As a pervasive occurrence in the contemporary world, wars and their economic sources are defining social and political processes in a variety of national and transnational contexts. Rebel Economies: Warlords, Insurgents, Humanitarians explores historical, anthropological and political dimensions of war economies by non-state actors across different periods and regions, while presenting their multiple manifestations as a unified, congruent phenomenon. Through a variety of conceptual and disciplinary approaches, the authors investigate, in the past and present and across three continents, the nexuses between economy, war, social transformation and state-building, revealing in the process differences and similarities that would otherwise remain hidden. Through this broad-gauge approach, the book aims, first, to rethink much of the debate around non-state war economies, and, secondly, to expand the conversation by consciously treating this theme as a conspicuous and distinct aspect of both economy and war. This is not just a different approach but a fundamental departure from the ways in which current discussions over the economy of wars, civil conflicts, and revolutions, have informed research orientations over several decades.

Nicola Di Cosmo isthe Henry Luce Foundation Professor of east Asian Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study

Didier Fassin isthe James D. Wolfensohn Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, director of studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, and annual chair of public ealth at the Collège de France.

Clémence Pinaud isassistant professor at the department of international studies of Indiana University, Bloomington.

Introduction: Revisiting Non-State War Economies

Nicola Di Cosmo, Didier Fassin and Clémence Pinaud.

Part I: Frameworks

Chapter 1: What are Non-State War Economies? Prefatory Remarks

Didier Fassin.

Chapter 2: War Economies and War Economics

Christopher Cramer.

Chapter 3: War Economies and Humanitarian Action

Gilles Carbonnier.

Chapter 4: Rebel Taxation. Between Moral and Market Economy

Zachariah Mampilly.

Part II: Historical Perspective

Chapter 5: The War Economy of Nomadic Empires

Nicola Di Cosmo

Chapter 6: Non-State War Economy in Renaissance Italy

William Caferro.

Chapter 7: The Economy of Warlordism in Early Twentieth Century China

Edward McCord.

Part III: Contemporary Worlds

Chapter 8: Friend, Foe, or In-Between? Humanitarian Action and the Soviet-Afghan War

Jonathan Benthall.

Chapter 9: War Economy, Warlordism and Social Class Formation in South Sudan

Clémence Pinaud.

Chapter 10: Resource Wars, Oil and the Islamic State

Philippe Le Billon

Conclusion: New Perspectives on Warring Societ

Nicola Di Cosmo, Didier Fassin and Clémence Pinaud