Abstract
Research on violent mobilization broadly emphasizes who joins rebellions and why, but neglects to explain the timing or nature of participation. Support and logistical apparatuses play critical roles in sustaining armed conflict, but scholars have not explained role differentiation within militant organizations or accounted for the structures, processes, and practices that produce discrete categories of fighters, soldiers, and staff. Extant theories consequently conflate mobilization and participation in rebel organizations with frontline combat. This article argues that, to understand wartime mobilization and organizational resilience, scholars must situate militants in their organizational and social context. By tracing the emergence and evolution of female-dominated clandestine supply, financial, and information networks in 1980s Lebanon, it demonstrates that mobilization pathways and organizational subdivisions emerge from the systematic overlap between formal militant hierarchies and quotidian social networks. In doing so, this article elucidates the nuanced relationship between social structure, militant organizations, and sustained rebellion.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 418-432 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | American Political Science Review |
| Volume | 107 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 2013 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:I am immensely grateful to my Palestinian and Lebanese interlocutors for their generosity, trust, and hospitality. Evgeny Finkel, Chris Graziul, Janet Lewis, Jonathan Obert, Dan Slater, Paul Staniland, Lisa Wedeen, Steven Wilkinson, Elizabeth Jean Wood, Sherry Zaks, three anonymous reviewers, and the editors of the American Political Science Review provided very thoughtful feedback and advice regarding this project. My special appreciation goes to Eric Hundman, Amaney Jamal, John Padgett, and Jillian Schwedler for their extensive critiques, suggestions, and insights. I am indebted to Amal al-Khatib and to Salah Hamzeh for their assistance and friendship in the field. Financial support from the Social Science Research Council's International Dissertation Research Fellowship, the Social Science Research Council's Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship, the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship, and the Palestinian American Research Center made extended fieldwork possible. This article was previously presented at the Political Networks in International Politics panel at the 2011 Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference and at the Journal of Middle East Women's Studies 2012 Research Workshop. Any mistakes are my own.
