The Partisans: Civilian Support & Indirect Violence

Abstract Although also victims, there is a growing appreciation that civilians are actors in civil wars. Scholarship on civilian agency shows how their decisions impact well-being and shape conflict dynamics. Civilians are increasingly framed as impartial forces resisting armed groups and cultivating peace. However, civilians are as likely to support armed groups and deepen violence. This paper seeks to better understand civilian partisanship. I frame forms of civilian support that enhance the coercive capacities of armed groups as ‘indirect violence’. Some forms of support, such as refusing to provide information or protesting enemy abuses, may reduce violence, while providing food or medicine is more neutral. Other actions, such as contributing funds, intelligence, recruits, and weapons, enable armed groups to carry out violence. That civilians contribute indirect violence does not mean they are not victims, but may call their innocence into question, providing a sober account of civilians in civil war.