SOC ACE researchers to explore the ‘real politics’ of organised crime at ECPR 2026
Professor Heather Marquette (University of Birmingham) will chair a panel examining the political realities of organised crime at the ECPR General Conference 2026, taking place at Jagiellonian University from 8–11 September. Dr Max Gallien (University of Sussex) will act as discussant. The panel, Rethinking the Real Politics of Organised Crime in an Era of Growing Scarcity, brings together research examining how organised crime interacts with political and social systems as scarcity, insecurity and socioeconomic fragmentation intensify.
Dr Liam O’Shea will present research on the politics of reform and efforts to reduce security-sector involvement in organised crime. RUSI researchers Elijah Glantz and Cathy Haenlein will examine the role of political will in shaping the use and effectiveness of sanctions against organised crime. Dr Sasha Jesperson (St Mary’s University) will explore the political pressures influencing UK and EU responses to organised crime, while Professor Heather Marquette and Dr Caryn Peiffer (University of Bristol) will examine corruption, organised crime and the risk of policy fratricide. Felipe Botero (Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime) will present research on criminality and a new cycle of violence in Colombia.
The panel considers how organised crime can become embedded in political settlements, particularly where conflict, climate change, declining development assistance, inequality and other pressures increase competition for scarce resources. Criminal groups may take on wider roles, including providing employment, regulating access to resources, delivering security and resolving disputes.
The research also questions enforcement-led approaches that overlook local political realities and scarcity-driven incentives. Using a political settlements lens, the panel will examine why counter-organised crime interventions can falter, generate unintended consequences or reinforce existing power asymmetries, while others succeed.
Find out more about the ECPR General Conference 2026.
