Thriving Economies Amidst Armed Violence Conference

While stability, predictability, and legal certainty are commonly seen as indispensable to economic development, agro-industrial, extractive, manufacturing, and service sectors nevertheless thrive in contexts of armed violence, attracting tens of billions of dollars in international investment every year.

This conference examines how economic accumulation unfolds within such environments. Moving beyond narrow distinctions between legal and illegal sectors, participants will explore:

• Protection and brokerage arrangements linking firms, armed actors, and local intermediaries
• The integration of violent contexts into global supply chains
• The uneven distribution of profits, risks, and environmental costs
• The lived experience of working and residing in zones of economic expansion and insecurity

Rather than focusing solely on drug trafficking, smuggling, or conflict minerals, this conference investigates the integration of legal and illegal activities within contexts of violence, an evolving reality that has profoundly affected many societies for decades.

Speakers

Naor Ben-Yehoyada — Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University

Taras Fedirko — Assistant Professor of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow and Research Fellow at the IWM

Laurent Gayer — CNRS Senior Research Professor, CERI–Sciences Po

Jacobo Grajales — Professor of Political Science, CESSP–Pantheon Sorbonne University

Martin Lamotte — CNRS Research Associate Professor, Director, LAP–EHESS 

Natalia Mendoza — Anthropologist and Co-Director, ALTAR: Centro de Investigación

Fernando Montero — Associate Research Scientist, Columbia University

Rosalind Morris — Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University

Michel Naepels — CNRS Research Professor, CEMS–EHESS;

David Picherit — CNRS Research Associate Professor, LESC–CNRS

Discussants

Gilles Dorronsoro — Professor of Political Science, CESSP–Pantheon Sorbonne University;

Senior Fellow, Institut Universitaire de France

Susana Narotzky — Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Barcelona

Livestream

https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/j/91929869167?pwd=JhVzPqIqJIrbsrUJNSSsrKmb2Iap3g.1

Please feel free to join 10–15 minutes before the start time. The conference will begin at 9 a.m. (Paris time). This link will remain active for all four panels throughout the day.