I am a doctoral student focusing on armed mobilization in the Province of South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo. I am interested in understanding why armed mobilization is sometimes initiated or mediated by local communities, and how such collective action transforms these communities at the economic, political and social level. Since 2012, I have been leading a large data collection project on the economic and social history of the province of South Kivu with Dr. Raul Sanchez de la Sierra.