Society Must Be Protected: Polanyi’s ‘Double Movement’ and the Regulation of Conflict Goods

The multiple ways in which multinational corporations, financial and commodity markets and global trade feed into today's civil wars have recently become a key policy concern of the international community. Over the past five years, a number of initiatives have been launched, aimed at controlling the trade in conflict goods, ensuring good resource governance, advocating corporate social responsibility and promoting conflict-sensitive business practices. This article assesses these initiatives through the lens of Karl Polanyi's conception of the 'double movement', i.e. that capitalism automatically provokes protectionist impulses. It assesses the spaces created by neoliberal globalisation for illicit economic activity and conflict entrepreneurs, the relationship between the economy and conflict, and initiatives aimed at reducing conflict 'triggers'. It concludes that, in addition to the tension between commodification and social protection, there is another tension at work: between those who call for tough mandatory policies and those who promote best-practice guidelines.