Caitriona Dowd
Biographic Data
| ID | 1018566 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Caitriona Dowd |
| GIVEN NAMES | Caitriona |
| FAMILY NAME | Dowd |
| SIGNATURE | DOWD C |
| AFFILIATIONS | University College Dublin |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9058-0752 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 75 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
A Scoping Review of Social Capital’s Impact on Resilience Across the Humanitarian Development Peace Nexus
The recent expansion of literature on social capital and resilience has resulted in multi-disciplinary applications, obscure conceptual parameters, and a range of overlapping and divergent results. This scoping review aims to understand how existing literature has framed the impact of social capital on community resilience across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. The article systematically searched for English-language peer-reviewed acade…
Where and how does food security feature in the Women, Peace and Security agenda
Peace, conflict, and food security are each deeply gendered, with important gendered differences in both the experiences of these phenomena and their subsequent impacts. However, there has been relatively limited attention paid to their intersection – namely, how gender shapes food security in peace and conflict. Moreover, despite significant policy focus on all three dimensions at multiple levels, policy processes related to gender, peace and co…
The sex and gender dimensions of hunger in peace and conflict: A review
Sex and gender profoundly shape exposure to, experiences of, and impacts from both violent conflict and food crises alike. While both phenomena are deeply gendered in themselves, our understanding of their intersections – specifically, how sex and gender influence food insecurity in conflict – remains limited. This paper presents an overview of current scholarship and available evidence on the sex and gender dimensions of hunger in conflict to sy…
The Role of Food in Peace Agreements
While food security is closely tied to conflict, to date, food security's inclusion in peace agreements has been relatively understudied. This gap exists even though food security is relevant to peace processes for several reasons, including the potential for conflict-related food insecurity to contribute to injustices that could drive future conflict. This study addresses this gap, by first mapping the presence of food security-related provision…
Gendering food rights in peacebuilding: Insights from Colombia’s 2016 peace agreement
Conflict's impacts on food systems: Mapping available evidence of interactions
This scoping study maps the conflict and food systems nexus to identify broad themes, specific components and remaining gaps in research. Applying systems thinking and network analysis, the analysis points to three trends. First, studies are heavily focused on production, with relatively less attention to aspects including transport, trade and household utilisation. Second, geographically, food systems within Africa and at country‐level are well‐…
New Territory, Geographic Diffusion and Civilian Targeting
Existing research identifies several factors that shape civilian targeting, including competition between armed groups. However, the role diffusion into new territory – as opposed to continued presence in long-established areas – plays is relatively underexamined. This study addresses this through a territorial analysis of eight high-activity African rebel groups, using Armed Conflict Location & Event Dataset data. It finds that groups are more l…
Non-state armed groups as food system actors in Somalia and Haiti
Violent conflict is the primary driver of food crises worldwide. However, our understanding of the specific role non-state armed groups (NSAGs) play in food systems remains incomplete. There is limited evidence on how NSAGs shape food systems, including through forms of (non-)violent regulation; where NSAGs intersect with different stages of the food value chain, beyond production alone; and comparative analysis of NSAGs across diverse contexts, …
Food-related violence, hunger and humanitarian crises
Violent conflict is the key driver in global food crises. In response, researchers, humanitarians and policy stakeholders have sought to better predict, analyse and respond to food crises in conflict-affected contexts. However, efforts to model conflict's impacts on hunger typically focus on 'conflict' as an aggregate category, rarely distinguishing between violence that directly involves food and food systems from wider insecurity. This study pr…
The Sahel crisis since 2012
The ‘perfect storm’ that enveloped Mali in 2012 has since escalated into a protracted and widespread crisis across the Sahel. The region currently hosts multiple, moving threats, which are most active in the three states of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. In those states alone, between 2012 and 2019, there have been 1,463 armed clashes, 4,723 civilians killed, at the hands of 195 violent armed groups, in 1,263 discrete locations.1 Violence reached…
Commissions of inquiry and pathways to accountability in Plateau State, Nigeria
For decades, Plateau State in Nigeria's Middle Belt has witnessed repeated ethnoreligious violence. Over this period, both state and federal governments have established formal Commissions of Inquiry (COIs) in response to unrest, tasked with investigating violence, identifying perpetrators, and - ultimately - strengthening accountability. While commissions' mandates and specific outcomes varied, there is general consensus that inquiries have been…
Comparing ‘New’ and ‘Old’ Media for Violence Monitoring and Crisis Response: Evidence from Kenya
This paper assesses the comparative opportunities and limitations of ‘new’ and ‘old’ data sources for early warning, crisis response and violence research by comparing reports of political violence, and both violent and peaceful demonstrations, produced through social media and traditional media during the Kenyan elections in August and October 2017. We leverage data from a sample of social media reports of violence through public posts to Twitte…
