflicts, cities plagued by gang violence, and entire areas governed by criminal organizations. Living exposed to diverse forms of violence, individuals and communities have found innovative-and sometimes counterintuitive-ways to protect themselves and others. Civilian Protective Agency in Violent Settings establishes the study of civilian agency and its protective dimension across various violent settings as a systematic and unified field of research. It brings together researchers spanning several social science disciplines to study civilian protective agency in different violent settings, including civil war, genocide, communal violence, and organized crime, and in various geographical locations, from Syria to Mozambique, Sri Lanka to Mexico, Iraq to Colombia and Western Europe. The volume offers conceptual foundations, new theoretical insights, and detailed empirics that advance our understanding of civilian protective agency and promote future research on the topic that is comparable, tractable, and cumulative.
Review Quotes: "This book significantly advance our understanding of civilian protection in violent settings, offering comprehensive and complementary analyses essential for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers in the field of peace and conflict studies." -- Imrana Buba, International Peacekeeping
"The book provides much food for thought and introduces a rich research agenda." -- Nils Petter Gleditsch, Journal of Peaceful Research