Staff profile

I joined Durham University in 2012, after three years in Kenya (2009-12), where I built-up a programme of the German Civil Peace Service. Prior to that, I worked as Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Magdeburg (2008-09), and as research fellow at the University of Hamburg (2001-04). From 2004-05 I worked as conflict management expert in Southern Somalia.

I obtained my PhD from the University of Hamburg (2010), but my PhD research was additionally supported by the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle (Saale) where I studied from 2006 to 2008. 

My main research interests revolve around the causes, actors and dynamics of violence and war and orders of violence beyond the state. I also explore state dynamics and international interventions, often with a focus on the everyday. Through this work, I have developed an interest in th material aspects of violence and international relations, including the intersection of displacement and urban development, and the political economy that ties displacement to urban reconstruction. More recently, I have expanded my focus to include infrastructure, using ports and port cities as a lens to explore the reconfiguration of capitalism and statehood.

I have held research grants from the ESRC, AHRC, UKRI (GCRF), Carnegie Corporation of New York, the British Academy, and the Leverhulme Trust.

In SGIA, I have been Deputy Head of School for Research (2022-25), Executive Director for the Durham Global Security Institute (2018-19), Postgraduate Research Director (2015-17), and MSc programme director of the Durham Global Security Institute (2012-15).

• Global Political Sociology
• State Dynamics and Government beyond the State
• Actors and Dynamics of Violence and Wars
• Displacement and Urbanization
• Infrastructures and Logistics
• Horn of Africa

• 2019 - 2023: Steering Committee of the ECPR Standing Group on Political Violence:
• 2007 - 2010: Speaker DVPW Working Group Orders of Violence:
• 2000 - 2023: Consultancies for:
  - International Organisation for Migration (IOM)
  - Bundesministerium fuer Wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit (BMZ)
  - Department for International Development (DFID)
  - International Rescue Committee (IRC)
  - Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
  - Rift Valley Institute
  - Bertelsmann Foundation
  - Danish Refugee Council

Authored book

• Precarious Urbanism: Displacement, Belonging and the Reconstruction of Somali Cities
  
  Bakonyi, J., & Chonka, P. (2023). Precarious Urbanism: Displacement, Belonging and the Reconstruction of Somali Cities. Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781529215229.001.0001
• Land ohne Staat: Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft im Krieg am Beispiel Somalias.(Country without a State: Economy and Society in Wars. The example of Somalia)
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2011). Land ohne Staat: Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft im Krieg am Beispiel Somalias.(Country without a State: Economy and Society in Wars. The example of Somalia). Campus.

Chapter in book

• Capitalism and Infrastructural Ordering: (Re)Crafting of Statehood and Territorial Power
  
  Bakonyi, J., & Darwich, M. (2025). Capitalism and Infrastructural Ordering: (Re)Crafting of Statehood and Territorial Power. In H. Bieling, T. Diez, R. Flemmer, & A. Futterer (Eds.), Transnational Infrastructures and the Transformation of Global Orders (pp. 31-44). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-74846-2_3
• Port infrastructure and state-building in the Horn of Africa
  
  Bakonyi, J., & Darwich, M. (2024). Port infrastructure and state-building in the Horn of Africa. In R. Mansour (Ed.), Borders of Conflict: Navigating Policy in a Transnational Ecosystem (pp. 51-62). Global Policy.
• Epilogue: Rhythms and space-time of violence in and of the city
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2023). Epilogue: Rhythms and space-time of violence in and of the city. In M. Albrecht & A. Jenss (Eds.), The spatiality and temporality of urban violence: Histories, rhythms and ruptures (pp. 268–283). Manchester University Press. https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526165749.00021
• Failing States and Statebuilding
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2019). Failing States and Statebuilding. In K. Larres & R. Wittlinger (Eds.), Understanding global politics : actors and themes in international affairs. Routledge.
• Governing Endemic Crisis. Violence and Legitimacy in the Lives of Somalis
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2018). Governing Endemic Crisis. Violence and Legitimacy in the Lives of Somalis. In M. Keating & M. Waldman (Eds.), War and peace in Somalia : national grievances, local conflict and Al-Shabaab. (pp. 49-60). Hurst. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190947910.001.0001
• Internationale Kriminalitaet/internationaler Terrorismus (International Crime/International Terrorism)
  
  Bakonyi, J., & Jakobeit, C. (2007). Internationale Kriminalitaet/internationaler Terrorismus (International Crime/International Terrorism). In S. Schmidt, W. Link, & R. Wolf (Eds.), Handbuch zur deutschen Ausßenpolitik (pp. 660-671). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
• Konturen der Gewaltordnung in Somalia
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2006). Konturen der Gewaltordnung in Somalia. In J. Bakonyi, S. Hensell, & J. Siegelberg (Eds.), Gewaltordnungen bewaffneter Gruppen. Ökonomie und Herrschaft nichtstaatlicher Akteure in den Kriegen der Gegenwart (pp. 98-112). Nomos.
• Zwischen Warlordfiguration und Quasi-Staat: Ansätze zu einer Typologie bewaffneter Gruppen
  
  Bakonyi, J., & Stuvoy, K. (2006). Zwischen Warlordfiguration und Quasi-Staat: Ansätze zu einer Typologie bewaffneter Gruppen. In J. Bakonyi, S. Hensell, & J. Siegelberg (Eds.), Gewaltordnungen bewaffneter Gruppen. Ökonomie und Herrschaft nichtstaatlicher Akteure in den Kriegen der Gegenwart (pp. 38-52). Nomos.

