Joining the Counterinsurgency: Explaining Pro-Government Militia Participation in the Philippines

Joshua Eastin and Steven T. Zech

Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 2022, vol. 45, issue 9, 817-841

Abstract: What motivates civilians to fight in a progovernment militia? This article draws on survey and interview data from active members of Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Units (CAFGU), a progovernment militia in the Philippines, to evaluate why individuals enlist. We find poverty and unemployment to be key drivers of group membership, and the biggest attraction a steady paycheck. This situation presents a moral hazard for the Philippine government and other states that rely on impoverished citizens to wage counterinsurgency: while doing so can be cost-effective, the need to keep costs low might also impede efforts at socioeconomic or political reform.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1080/1057610X.2019.1700029

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