02/18/2026
By Karen Mullins

The School of Criminology and Justice Studies is proud to announce a Dissertation Proposal by Damilola Sholademi entitled "Beyond Ideology: Theorizing Protection-Broker Governance in Fragile States. A Comparative Analysis of Non-Ideological Governance Systems in Northwestern Nigeria (Lakurawa) and Kenya (Mungiki)."

Date: Wednesday, March 4t
Time: 10 -11:30 a.m.
Location: HSS 451

Committee:

  • James Forest, Ph.D., Committee Chair, Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Joselyne Chenane Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Christopher Linebarger, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Arie Perliger, Ph.D., Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract
This dissertation introduces the Protection-Broker Governance (PBG) model to elucidate non-ideological governance by violent non-state actors in fragile states. While current scholarship focuses on ideologically motivated insurgencies, this study fills a significant theoretical void by exploring how armed groups assert authority in the absence of political doctrine. The PBG model asserts that governance arises from three interconnected mechanisms: protection markets (converting coercion into reliable security provision), brokered legitimacy (co-creating authority via social intermediaries), and border elasticity (leveraging permeable frontiers for strategic depth).

This study conducts a comparative analysis of the Lakurawa network in Northwestern Nigeria and the Mungiki movement in Kenya, utilizing semi-structured interviews, oral histories, documentary analysis, and process tracing to evaluate the model's explanatory efficacy across varied contexts. The research integrates criminological protection theory, borderland political sociology, and hybrid governance scholarship into a cohesive framework, while also presenting the inaugural systematic academic examination of Lakurawa governance dynamics.

Findings contest military-first counterinsurgency strategies by illustrating that these groups endure through relational governance rather than ideology. The study provides policymakers with a legitimacy-focused intervention framework and develops conceptual instruments relevant to global peripheries where state authority has diminished. Ultimately, this dissertation illustrates that governance devoid of ideology constitutes a unique political order necessitating theoretical acknowledgment and comparative examination. Keywords: Protection-Broker Governance, non-ideological governance, violent non-state actors, state fragility, Lakurawa, Mungiki, insurgent governance, protection markets, brokered legitimacy, border elasticity, Nigeria, Kenya, criminology, terrorism studies, comparative analysis.