Patricia Justino on the legacies of wartime governance

WIDER Seminar Series

WIDER Seminar Series - Patricia Justino on the legacies of wartime governance


Patricia Justino, Research Fellow at IDS, will present at the WIDER Seminar Series on 11 April 2018. 

Abstract – On the legacies of wartime governance

In conflict zones around the world, both state and non-state actors deliver governance at local levels. This paper explores the long-term impact of individual exposure to ‘wartime governance’ on social and political behaviour. We operationalise wartime governance as the local policy choices and practices of a ruling actor. Building on detailed ethnographic and historical insights, we use survey data and a natural experiment to show that involvement in wartime governance by armed groups makes Angolan war veterans more likely to participate in local collective action twelve years after the end of the war. This effect is underpinned by social learning and a shift in political preferences, but has no bearing on political mobilization at the national level or cooperation within the family. Our study documents a wartime source of pro-social behaviour among veterans and exposes challenges and opportunities for bottom-up approaches to post-conflict state-building and local development.

WIDER Seminar Series

The WIDER Seminar Series showcases recent and ongoing work on key topics in development economics. The weekly sessions held in Helsinki are open to local and visiting researchers, policy makers, and others interested in development topics. Click here to learn more.

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