The Theory and History of Mimicry in Conflict (2024)

Fight, Flight, Mimic: Identity Mimicry in Conflict

Diego Gambetta (ed.), Thomas Hegghammer (ed.)

Published:

2024

Online ISBN:

9780191802454

Print ISBN:

9780198739470

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Fight, Flight, Mimic: Identity Mimicry in Conflict

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1–26

  • Published:

    April 2024

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Hegghammer, Thomas, and Diego Gambetta (eds), 'The Theory and History of Mimicry in Conflict', in Diego Gambetta, and Thomas Hegghammer (eds), Fight, Flight, Mimic: Identity Mimicry in Conflict (Oxford, 2024; online edn, Oxford Academic, 22 Apr. 2024), https://doi.org/10.1093/9780191802454.003.0001, accessed 26 Apr. 2024.

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Abstract

Deceptive identity mimicry is a widespread, consequential, and understudied feature of conflict. It is used by spies to collect intelligence, by attackers to inflict harm, and by the besieged and hunted to escape. Groups too, pass off as other groups to besmirch or exploit their reputation. It is a tool of war no less potent than physical weapons or fortifications, yet it has received little attention in the literature of conflict. This chapter introduces the topic of mimicry in war and sets the stage for the other contributions to this volume. We explain what identity mimicry is, why it is worth studying, and how it relates to other forms of deception. We lay out a conceptual and theoretical framework for understanding its dynamics and provide an overview of wartime mimicry through history, showing that it is likely as old as war itself.

Keywords: deception, mimicry, signalling, conflict, war, civil war, espionage, game theory, vetting, trust

Subject

Military History Sociology Political Theory

Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

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