The ISIS Files: Islamic State Governance, From Women's Lives to Agriculture

Summary

On June 29, 2021,  the Program on Extremism at The George Washington University hosted a virtual event to accompany the release of two new reports based on a trove of primary source Islamic State documents. At launch, the reports were made available on The ISIS Files digital repository, an online collection of primary source materials launched one year ago this June by the Program on Extremism in partnership with the GW Libraries and Academic Innovation and The New York Times.

The reports, You Reap What You Sow: The Importance of Agriculture to the Islamic State’s Governance Strategy and Women in the Islamic State: Victimization, Support, Collaboration, and Acquiescence, are both part of a series of thematic papers examining different facets of the Islamic State's rule during the Caliphate. The papers provide insights into the Islamic State’s administration of its Department of Agriculture, as well as how the group’s governance affected the day-to-day lives of women who lived under its control. Following opening remarks by New York Times correspondent Rukmini Callimachi, a panel discussion moderated by Program on Extremism Senior Research Fellow Haroro J. Ingram featured some of the authors, including:

• Hans Christensen, Professor of Accounting and David G. Booth Faculty Fellow at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
• Tati Fontana, Doctoral Student in Accounting at Boston University
• Devorah Margolin, Director of Strategic Initiatives and a Senior Research Fellow at the Program on Extremism
• Hannah Sommers, Senior Associate Dean and Deputy University Librarian