The business of recycling war scrap: the Hashd al-Shaʿabi’s role in Mosul’s post-conflict economy

Abstract

The modalities of the scrap trade reflect a larger struggle for power in post-ISIS Mosul, and how seemingly marginal processes can and will impact the future balance within the city. On the local level, the scrap trade has become a monopoly, disrupting the ability of residents to profit from this very lucrative material. By co-opting local economic processes, various actors stifled trade and reshaped the very ways in which economic activities are conducted. Reconstruction efforts have suffered as a result, with resources squandered and prices distorted. However, the normalisation of extractive and rent-seeking activities affects more than Mosul’s economy; it disrupts Iraq’s ability to diversify its economy through industrial growth. By co-opting trade networks and controlling mobility, the Hashd al-Shaʿabi (‘the Hashd’, or PMF) has expanded informal systems and processes, strengthening ties between the security, political, and economic elites seeking only to extract wealth. The Hashd’s involvement in the scrap trade, operating in juncture with local political support, are a symptom of a much larger condition – the pervasive culture of corruption in Iraq’s political and economic life. They simultaneously enable and operate in a system that breeds instability, hinders social, political and economic growth, and hinders attempts for recovery. This work is part of the Conflict Research Programme managed by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and funded by the UK Department for International Development