RURAL SOCIOLOGY OF DISPLACEMENT: SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION AND AGRARIAN CHANGE IN INSURGENCY-AFFECTED BORNO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

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This paper examines the sociological dimensions of agrarian transformation in Borno State, Nigeria, under the pressure of the Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgencies. Drawing on a rural sociological framework that integrates agrarian political economy, social capital theory, and gender analysis, the study analyses how protracted conflict has restructured rural social relations, undermined traditional authority systems, and produced new forms of social stratification and livelihood adaptation. The analysis identifies four principal mechanisms of social transformation: the erosion of the Bulama-centred customary governance hierarchy; the reconfiguration of gender relations as women assume previously male-dominated livelihood roles; the emergence of the Civilian Joint Task Force as a new social institution mediating between communities and the state; and the adaptation of indigenous social capital networks to conflict conditions through reciprocity, informal learning centres, and interethnic alliances. The paper argues that while community resilience has been extraordinary, it is deeply constrained by the structural violence of the conflict economy and the gendered dimensions of survival. The study concludes that durable rural recovery in Borno State requires policy interventions that recognise and strengthen indigenous social institutions, address the gendered restructuring of rural livelihoods, and integrate community-based resilience mechanisms into formal counterinsurgency and development frameworks.