Fragmentation, Conflict, and Competition: Islamist Anti-civilian Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa
In spite of the shared high profile of recent Islamist attacks on civilians in sub-Saharan Africa, patterns of anti-civilian violence differ across and within violent Islamist groups, and the countries in which they are active. This research seeks to explain this variation by situating Islamist violence within the sub-national spaces in which such groups operate, and the wider conflict environment in which they choose to use, or limit the use of,…
Political Environments, Elite Co-Option, and Conflict
This article establishes a framework for understanding the ways in which subnational governance arrangements produce divergent types and dynamics of political violence. The variation in agents of governance, how a regime shapes its territorial presence and subnational relationships, structures the forms of violent conflict that emerge within and across states. We first acknowledge four distinct types of political environments based on regime dept…
Marginalisation, insurgency and civilian insecurity: Boko Haram and the Lord’s Resistance Army
Recent years have seen a dramatic escalation in the levels and intensity of violence associated with the northern Nigerian Islamist group, commonly referred to as ‘Boko Haram’. The deliberate and brutal targeting of civilians has been an increasingly pronounced feature of this conflict, contributing to acute civilian vulnerability. Often ascribed to the specific ideological and ethno-religious configuration of Boko Haram, we argue that this viole…
Actor proliferation and the fragmentation of violent groups in conflict
This paper proposes a novel application of a measure of actor fragmentation drawn from electoral studies to the growing field of conflict event data. The application facilitates comparison of conflict environments over time and across cases, while enabling researchers to take account of the relative activity levels of diverse actors. Analysis of the measure suggests that a fragmentation index diverges from a simple count of active conflict agents…
Cultural and religious demography and violent Islamist groups in Africa
Grievances, governance and Islamist violence in sub-Saharan Africa
What explains the emergence of Islamist violence as a substantial security threat in such diverse contexts as Kenya, Mali and Nigeria? This article addresses this question through an exploration of the strategies of governance employed by states, and how these shape the emergence and mode of collective violence. Conflict research often emphasises the specificity of Islamist violence; but these conflicts can be understood as a form of political ex…
The myth of global Islamic terrorism and local conflict in Mali and the Sahel
Journal Article The myth of global Islamic terrorism and local conflict in Mali and the Sahel Get access Caitriona Dowd, Caitriona Dowd Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Clionadh Raleigh Clionadh Raleigh * *Caitriona Dowd ([email protected]) is a PhD candidate at Trinity College Dublin. Clionadh Raleigh ([email protected]) is Associate Professor in Geography at Trinity College Dublin. Search for other works by t…
The myth of global Islamic terrorism and local conflict in Mali and the Sahel
Journal Article The myth of global Islamic terrorism and local conflict in Mali and the Sahel Get access Caitriona Dowd, Caitriona Dowd Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Clionadh Raleigh Clionadh Raleigh * *Caitriona Dowd ([email protected]) is a PhD candidate at Trinity College Dublin. Clionadh Raleigh ([email protected]) is Associate Professor in Geography at Trinity College Dublin. Search for other works by t…
The Sahel crisis since 2012
The ‘perfect storm’ that enveloped Mali in 2012 has since escalated into a protracted and widespread crisis across the Sahel. The region currently hosts multiple, moving threats, which are most active in the three states of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. In those states alone, between 2012 and 2019, there have been 1,463 armed clashes, 4,723 civilians killed, at the hands of 195 violent armed groups, in 1,263 discrete locations.1 Violence reached…
Grievances, governance and Islamist violence in sub-Saharan Africa
What explains the emergence of Islamist violence as a substantial security threat in such diverse contexts as Kenya, Mali and Nigeria? This article addresses this question through an exploration of the strategies of governance employed by states, and how these shape the emergence and mode of collective violence. Conflict research often emphasises the specificity of Islamist violence; but these conflicts can be understood as a form of political ex…
Actor proliferation and the fragmentation of violent groups in conflict
This paper proposes a novel application of a measure of actor fragmentation drawn from electoral studies to the growing field of conflict event data. The application facilitates comparison of conflict environments over time and across cases, while enabling researchers to take account of the relative activity levels of diverse actors. Analysis of the measure suggests that a fragmentation index diverges from a simple count of active conflict agents…
Fragmentation, Conflict, and Competition: Islamist Anti-civilian Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa
In spite of the shared high profile of recent Islamist attacks on civilians in sub-Saharan Africa, patterns of anti-civilian violence differ across and within violent Islamist groups, and the countries in which they are active. This research seeks to explain this variation by situating Islamist violence within the sub-national spaces in which such groups operate, and the wider conflict environment in which they choose to use, or limit the use of,…
Political Environments, Elite Co-Option, and Conflict
