Dinah Lawan

Fellowship: Rocca Dissertation
Fellowship Year: 2025
Project Theme/Title: Civilian-Based Strategies of Non-Violent Resistance: A Study of Civilian Responses to Boko Haram Violence in Borno State, Northern Nigeria

Abstract: Across the world, civilians are caught in conflicts. But are they mere victims, or do they harbor unrecognized capacities for resistance and resilience? Emerging research on civilian self-protection during civil wars shows that civilians adopt various strategies to protect themselves amidst violence. While this recognition of civilian agency is welcome, much scholarship has focused on militarized approaches, with considerably less attention given to non-militarized self-defense methods. Through extensive data collection from 540 villages across 27 local government areas in Borno State, Northern Nigeria, my research demonstrates how civilians have developed non-militarized strategies to defend against Boko Haram violence. My work examines variations across and within villages to understand why some communities develop non-militarized resistance while others escape the violence by relocating. I complement this with an analysis of within-village dynamics to understand the micro-level logic of why some community participants are more or less likely to participate in these efforts.