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Social Cohesion, State Fragility & Conflict

State fragility hinders social cohesion and escalates conflict within countries. No where is this more recurrent than on the African continent where the capacity of States are weak, and the enforcement of the social contract remains unfulfilled. Consequently, the underlying fragility of Statehood and its cascading effects on exacerbating group inequalities, urban strife and protracted armed conflicts persists. Compounded by the absence of strong democratic states and areas of limited statehood, the African continent faces a polycrisis of rising inequality, urbanization, migration, forced displacement and political violence. Under this cluster, we examine the nexus between structural precipitants of instability, fragile environments and the mobilization of political violence. We analyse how structural factors interact with the threat perceptions of aggrieved critical agents to predict (early warning), amplify (advocacy), and expertly advise (consultation) policy makers on trajectories of social cohesion, state fragility and conflict across African countries. In addition, the thematic cluster explores changes in human geography and demographics, including urbanization, migration and forced displacement. We are also interested in examining the transboundary effects of these crises and the impact of regional institutional norms and frameworks in addressing these pervasive challenges.

Thematic Areas:

  • Urbanization and Youth Unrests
  • Migration, and Forced Displacement
  • Internal Armed Conflicts
  • Radicalization and (Violent) Extremism
  • Transborder Crime and Terrorism

The Institute for Comparative African Policy Analysis (ICAPA) is an independent, not-for-profit, nonpartisan public policy think tank headquartered in Accra.

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