This article establishes a framework for understanding the ways in which subnational governance arrangements produce divergent types and dynamics of political violence. The variation in agents of governance, how a regime shapes its territorial presence and subnational relationships, structures the forms of violent conflict that emerge within and across states. We first acknowledge four distinct types of political environments based on regime dept…
Marginalisation, insurgency and civilian insecurity: Boko Haram and the Lord’s Resistance Army
Recent years have seen a dramatic escalation in the levels and intensity of violence associated with the northern Nigerian Islamist group, commonly referred to as ‘Boko Haram’. The deliberate and brutal targeting of civilians has been an increasingly pronounced feature of this conflict, contributing to acute civilian vulnerability. Often ascribed to the specific ideological and ethno-religious configuration of Boko Haram, we argue that this viole…
Cultural and religious demography and violent Islamist groups in Africa
Non-state armed groups as food system actors in Somalia and Haiti
Violent conflict is the primary driver of food crises worldwide. However, our understanding of the specific role non-state armed groups (NSAGs) play in food systems remains incomplete. There is limited evidence on how NSAGs shape food systems, including through forms of (non-)violent regulation; where NSAGs intersect with different stages of the food value chain, beyond production alone; and comparative analysis of NSAGs across diverse contexts, …
Food-related violence, hunger and humanitarian crises
Violent conflict is the key driver in global food crises. In response, researchers, humanitarians and policy stakeholders have sought to better predict, analyse and respond to food crises in conflict-affected contexts. However, efforts to model conflict's impacts on hunger typically focus on 'conflict' as an aggregate category, rarely distinguishing between violence that directly involves food and food systems from wider insecurity. This study pr…
Commissions of inquiry and pathways to accountability in Plateau State, Nigeria
For decades, Plateau State in Nigeria's Middle Belt has witnessed repeated ethnoreligious violence. Over this period, both state and federal governments have established formal Commissions of Inquiry (COIs) in response to unrest, tasked with investigating violence, identifying perpetrators, and - ultimately - strengthening accountability. While commissions' mandates and specific outcomes varied, there is general consensus that inquiries have been…
Comparing ‘New’ and ‘Old’ Media for Violence Monitoring and Crisis Response: Evidence from Kenya
This paper assesses the comparative opportunities and limitations of ‘new’ and ‘old’ data sources for early warning, crisis response and violence research by comparing reports of political violence, and both violent and peaceful demonstrations, produced through social media and traditional media during the Kenyan elections in August and October 2017. We leverage data from a sample of social media reports of violence through public posts to Twitte…
The myth of global Islamic terrorism and local conflict in Mali and the Sahel
Journal Article The myth of global Islamic terrorism and local conflict in Mali and the Sahel Get access Caitriona Dowd, Caitriona Dowd Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Clionadh Raleigh Clionadh Raleigh * *Caitriona Dowd ([email protected]) is a PhD candidate at Trinity College Dublin. Clionadh Raleigh ([email protected]) is Associate Professor in Geography at Trinity College Dublin. Search for other works by t…
Actor proliferation and the fragmentation of violent groups in conflict
This paper proposes a novel application of a measure of actor fragmentation drawn from electoral studies to the growing field of conflict event data. The application facilitates comparison of conflict environments over time and across cases, while enabling researchers to take account of the relative activity levels of diverse actors. Analysis of the measure suggests that a fragmentation index diverges from a simple count of active conflict agents…
Cultural and religious demography and violent Islamist groups in Africa
Grievances, governance and Islamist violence in sub-Saharan Africa
What explains the emergence of Islamist violence as a substantial security threat in such diverse contexts as Kenya, Mali and Nigeria? This article addresses this question through an exploration of the strategies of governance employed by states, and how these shape the emergence and mode of collective violence. Conflict research often emphasises the specificity of Islamist violence; but these conflicts can be understood as a form of political ex…
Marginalisation, insurgency and civilian insecurity: Boko Haram and the Lord’s Resistance Army
Recent years have seen a dramatic escalation in the levels and intensity of violence associated with the northern Nigerian Islamist group, commonly referred to as ‘Boko Haram’. The deliberate and brutal targeting of civilians has been an increasingly pronounced feature of this conflict, contributing to acute civilian vulnerability. Often ascribed to the specific ideological and ethno-religious configuration of Boko Haram, we argue that this viole…
Political Environments, Elite Co-Option, and Conflict
This article establishes a framework for understanding the ways in which subnational governance arrangements produce divergent types and dynamics of political violence. The variation in agents of governance, how a regime shapes its territorial presence and subnational relationships, structures the forms of violent conflict that emerge within and across states. We first acknowledge four distinct types of political environments based on regime dept…
Fragmentation, Conflict, and Competition: Islamist Anti-civilian Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa
In spite of the shared high profile of recent Islamist attacks on civilians in sub-Saharan Africa, patterns of anti-civilian violence differ across and within violent Islamist groups, and the countries in which they are active. This research seeks to explain this variation by situating Islamist violence within the sub-national spaces in which such groups operate, and the wider conflict environment in which they choose to use, or limit the use of,…
