Inside Rebellion
The Politics of Insurgent Violence

This book presents a theory to account for the different strategies pursued by rebel groups in civil war.

Jeremy M. Weinstein (Author)

9780521677974, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 9 October 2006

430 pages, 18 tables
22.6 x 15.2 x 2.8 cm, 0.577 kg

'Inside Rebellion offers an insightful account of insurgent politics that extrapolates from empirical data to construct an overarching theoretical framework. This ambitious and wide-ranging book confronts the question of why rebel attempts to capture state power display such variations in violence. Drawing on impressive primary and secondary research, Weinstein articulates a coherent theoretical argument that emphasises the interplay between resources and organisation for our understanding of insurgent violence. … this is a valuable contribution to the field.' Social Movement Studies

Some rebel groups abuse noncombatant populations, while others exhibit restraint. Insurgent leaders in some countries transform local structures of government, while others simply extract resources for their own benefit. In some contexts, groups kill their victims selectively, while in other environments violence appears indiscriminate, even random. This book presents a theory that accounts for the different strategies pursued by rebel groups in civil war, explaining why patterns of insurgent violence vary so much across conflicts. It does so by examining the membership, structure, and behavior of four insurgent movements in Uganda, Mozambique, and Peru. Drawing on interviews with nearly two hundred combatants and civilians who experienced violence firsthand, it shows that rebels' strategies depend in important ways on how difficult it is to launch a rebellion. The book thus demonstrates how characteristics of the environment in which rebellions emerge constrain rebel organization and shape the patterns of violence that civilians experience.

Part I. The Structure of Rebel Organizations: 1. The industrial organization of rebellion
2. Four rebel organizations
3. Recruitment
4. Control
Part II. The Strategies of Rebel Groups: 5. Governance
6. Violence
7. Resilience
8. Extensions.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], International relations [JPS], Comparative politics [JPB], Sociology & anthropology [JH], Regional studies [GTB]