The Politics of Illicit Economies, Organized Crime, and Extra-Legal Actors In-Person Mini-Conference

The goal of this mini-conference is to bring together a diverse set of scholars working on topics related to the politics of illicit economies, organized crime, and extra-legal armed actors. Until recently, political science did not consider mafias, drug-trafficking organizations, smuggling networks, street and prison gangs, militias, or vigilante groups to be key political actors. Yet, throughout the world, there is a rich history of such groups fulfilling political functions through the use, and threat, of violence in both weak and strong states alike. These groups have cultivated complex and overlapping relationships with each other, the state, and other non-state armed actors, thus blurring the line between crime and other more traditional forms of political violence.

While the organizational structure and specific goals of criminal and extra-legal actors vary incredibly, they all seek to carve out spheres of influence domestically or transnationally in order to engage in illicit activities and accumulate political and material resources. To this end, they have built vast and multifaceted organizations, monopolized markets, coerced citizens, coopted public officials, and engaged in extreme levels of violence. And yet, in many communities, they maintain an ambivalent position by resolving disputes, providing some public goods and services, implementing social order, and protecting communities from abuse and predation. These interrelated activities and behaviors have significant political and social consequences that we are only beginning to understand.

This workshop brings together scholars who are seeking to understand the history, dynamics, and policy implications of this increasingly complicated landscape. We will interrogate a series of interrelated questions: To what extent do violent criminal organizations pursue political goals? How does research about criminal and extra-legal groups such as cartels, gangs, mafias, or vigilante groups intersect with scholarship about rebels or insurgents engaging in criminal economic activity? How can we systematically assess criminal organizations’ interactions with civilians, state actors, or other types of violent groups? Overall, the mini-conference is designed as an opportunity to build a stronger network of political science scholars working in this area by stimulating dialogue, interrogating long-held assumptions, and innovating new strategies and frameworks for the study of illicit economies, organized crime, and extra-legal armed actors around the world.