Desertion, Terrain, and Control of the Home Front in Civil Wars
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6283365 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Theodore Mclauchlin (0000-0003-3759-2241, Université de Montréal, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Pages | 1419-1444 |
| Publication date | 2014-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Conflict Resolution (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-0027 • E-ISSN: 1552-8766 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0022002714547901 |
| OpenAlex | W2168714887 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 18 |
| References cited | 51 |
This article examines desertion in civil wars, focusing on the role of combatants’ hometowns in facilitating desertion. Analyzing data from the Spanish Civil War, the article demonstrates that combatants who come from hill country are considerably more likely to desert than combatants whose hometowns are on flat ground. This is because evasion is easier in rough terrain. The finding implies that the cohesion of armed groups depends on control, not just positive incentives, and that control of territory in civil wars goes beyond rebel–government contestation, and consists also of control behind the lines. The article bridges micro and macro approaches to civil wars by indicating the multiple uses to which individuals can put structural conditions like rough terrain. This helps to clarify the macro-level link between rough terrain and civil war. It also shows that micro-level research can profitably examine structural variables alongside individual characteristics and endogenous conflict dynamics
Cartography · Cohesion (chemistry · Control (management · Criminology · Desert (philosophy · Desertion · Development economics · Economics · Economy · Front (military · Geography · Incentive · Management · Market economy · Meteorology · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Terrain · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies
When It Rains, It Pours
The Diversity of Disobedience in Military Organizations
Troop Retention in Civil Wars
Mixed Methods Research in the Study of Political and Social Violence and Conflict
Terrain ruggedness and land cover
History and quantitative conflict research
Por qué los rebeldes dejan de luchar? Declive organizacional y deserción en la insurgencia de Colombia
Where the Insurgents Aren’t
Bridging Micro and Macro Approaches on Civil Wars and Political Violence
Contesting the Fighter Identity
Desertion and Collective Action in Civil Wars
Early-Life Origins of Wartime Behaviour
Disloyalty and Logics of Fratricide in Civil War
Rogues, degenerates, and heroes
The limits of socialization and the underproduction of military violence
Weakened by the storm
New findings from conflict archives
A social ecology of civil conflict
Conflict and defense
The Sources of Social Power
Insurgent Collective Action and Civil War in El Salvador
Resistance and Rebellion
The Art of Not Being Governed
Coercion, capital, and European states, AD 990-1992
States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control
Greed and grievance in civil war
Theft of an Idol
The Logic of Collective Action
The Logic of Violence in Civil War
Organizations at War
Head for the Hills? Rough Terrain, State Capacity, and Civil War Onset
Desertion as Localism
The Insurgent State
The Banality of “Ethnic War
Ella Lonn, Desertion During the Civil War
Ethnic groups in conflict
Guerrillas and revolution in Latin America
How “Free” is Free Riding in Civil Wars
Understanding Interaction Models
Logistic Regression in Rare Events Data
The Ontology of “Political Violence
Ethno-Nationalist Dyads and Civil War
Sensitivity Analysis of Empirical Results on Civil War Onset
Recruitment and Allegiance
Continuation of Politics by Two Means
Rivalry and Revenge
Desertion and Collective Action in Civil Wars
Who Fights? The Determinants of Participation in Civil War
Loyalty Strategies and Military Defection in Rebellion
Intervention in ethnic and ideological civil wars
The Geography of Insurgent Organization and its Consequences for Civil Wars
Desertion During the Civil War
Local determinants of African civil wars, 1970-2001
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Analyzing Incomplete Political Science Data
Hacia un análisis regional de las elecciones de 1936 en España
International System and Technologies of Rebellion
The Paradoxical Nature of State Making
Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War
The Pasiegos
Why we fight
Pulled, Pushed, and Persuaded
| Unique citing works | 18 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,5 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2025 (12) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 18 |