Inaugural JRF in Peace Studies Seminar: Combatant Experiences in Multi-Ethnic Extremist Groups: Identity and Allegiance in Boko Haram
Inaugural Seminar 5.00 for 5.15 pm in the Simpkins Lee Theatre at LMH, followed by a celebratory drinks reception in the Monson Room. The Levin Junior Research Fellowship in Peace Studies, the first Peace Studies post in the history of Oxford, is named in memory of Jerry and Sis Levin, who dedicated their lives to the search for peace following Jerry Levin’s kidnapping in Beirut in the 1980s while he was CNN’s bureau chief. Endowed by the Levins’ children, the Fellowship is intended to support the research aspirations of an outstanding early-career academic, while also strengthening connections between scholarship and the wider national and international community.
Dr Micheni uses Boko Haram as a case study to delve into the operations of extremist groups in sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on the unique cultural contexts in which they function. The talk explores how such groups navigate ethnically diverse environments and manage to forge a sense of collective homogeneity, even in the face of internal diversity.
Drawing from first-hand interviews with ex-fighters and a thorough examination of the group’s operational dynamics, including recruitment, indoctrination, combat leadership, and unit behaviour, the talk identifies moments when, despite Boko Haram’s aim to transcend ethnic boundaries, ethnicity nonetheless becomes a defining factor within specific combatant units. It develops a theoretical framework to explain these instances, building on and extending existing socialisation theories to understand when and why socialisation processes fail, ultimately causing ethnicity to resurface within these units.
By exploring how tribal and ethnic considerations influence the group’s functioning, the talk provides a more nuanced understanding of contemporary insurgent groups and the social forces that shape them.

Dr Makena Micheni, the new Levin Junior Research Fellow in Peace Studies at LMH, is a Kenyan-British scholar who completed her PhD at the London School of Economics on the role of ethnicity in extremist groups in Africa. She holds a BA in Politics and International Relations from Lancaster University and Master’s in Terrorism and Political Violence from St Andrews. She taught as an Associate Lecturer in International Relations at the University of St Andrews before coming to Oxford this term. Alongside her academic work, Dr Micheni has worked with the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in Nairobi on its Strengthening Resilience against Violent Extremism in the Horn of Africa (STRIVE) programme.
Makena’s research interests include: political violence, radicalisation, extremism, ethnicity, terrorism, insurgency and armed groups, state violence, state terrorism, civilian resistance, decolonial approaches, critical IR, gender and political violence, conflict and security, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, foreign policy, intervention. Her doctoral work has recently become the book ‘Combatant Experiences in Multi-Ethnic Extremist Groups Identity and Allegiance in Boko Haram (Routledge, 2025).
Date: 2 December 2025, 17:15
Venue: Simpkins Lee Theatre, drinks after seminar in Monson Room, LMH
Speaker: Dr Makena Micheni (University of Oxford)
Organiser: Liz Carmichael (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: liz.carmichael@sjc.ox.ac.uk
Hosts: Harry Bregazzi (Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford), Professor Shelley McKeown-Jones (University of Oxford), Revd Dr Liz Carmichael (St John’s College)
Part of: OxPeace Events
Booking required?: Not required
Cost: Free
Audience: Public
Editor: Liz Carmichael