The Longue Durée of Paramilitarism

As turbulent events (wars, civil wars, international interventions, humanitarian crisis and civil unrests) keep unfolding all over the globe the actions of various types of paramilitary structures are attracting considerable attention of academia as well as general public. This volume builds on a rapidly developing literature on paramilitarism. It consists of chapters covering historical cases and different aspects of the phenomenon such as: relationship to the state, legal context, conduct towards civilian population, governance, recruitment, links to organized crime or terrorism, violence, memory and legacy. The focus is on the Balkans, East Central Europe and the Caucasus. The goals are reassessment of the existing body of knowledge, and a new theoretical conceptualization of the phenomenon spanning the 20th century.