The Politics of Armed Groups: Rebels, State and Society (014IR)

30 credits, Level 6

Autumn teaching

Why do people take up arms? How do armed groups govern in contexts of fragmented statehood? If wars are so profitable, how can peace come about?

On this module, you’ll explore armed groups to understand today’s violent conflicts and ways to address them.

You’ll develop the analytical tools to understand mobilisation, organisation, governance and the political economy of armed groups. You’ll evaluate policies that seek to end armed conflict, including in a policy brief that develops your employability skills. You’ll do this by choosing an armed group to study from around the world.

Teaching

100%: Seminar

Assessment

25%: Coursework (Essay)
75%: Written assessment (Essay)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 30 hours of contact time and about 270 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We鈥檙e planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We鈥檒l make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

Courses

This module is offered on the following courses: