War, Social Conflict and State Transformation In the Global South

Over the last decade, war, geopolitical tensions, sanctions, internal conflicts, and militarized governance have become increasingly central to social and political life across the Global South. Rather than exceptional disruptions, these dynamics now shape processes of state formation, economic restructuring, and social change. Simultaneously, societies across the Global South are experiencing significant transformations in class structures, political mobilization, state–society relations, and collective action amid uncertainty, insecurity, and intensifying global competition.

This session examines the interconnections between war, social conflict, and state transformation in the Global South. It invites contributions exploring how armed conflicts, geopolitical rivalries, security regimes, sanctions, and militarization reshape governance, state capacities, social inequalities, class relations, and political participation. Particular attention will be given to conflict not only as a disruptive force but also as a mechanism through which states, social groups, and political orders are reconfigured.

The panel welcomes theoretical, comparative, and empirical studies addressing themes such as war and state-building, militarization and authoritarian governance, conflict and class restructuring, social movements under conditions of war and insecurity, the political economy of conflict, sanctions and social transformation, contested forms of citizenship, and the evolving relationship between global power structures and state formation processes.

By bringing together diverse perspectives, the session aims to advance sociological understanding of how contemporary conflict dynamics influence the trajectories of states and societies, and how social actors respond to, resist, negotiate, or reproduce emerging political and economic orders in the Global South today and beyond.