Resilience beyond Rebellion

Resilience beyond Rebellion addresses a critical question in insurgency studies: why some rebel groups successfully become political parties, while others die trying.

Only half of rebel groups with political aspirations manage to reinvent themselves as lasting political parties. Sherry Zaks argues that the key to successful rebel-to-party transformations lies in the organizational structures and institutions rebels build during wartime. These proto-party structures-which involve governance, political messaging, social outreach, and other non-combat tasks-equip rebel groups with the personnel, skills, and routines needed to succeed in the electoral arena.

Zaks draws on insights from organizational sociology to reconceptualize how rebel groups operate. Through the case of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) in El Salvador and others, they demonstrate that rebel groups with established proto-party structures often form the core of post-conflict parties and attract more votes.

Innovative in approach and rich in evidence, Resilience beyond Rebellion advances our understanding of rebel group dynamics both during and after conflict by showing that party-building begins not with the last bullet fired, but the very first.