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ABSTRACT
Non-state armed groups confront myriad challenges, but perhaps primary among them is the issue of how to transform civilians into rebels. The study of socialisation in non-state armed groups has traced the various strategies that rebels have adopted to teach rebels what they are fighting for, their position within the organisation and what behaviour is expected of them. The effects of rebel socialisation do not only affect the dynamics of how war is fought but may also extend well-past the end of the war, influencing possessive and social networks. While early studies in this field emphasise top-down (or vertical) processes and the use of violence as a socialisation mechanism, recent studies address quotidian and horizontal socialisation. This article will discuss how our understanding of rebel socialisation processes has developed over time. I introduce a two-by-two framework to understand how the process of socialisation (horizontal or vertical) and tactics used (violent or non-violent) produce unique forms of rebel socialisation. In so doing, this paper highlights future areas of study, particularly on the relatively under-researched area of non-violent, horizontal socialisation and on vertically-ordained forms of horizontal socialisation. In this article, I reiterate the call for greater attention to ‘love and care’ in security studies and offer marriage as an important, but under-appreciated, venue for rebel socialisation as a proof of concept of how taking care as a form of socialisation seriously can improve our understanding of the dynamics of rebellion and rebel experiences.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. For work on the implications of rebel socialisation for civilians see: Nagel and Doctor (Citation2020).
2. See also Manivannan et al. (Citation2023).
3. Tulp (Citation2019) describes forced marriage as a route for socialisation.
4. Thank you to an anonymous reviewer for connecting recruitment to socialisation dynamics.
5. Thank you to an anonymous reviewer for pointing out the potential influence of distance from family or communities.
6. C.f. The example of inculcation discussed in Gilligan et al. (Citation2022).
7. Wood also notes ‘Training and socialisation to the armed group take place both formally, through the immersion experience of “boot camp”, and informally, through initiation rituals and hazing’ (Wood Citation2008, p. 546).
8. Though Wood and Toppelberg are writing on militaries, the policy vs. practice differentiation also applies to non-state armed groups.
9. Thank you to an anonymous reviewer for raising this point.
10. As Meg Guliford rightly pointed out, this is a way in which the rebels mixed horizontal and vertical socialisation, ordering bonding among comrades.
11 Claims of senseless violence by armed groups often reflect an unwillingness by analysts to consider that there are circumstances in which brutality is considered logical.
12. C.f. Hoover Green (Citation2018) and Albert (Citation2022).
13. See also Leader Maynard (Citation2019).
14. C.f. Chadoka-King (Citation2016)
15. Bracketed material author’s addition.
16. C.f. Gilligan et al. (Citation2022), and functionally all of Cynthia Enloe’s work.
17. In so doing, I do not intend to undermine the seriousness of the crime of forced marriage as a violation of both the man and woman’s human rights. Importantly, however, not all rebel groups practice forced marriage and, as we will see, forced marriage can still be important for socialisation. See also Tulp (Citation2019).
18. Thank you to an anonymous reviewer for encouraging me to acknowledge that marriage is not always permitted in rebel groups.
19. Including gender ideology, a burgeoning area of study. C.f. Asal et al. (Citation2013) and Szekely (Citation2019).
20. Furthermore, rebels may use marriage as a means of establishing intra-group hierarchies and roles. In the Kachin Independence Army (KIA, a rebel group operating in Myanmar), women members of the group retired upon marriage ‘in order to fulfill their duty to have children’ (Hedström Citation2015).
21. Which is often vertically sanctioned.
22. See the RSVAC for example in Dumaine et al. (Citation2021).
23. Hilary Matfess, In Love and at War Marriage in Non-state Armed Groups.
24. Hilary Matfess, In Love and at War Marriage in Non-state Armed Groups.
25. Hilary Matfess, In Love and at War Marriage in Non-state Armed Groups.
26. These are non-exclusive categories; people could offer multiple responses.
27. C.f. Lawoti (Citation2007).
28. Nom de guerre: Parvati.
29. Thank you to an anonymous reviewer for raising this point.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Hilary Matfess
Hilary Matfess is an Assistant Professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.