Follow @HeleneKyed
Helene Maria Kyed
Primary research areas
Helene Kyed’s research is within the field of peace and conflict, focusing particularly on the role of non-state actors and armed groups in justice provision and policing. More recently she began to study the conflict dynamics of climate change politics. Her research is ethnographically based and contributes to theoretical debates about authority, violence, sovereignty and legal pluralism.
Current research
Helene Kyed’s research focuses on understanding how authority and political order are constituted in contexts affected by conflict and contested statehood. She has analyzed this topic through ethnographic studies of justice provision, policing and local security dynamics – all fields, which are fundamental to the constitution of authority and political order. How are social disputes and crimes resolved in villages and poor urban neighbourhoods, where the state’s laws and institutions are largely absent and mistrusted? What roles do non-state actors like traditional leaders, civilian community policing groups, religious actors, and armed groups play in justice provision and order-making? These are some of the questions that Helene Kyed has explored in Myanmar, Mozambique and Swaziland to understand local dynamics of order-making and their wider political repercussions at country-wide level.
Since 2021, Helene Kyed has extended her research on conflict dynamics and justice to encompass the topic of climate change politics in contexts with contested statehood and violent conflict. The focus is here in particular on Myanmar after the 2021 military coup and contestations along its borders with Thailand and India.
Helene Kyed is also working on a book manuscript on policing in Mozambique, based on many years of fieldwork among traditional leaders, civilian community policing actors and the state police. The book zooms in on everyday policing practices and the competition over authority, which raises deeper theoretical questions about sovereignty, violence, and the constitution of political order in a country where the state does not enjoy a de facto monopoly on authority and law.
Projects
Helene Maria Kyed coordinates the MyClimate project (2021-2026) (Myanmar: Climate Actions, Conflict and Peacebuilding), which is a collaborative project between DIIS, Nyan Corridor, Chiang Mai University, and the Highland Institute. It explores the climate-conflict nexus, by studying how climate change actions and politics interact with ongoing conflict dynamics in Myanmar’s contested ethnic border regions. Read more about the project here: https://www.diis.dk/en/projects/myclimate-myanmar-climate-actions-conflict-and-peacebuilding
Between 2015 and 2021, Helene Maria Kyed coordinated the ‘Everyday Justice and Security in the Myanmar Transition’ (EverJust), which included ethnographic research across Myanmar into how local people access justice and resolve disputes. The project is finalized but the research continues to be published. Read more about the project here: https://www.diis.dk/dk/everjust.
Sub-project on soldier defections in Myanmar following the 1 February 2021 military coup, which investigates the drivers and obstacles to leaving the military and what defection means for the pro-democracy revolution (since May 2021).
Expertise
Research and activites
-
Journal Article2024Helene Maria Kyed & Ah Lynn
-
Journal Article2024For the first time, a resistance movement against military rule is welcoming and aiding soldiers who choose to join the ‘people’s side’.Helene Maria Kyed
-
Photo/illustration by Helene Maria Kyed
-
DIIS Book2023Ninna Nyberg Sørensen & Helene Maria Kyed
-
Journal Article2022Helene Maria Kyed
-
Book2022Kirsten McConnachie, Elaine Lynn-Ee Ho & Helene Maria Kyed
-
Journal Article2022Introduction to Special IssueKirsten McConnachie, Elaine Lynn-Ee Ho & Helene Maria Kyed
-
DIIS Report2021motivations and obstacles following the 2021 military coupHelene Maria Kyed & Ah Lynn
-
Report2021Between violence, fear, and desertionsNyan Corridor & Helene Maria Kyed
-
Report2021Rakhine and Paletwa People’s Perceptions of the 2021 Military CoupNyan Corridor & Helene Maria Kyed
-
Journal Article2021Helene Maria Kyed
-
Journal Article2021contested and plural authorities in a Karen village after the ceasefireHelene Maria Kyed
-
Booklet and report2021Ahnu Thutaythana (Arts-Research) Essays
-
Report2020urban Housing Diagnostic and COVID-19 Rapid AssessmentElisabeth Rhoads, Mi Thang Sorn Poine, Cho Cho Win & Helene Maria Kyed
-
Book Chapter2020Political recognition and justice practices in the Naga Self-Administered ZoneLue Thar, Myat The Thitsar & Helene Maria Kyed
-
Book2020Informal Resolutions and State Evasion in a time of contested transitionHelene Maria Kyed
-
Book Chapter2020Helene Maria Kyed
-
Book Chapter2020Helene Maria Kyed & Mi Thang Sorn Poine
-
Journal Article2019Helene Maria Kyed
-
Journal Article2019Helene Maria Kyed & Annaka Pohl Harrisson
-
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright licenseJournal Article2019Helene Maria Kyed
-
Report2019Helene Maria Kyed & Ardeth THAWNGHMUNG
-
Book2018Independent Journal of Burmese ScholarshipHelene Maria Kyed
-
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright licenseBook Chapter2018entanglements of state and civilian policing in Maputo, MozambiqueHelene Maria Kyed
-
Report2018Experiences from conflict-affected areas with multiple governing authoritiesHelene Maria Kyed
-
DIIS Comment2023Ensnared in the political embrace of the Frelimo stateHelene Maria Kyed
-
DIIS Policy Brief2023Insights from Myanmar after the military coupHelene Maria Kyed & Justine Chambers
-
Photo/illustration by R. Bociaga via ShutterstockDIIS Comment2021Helene Maria Kyed
-
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright licenseAnalysis2020police violence, mistrust of government and the fear of hungerHelene Maria Kyed
-
DIIS Policy Brief2017From Aarhus to ManilaPeter Albrecht, Maya Mynster Christensen, Mette-Louise Johansen, Helene Maria Kyed, Paul Mutsaers, Dennis Pauschinger, Finn Stepputat, Francesco Colona, Jairo Matallana-Villarreal, Louise Wiuff Moe, Naomi von Stapele, Anna Warburg, Morten Koch Anderse…
-
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright licenseDIIS Policy Brief2017Reforms need to consider local dispute resolutionHelene Maria Kyed
-
DIIS Policy Brief2014the future of armed actorsHelene Maria Kyed & Mikael Gravers
-
DIIS Policy Brief2010when the state isn't the main providerPeter Albrecht & Helene Maria Kyed
-
DIIS Policy Brief2008Helene Maria Kyed & Lars Engberg-Pedersen