Violent conflict is arguably one of the most important challenges facing the world today. The incidence of international and civil wars has decreased in recent years (Harbom and Wallensteen 2009), but the legacy of violence persists in many countries, affecting the effectiveness of global development, international peace and democracy-building processes worldwide, as well as disrupting the living conditions of local populations, often for generations. Yet, we have limited rigorous evidence of how people live in contexts of conflict: what choices they make, how institutional arrangements impact on and are affected by these decisions, and what policies may work in strengthening peace and post-conflict development processes. This lack of systematic understanding of the interplay between violent conflict and development has limited the effectiveness of policy interventions, and weakened processes of state- and peace-building in areas affected by conflict and violence.