Fall/Winter Timetable
POL2207H1F L0101
Undergraduate Course Code: POL466H1F L0101
Topics in International Politics III
Mobilization of People for Armed Conflict
Themes
To succeed in mobilizing a combat force, a (non-state) armed group must acquire people, weapons, and the ability to command its fighters. The first of these three requirements – the mobilization of people for armed conflict – is one of the most fascinating issues in the IR literature on conflict studies, as well as in anthropology, psychology and history. Why would some people risk their lives and join (para-) military organizations whereas others would not? Why some armed groups attract large numbers of people while others scramble for recruits? Similarly, why some insurgencies use ideological incentives to mobilize people but others resort to material rewards? This course will first examine theories of recruitment and organization in the context of military struggle. We will then look at the existing macro and micro empirical evidence (case studies, cross-country and cross-group analysis, as well as surveys of ex-combatants) that supports or undermines existing theoretical claims.
LIMITED ENROLMENT: Priority is given to students in the MAIR and MAIR/JD program
Format and Requirements
Projects (30%), participation (30%), paper (40%)
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Congratulations to Madalyn Hay, a recipient of a 2023-2024 Connaught PhDs for Public Impact Fellowship. Madalyn, one of our doctoral students, holds a BAH in Contemporary Studies and Classics from the...
August 24, 2023
Congratulations to alumna Meaghan Williams, a recipient of the 2022-23 Governor General’s Gold Medal for Academic Excellence, the highest academic honour available to graduate students in Canada. Awarded annually by the Office of the...
June 14, 2021
Great news from the Canadian Political Science Association, which held its annual awards ceremony (online) over the weekend of June 12 & 13: Professor Stefan Rencken’s book "Private Governance and Public...
April 22, 2021
Congratulations to two political science alumni now teaching at U of T who have both won Superior Teaching Awards! Igor Shoikhedbrod and Khalid Ahmed will be celebrated on May 5th at...
August 6, 2020
Q&A with 2020 Vanier Scholar Yojana Miraya Oscco Congratulations to PhD student Yojana Miraya Oscco who has won a prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (SSHRC). Launched in 2008, the program enables...
April 30, 2020
Congratulations to our graduate student Kevin Edmonds who has won New College's June Larkin Award for Pedagogical Development. A PhD candidate specializing in Caribbean political economy, histories of alternative/illicit development, foreign intervention and...