Dr. Francisco “Pancho” Lara is one of the plenary speakers for this year’s National Conference in MSU-IIT. His presentation is entitled “The Economic Sociology of Subnational Conflict: Shadow Identities and Violent Entrepreneurs in the Bangsamoro.”

Dr. Lara is the Country Manager of International Alert and a senior lecturer at the University of the Philippines-Diliman’s Sociology Department. He is the author of the book Out of the shadows: Violent Conflict and the Real Economy of Mindanao (2013) and Insurgents, Clans, and States – Political Legitimacy and Resurgent Conflict in Muslim Mindanao, Philippines (2014). He holds a BA in sociology from the University of the Philippines, and an MSc and PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science. His research expertise include political economy of conflict, economic and rural sociology.