Food Insecurity and Social Conflict

Sammanfattning

This development dissertation brief (DDB) summarizes the findings of a doctoral dissertation that explores the relationship between food insecurity and urban unrest. The dissertation employs a multifaceted conceptualization of food insecurity to examine its effect on citizens’ willingness to participate in unrest and how organizational networks moderate this relationship. The dissertation contributes to existing literature by going beyond aggregate food insecurity proxies and direct effects. It consists of four independent essays, with the first essay providing an overview of the literature on food insecurity and social upheaval. The three remaining are large-N analyses; one focusing on urban Africa and two on Johannesburg, South Africa. The dissertation suggests that food-related grievances and a favourable organizational context significantly influence the likelihood of urban unrest.