Identity, violence, and the political marketplace: key findings from the Conflict Research Programme

A major finding of the Conflict Research Programme is that systemic corruption, a form of transactional politics we call the ‘political marketplace’, tends to be associated with exclusivist identity politics (racism, ethnic nationalism or religious fundamentalism). They are almost always found together, even though they often operate in contradictory ways. In a special issue of the journal Conflict, Security & Development, titled ‘Identity, Violence, and the Political Marketplace’ edited by Mary Kaldor, Alex de Waal and Henry Radice, researchers from across the CRP present new research that explores the logics of organised violence, identity formation, war economies and political markets in the five countries of focus for the programme: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan and Syria.