Edited book

• A Micro-Sociology of Violence: Deciphering patterns and dynamics of collective violence
  
  Bakonyi, J., & Bliesemann de Guevara, B. (Eds.). (2011). A Micro-Sociology of Violence: Deciphering patterns and dynamics of collective violence. Routledge.
• Gewaltordnungen bewaffneter Gruppen. Ökonomie und Herrschaft nichtstaatlicher Akteure in den Kriegen der Gegenwart (in English: Violent Orders of Armed Groups. Economy and Authority of Non-state Actors in Current Wars)
  
  Bakonyi, J., Hensell, S., & Siegelberg, J. (Eds.). (2006). Gewaltordnungen bewaffneter Gruppen. Ökonomie und Herrschaft nichtstaatlicher Akteure in den Kriegen der Gegenwart (in English: Violent Orders of Armed Groups. Economy and Authority of Non-state Actors in Current Wars). Nomos.

Journal Article

• Infrastructures and Capitalist World Ordering
  
  Bakonyi, J., Giraudo, E., Kapoor, S., & Langenohl, A. (2025). Infrastructures and Capitalist World Ordering. International Political Sociology, 19(3), Article olaf028. https://doi.org/10.1093/ips/olaf028
• Port Infrastructures and the Making of Historical Time in the Horn of Africa: Narratives of Urban Modernity in Djibouti and Somaliland
  
  Bakonyi, J., & Darwich, M. (2025). Port Infrastructures and the Making of Historical Time in the Horn of Africa: Narratives of Urban Modernity in Djibouti and Somaliland. Cities, 159, Article 105781. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2025.105781
• Infrastructures and International Relations: A Critical Reflection on Materials and Mobilities
  
  Bakonyi, J., & Darwich, M. (2024). Infrastructures and International Relations: A Critical Reflection on Materials and Mobilities. International Studies Review, 26(4), Article viae046. https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/viae046
• Modular Sovereignty and Infrastructural Power: The Elusive Materiality of International Statebuilding
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2022). Modular Sovereignty and Infrastructural Power: The Elusive Materiality of International Statebuilding. Security Dialogue, 53(3), 256-278. https://doi.org/10.1177/09670106211051943
• War's Everyday: Normalizing Violence and Legitimizing Power
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2022). War’s Everyday: Normalizing Violence and Legitimizing Power. Partecipazione & Conflitto, 15(1), 121-138. https://doi.org/10.1285/i20356609v15i1p121
• Precarity, Mobility and the City: Introduction to the Special Issue
  
  Bakonyi, J., Kappler, S., Nag, E., & Opfermann, L. S. (2021). Precarity, Mobility and the City: Introduction to the Special Issue. Global Policy, 12(S2), 5-9. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12946
• The Political Economy of Displacement: Rent Seeking, Dispossession and Precarious Mobility in Somali Cities
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2021). The Political Economy of Displacement: Rent Seeking, Dispossession and Precarious Mobility in Somali Cities. Global Policy, 12(S2), 10-22. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12849
• Precarious technoscapes: forced mobility and mobile connections at the urban margins
  
  Chonka, P., & Bakonyi, J. (2021). Precarious technoscapes: forced mobility and mobile connections at the urban margins. Journal of the British Academy, 9(s11), 67-91. https://doi.org/10.5871/jba/009s11.067
• Precarious spaces and violent site effects: experiences from Hargeisa’s urban margins
  
  Stuvøy, K., Bakonyi, J., & Chonka, P. (2021). Precarious spaces and violent site effects: experiences from Hargeisa’s urban margins. Conflict, Security and Development, 21(2), 153-176. https://doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2021.1920230
• War and City-Making in Somalia: Property, Power and Disposable Lives
  
  Bakonyi, J., Chonka, P., & Stuvoy, K. (2019). War and City-Making in Somalia: Property, Power and Disposable Lives. Political Geography, 73, 82-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2019.05.009
• Precarious labour – Precarious lives. Photographic glimpses from displaced people in Somali cities
  
