Armed non-state actors and the politics of recognition

Recog­nition is often con­sidered a means to de-escalate conflicts and promote peace­ful social inter­actions. This volume explores the forms that social recog­nition and its with­holding may take in asym­metric armed conflicts, examining the risks and oppor­tunities that arise when local, state, and trans­national actors recognise, mis­recognise, or deny recog­nition of armed non-state actors.

By study­ing key asym­metric conflicts through the prism of recog­nition, it offers an inno­vative perspective on the inter­actions bet­ween armed non-state actors and state actors. In what contexts does granting recog­nition to armed non-state actors foster conflict trans­formation? What happens when govern­ments with­hold recog­nition or label armed non-state actors in ways they perceive as mis­recognition? The authors examine the ambi­valence of recog­nition processes in violent conflicts and their sometimes-unintended conse­quences. The volume shows that, while non-recognition prevents conflict trans­formation, the recog­nition of armed non-state actors may produce counter­productive precedents and new modes of exclusion in intra-state and trans­national politics.