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Research Theme

Tax, Conflict, and Fragility

In fragile and conflict-affected settings, taxation is not only a source of revenue but also a critical foundation for building state legitimacy, strengthening public authority, and fostering more equitable governance. Our research explores how taxation functions in fragile settings, examining the challenges, risks, and opportunities it presents for peacebuilding, state-building, and citizen engagement. We aim to inform more coherent and context-sensitive policy approaches that support sustainable development and effective governance in fragile states.

Our work focuses both on how formal tax systems operate in fragile settings, as well as on the informal fiscal systems that often exist in these contexts. This includes, but is not limited to, work on:

• Building tax systems in fragile contexts
• The relationship between tax and state-building
• Armed group taxation
• Informal taxation
• Roadblock taxation

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Led By

Tax, Conflict, and Fragility Library

Partner Publication

Beyond the Rebel Territorial Trap: Governing Logistics and Armed Group Sovereignty

September 2024
Tony Neil, Saw Day Chit

Partner Publication

Roadblocks at the Rhythm of the Country: A Political Sociology of Roadblocks in DR Congo

September 2024
Judith Verweijen, Kasper Hoffmann, Godefroid Muzalia

Partner Publication

Isbaaro: Checkpoints and World-Making Beyond the State

August 2024
Abdirahman Edle Ali, Jethro Norman, Peer Schouten

Partner Publication

Dead-end Dictatorship: Roadblocks, Rural Livelihoods and Resilient Resistance in Post-coup Myanmar

August 2024
Gerard McCarthy, Kyle Nyana

Partner Publication

Border Control Paradox: The Political Economy of Smuggling Between Colombia and Venezuela

July 2024
Jorge Mantilla

Partner Publication

Choking Points: Opium Flows, Roadblocks and Illicit Finance in Burma’s Shan State

June 2024
John Buchanan

Partner Publication

The Border Business: A Political Economy Analysis of Checkpoint Taxation in Afghanistan

June 2024
Sarajuddin Isar

Partner Publication

The Politics of Passage: Roadblocks, Taxation and Control in Conflict

June 2024
Peer Schouten, Max Gallien, Shalaka Thakur, Vanessa van den Boogaard, Florian Weigand

Working Paper

Not-So-Freeway: Informal Highway Taxation and Armed Groups in North-East India

November 2023
Shalaka Thakur

Research in Brief

Beyond Greed: Why Armed Groups Tax

August 2023
Tanya Bandula-Irwin, Max Gallien, Ashley Jackson, Vanessa van den Boogaard, Florian Weigand

Working Paper

Taliban Taxation in Afghanistan: (2006-2021)

March 2022
Rahmatullah Amiri, Ashley Jackson

Book

The Routledge Handbook of Smuggling

December 2021
Max Gallien, Florian Weigand

Webinar

28 October 2026 – 14:00

•

Timezone: UTC+2

As of 2024, 50% of the world’s extreme poor lived in fragility, conflict and violence affected countries, and this figure is only projected to increase in the coming years. Fragile and conflict-affected contexts present some of the most complex challenges

Virtual

30 June 2026 – 14:00

•

Timezone: Europe/London

This webinar launches the Development and Change special issue, The Politics of Passage: Checkpoints and Authority amidst Conflict, drawing on the Roadblocks and Revenues research series.

Current

The Logic of Armed Group Taxation

Start date: 15/10/2020
Najibullah Nor Isak
View bio
Research Affiliate
Samuel Jibao
View bio
Research Affiliate
Tanya Bandula-Irwin
View bio
Research Affiliate
Wilson Prichard
View bio
Associate Research Fellow, ICTD and Chair, LoGRI

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