Kroc-Kellogg Peace, Conflict, Crime and Violence Workshop

"Gatekeepers: The Effect of Climate Change on Organized Criminal Group Behavior"

Lucía Tiscornia, University of Notre Dame
Patrick Regan, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies

Climate-generated stress has been linked to multiple socio-political outcomes, many of which are violent. Scarcity is at the core of these arguments. We argue that climate stress creates conditions for organized criminal groups to capture markets of scarce resources. Price shocks resulting from climate change-driven scarcity create incentives for criminal groups to move into a new market, to capture the production and distribution of a given commodity. We trace the process that connects climate induced scarcity to price shocks that create opportunities for criminal capture of the market for a legally traded commodity. In doing so, we build a theory of climate-driven criminal capture by focusing on the sub-national analysis of the abalone shellfish market in two South African provinces.

Open to Ph.D. students, fellows, and faculty who are interested in civil war, violence, crime, peace, conflict management, and conflict resolution. The workshop is an informal gathering to discuss work-in-progress, dissertation chapters and proposals, practice conference talks, etc.

 

The workshop format assumes that participants come to the workshop having read the paper. A discussant will start the discussion with 5-10 minutes of comments, then the floor is open.
 

Lunch is provided.