Comparing ‘New’ and ‘Old’ Media for Violence Monitoring and Crisis Response: Evidence from Kenya
This paper assesses the comparative opportunities and limitations of ‘new’ and ‘old’ data sources for early warning, crisis response and violence research by comparing reports of political violence, and both violent and peaceful demonstrations, produced through social media and traditional media during the Kenyan elections in August and October 2017. We leverage data from a sample of social media reports of violence through public posts to Twitte…
The Sahel crisis since 2012
The ‘perfect storm’ that enveloped Mali in 2012 has since escalated into a protracted and widespread crisis across the Sahel. The region currently hosts multiple, moving threats, which are most active in the three states of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. In those states alone, between 2012 and 2019, there have been 1,463 armed clashes, 4,723 civilians killed, at the hands of 195 violent armed groups, in 1,263 discrete locations.1 Violence reached…
Commissions of inquiry and pathways to accountability in Plateau State, Nigeria
For decades, Plateau State in Nigeria's Middle Belt has witnessed repeated ethnoreligious violence. Over this period, both state and federal governments have established formal Commissions of Inquiry (COIs) in response to unrest, tasked with investigating violence, identifying perpetrators, and - ultimately - strengthening accountability. While commissions' mandates and specific outcomes varied, there is general consensus that inquiries have been…
Food-related violence, hunger and humanitarian crises
Violent conflict is the key driver in global food crises. In response, researchers, humanitarians and policy stakeholders have sought to better predict, analyse and respond to food crises in conflict-affected contexts. However, efforts to model conflict's impacts on hunger typically focus on 'conflict' as an aggregate category, rarely distinguishing between violence that directly involves food and food systems from wider insecurity. This study pr…
Conflict's impacts on food systems: Mapping available evidence of interactions
This scoping study maps the conflict and food systems nexus to identify broad themes, specific components and remaining gaps in research. Applying systems thinking and network analysis, the analysis points to three trends. First, studies are heavily focused on production, with relatively less attention to aspects including transport, trade and household utilisation. Second, geographically, food systems within Africa and at country‐level are well‐…
New Territory, Geographic Diffusion and Civilian Targeting
Existing research identifies several factors that shape civilian targeting, including competition between armed groups. However, the role diffusion into new territory – as opposed to continued presence in long-established areas – plays is relatively underexamined. This study addresses this through a territorial analysis of eight high-activity African rebel groups, using Armed Conflict Location & Event Dataset data. It finds that groups are more l…
Non-state armed groups as food system actors in Somalia and Haiti
Violent conflict is the primary driver of food crises worldwide. However, our understanding of the specific role non-state armed groups (NSAGs) play in food systems remains incomplete. There is limited evidence on how NSAGs shape food systems, including through forms of (non-)violent regulation; where NSAGs intersect with different stages of the food value chain, beyond production alone; and comparative analysis of NSAGs across diverse contexts, …
The sex and gender dimensions of hunger in peace and conflict: A review
Sex and gender profoundly shape exposure to, experiences of, and impacts from both violent conflict and food crises alike. While both phenomena are deeply gendered in themselves, our understanding of their intersections – specifically, how sex and gender influence food insecurity in conflict – remains limited. This paper presents an overview of current scholarship and available evidence on the sex and gender dimensions of hunger in conflict to sy…
The Role of Food in Peace Agreements
While food security is closely tied to conflict, to date, food security's inclusion in peace agreements has been relatively understudied. This gap exists even though food security is relevant to peace processes for several reasons, including the potential for conflict-related food insecurity to contribute to injustices that could drive future conflict. This study addresses this gap, by first mapping the presence of food security-related provision…
Gendering food rights in peacebuilding: Insights from Colombia’s 2016 peace agreement
A Scoping Review of Social Capital’s Impact on Resilience Across the Humanitarian Development Peace Nexus
The recent expansion of literature on social capital and resilience has resulted in multi-disciplinary applications, obscure conceptual parameters, and a range of overlapping and divergent results. This scoping review aims to understand how existing literature has framed the impact of social capital on community resilience across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. The article systematically searched for English-language peer-reviewed acade…
Where and how does food security feature in the Women, Peace and Security agenda
Peace, conflict, and food security are each deeply gendered, with important gendered differences in both the experiences of these phenomena and their subsequent impacts. However, there has been relatively limited attention paid to their intersection – namely, how gender shapes food security in peace and conflict. Moreover, despite significant policy focus on all three dimensions at multiple levels, policy processes related to gender, peace and co…
Political science (15 works) · Law (10 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (10 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Criminology (7 works) · Geography (7 works) · Political economy (7 works) · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence (7 works) · Politics (6 works) · Agricultural risk and resilience (4 works)