Author ORCID Identifier

0009-0006--9189-6800

Date of Award

5-31-2026

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Global Governance and Human Security

First Advisor

Stacy VanDeveer

Second Advisor

Darren Kew

Third Advisor

Karen Ross

Abstract

Abstract

Many conflict-affected states in the Global South can be described as Hybrid Political Orders—governance arrangements where informal authority and formal state institutions coexist, overlap, and contest for power. In Nigeria's Niger Delta, this phenomenon is clearly evident. In this context, the exercise of governmental authority extends beyond the Weberian State. Local and non-state actors such as ethnic-based organizations, former combatants, and traditional authorities routinely perform government-like functions within their spheres of influence.

This study analyzes how extractive corporations, informal authorities, and the Nigerian state co-produce governance and shape patterns of conflict and cooperation in the Niger Delta. Its central argument is that in hybrid political orders, firms are not simply external agents responding to instability—they actively shape governance, authority, and conflict dynamics through the relationships they build and the actors they empower. In doing so, they become political actors who help constitute the hybrid order itself.

Using an interpretive, systems-based methodology, the study draws on extensive document review and qualitative interviews to show how interactions among firms, the State, and informal authorities influence conflict trajectories, corporate policy decisions, and recent legislative reforms.

The study makes five theoretical contributions: it conceptualizes firms as co-creators of hybrid political orders; reframes informal authority as a constitutive and enduring force; broadens the definition of peace beyond operational stability; demonstrates how firms reshape identity and belonging through recognition and resource allocation; and shows that governance outcomes emerge through relationships—not formal institutions—alone. Empirically, this study provides evidence on how extractive firms engage informal authority in hybrid political orders. It advances a relational typology of the ways firms engage to achieve their objectives: facilitative, securitized, non-securitized, and transactional. It documents how these relationship types function, sometimes with complementary and sometimes conflicting objectives, each with varying implications for conflict risk.

These findings address a significant gap in business and peace scholarship, where the details of firm–community relationships are rarely examined through in-depth, context-specific data.

Overall, the study advances debates in peacebuilding, political economy, and environmental peacebuilding. It offers practical insights for corporations, policymakers, and practitioners navigating fragile and conflict-affected settings.

Comments

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