  Bakonyi, J., & Chonka, P. (2019). Precarious labour – Precarious lives. Photographic glimpses from displaced people in Somali cities. Afrique Contemporaire, 2019(1-2), 205-224. https://doi.org/10.3917/afco.269.0205
• Seeing like Bureaucracies: Rearranging Knowledge and Ignorance in Somalia
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2018). Seeing like Bureaucracies: Rearranging Knowledge and Ignorance in Somalia. International Political Sociology, 12(3), 256-273. https://doi.org/10.1093/ips/oly010
• Der Alltag des Krieges. Herrschaftserfahrungen in Somalia / The war everyday : experiencing authority in Somalia
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2018). Der Alltag des Krieges. Herrschaftserfahrungen in Somalia / The war everyday : experiencing authority in Somalia. Mittelweg 36 : Zeitschift Des Hamburger Instituts Für Sozialforschung., 27(2), 32-57.
• Ideoscapes in the World Society: Framing Violence in Somalia
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2015). Ideoscapes in the World Society: Framing Violence in Somalia. Civil Wars, 17(2), 242-265. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698249.2015.1070456
• Authority and administration beyond the state: local governance in southern Somalia 1995–2006
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2013). Authority and administration beyond the state: local governance in southern Somalia 1995–2006. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 7(2), 272-290. https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2013.776278
• Drogen und Krieg: die Bedeutung von Qaat im somalischen Kriegsgeschehen. = Drugs and War: Relevance of Qaat for the war in Somalia.
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2012). Drogen und Krieg: die Bedeutung von Qaat im somalischen Kriegsgeschehen. = Drugs and War: Relevance of Qaat for the war in Somalia. Inamo, 18(71), 27-30.
• Between Protest, Revenge and Material Interests: A Phenomenological Analysis of Looting in the Somali War
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2010). Between Protest, Revenge and Material Interests: A Phenomenological Analysis of Looting in the Somali War. Disasters, 34(2), 238-255. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7717.2010.01156.x
• Zwischen Leidenschaft, Protest und Interesse – Eine phänomenologische Untersuchung kriegerischer Plünderungen
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2009). Zwischen Leidenschaft, Protest und Interesse – Eine phänomenologische Untersuchung kriegerischer Plünderungen. Politische Vierteljahresschrift, 43, 362-385.
• The Mosaic of Violence - An Introduction
  
  Bakonyi, J., & Bliesemann de Guevara, B. (2009). The Mosaic of Violence - An Introduction. Civil Wars, 11(4), 397-413. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698240903411298
• Moral Economies of Mass Violence: Somalia 1988-1991
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2009). Moral Economies of Mass Violence: Somalia 1988-1991. Civil Wars, 11(4), 434-454. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698240903403790
• Asymmetrische Betrachtung der Welt
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2008). Asymmetrische Betrachtung der Welt. Erwägen, Wissen, Ethik = Deliberation, Knowledge, Ethics., 19(1), 44-45.
• Violence & social order beyond the state: Somalia & Angola
  
  Bakonyi, J., & Stuvøy, K. (2005). Violence & social order beyond the state: Somalia & Angola. Review of African Political Economy, 32(104-105), 359-382. https://doi.org/10.1080/03056240500329379
• Somalia – no central government, but still functioning.
  
  Bakonyi, J., & Abdullahi, A. (2005). Somalia – no central government, but still functioning. Entwicklung Und Ländlicher Raum, 6, 14-16.
• Somalia im Visier der Anti-Terror-Allianz. Hintergründe des Staatszerfalls.
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2002). Somalia im Visier der Anti-Terror-Allianz. Hintergründe des Staatszerfalls. Blätter Für Deutsche Und Internationale Politik, 2, 229-236.
• Die Ordnung der Ordnungslosigkeit. Die Anti-Terror-Allianz macht Somalia als Ziel aus
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2002). Die Ordnung der Ordnungslosigkeit. Die Anti-Terror-Allianz macht Somalia als Ziel aus. Blätter Der Informationszentrums 3. Welt, 260, 30-32.

Report

• Kenya and the International Criminal Court Process: Challenges and Opportunities
  
  Bakonyi, J. (in press). Kenya and the International Criminal Court Process: Challenges and Opportunities (J. Nebe, Ed.).
• An Evaluation of Hogaan iyo Nabad: A Community Driven Governance Programme in Somalia/Somaliland
  
  Bakonyi, J., Cohen, G., & Bedard, P. (2015). An Evaluation of Hogaan iyo Nabad: A Community Driven Governance Programme in Somalia/Somaliland.

Working Paper

• Performing the Protection of Civilians Mandate: Experiences of African Military Peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Federal Republic of Somalia
  
  Bakonyi, J., Flaspöler, A., Lugano, G., & Thill, M. (2023). Performing the Protection of Civilians Mandate: Experiences of African Military Peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Federal Republic of Somalia. Global Policy.
• Terrorismus, Krieg und andere Gewaltphänomene der Moderne
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2001). Terrorismus, Krieg und andere Gewaltphänomene der Moderne.
• Instabile Staatlichkeit. Zur Transformation politischer Herrschaft in Somalia.
  
  Bakonyi, J. (2001). Instabile Staatlichkeit. Zur Transformation politischer Herrschaft in Somalia.