Gender, conflict and illicit economies workshop

Across the different borderland sites in Afghanistan, Colombia and Myanmar that we’ve been working in, a common and important theme to emerge is the gendered dimensions of illicit economies. This was also identified as a gap in our literature review work. Participation in illicit drug economies effect men and women differently. In turn, gender relations shape the organisation and distribution of drug economy costs and benefits. Our research shows that these gendered dynamics vary greatly between countries and borderland regions.

In November 2019, we held a closed door workshop with UK academics working on related issues of gender, illicit economies and conflict.  The workshop aimed to begin a more systematic reflection on the gendered dimensions of illicit economies, looking at differences and commonalities across the cases. It also sought to start a conversation on what we’re finding in our empirical work in the context of broader literature on gender, conflict, post-war transitions and illicit economies.