Laura Seay is an assistant professor of political science at Morehouse College. Her research addresses community responses to state fragility in central and eastern Africa. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and is writing a book on the differences in the ways that civil society organisations respond to the state's absence in social service provision. She is a contributor to the Christian Science Monitor's Africa Monitor blog.

Laura Seay is a contributor to our Accord publication series and not a staff member of Conciliation Resources. The views expressed in the publication are their own and do not reflect the position of Conciliation Resources. We cannot share contributors' contact details.