Resist, negotiate, submit?
Civilian agency and jihadism in Central Mali
Credit: Shutterstock/Demark
RESEARCH PAPER
This report examines how communities respond to armed jihadist groups in Central Mali. Key responses have been submission (capitulating to insurgent conditions); dialogue (negotiating with insurgents); or violent resistance (forming self-defence brigades or militias).
These different responses emerge because of social and political dynamics within the community, as well as evolving strategic factors during the war. These shape motivations of communities to devise different strategies to respond to armed groups. In turn, community responses shape the trajectory of conflicts. Civilians should thus not be peripheral, but integral to any strategy for prevention, protection or longer-term peacebuilding.
