The Program on Order, Conflict and Violence presents:
“Conference on Micro-Comparative Studies of 20th Century Conflicts.”
Historical cases of civil war and political violence are a major and underutilized source for the systematic study of conflict. While the fluid nature of ongoing or recent conflicts makes reliable data collection challenging, historical cases provide researchers with a unique opportunity to conduct systematic microcomparative
research, triangulating a variety of evidentiary sources. In postconflict years, previously classified archives have opened; pronounced partisanships and controversies have subsided; and a rich descriptive secondary literature has emerged. In search of better quality data, scholars of political violence are increasingly turning to the systematic study of historical cases to facilitate understanding of the dynamics driving conflict. Yet, this “historical turn” in conflict studies remains fragmented across several disciplines and subfields.
The conference on “Micro-Comparative Studies of 20th Century Conflicts” aims to highlight this emerging trend in conflict studies. In particular, the meeting seeks
to create a network of scholars who use a combination of extensive archival research with methodologies that have traditionally been used in isolation (e.g.
ethnographic research, quantitative analysis), as well as conduct disaggregated theoretical and empirical research on civil wars and other forms of political violence. Over the course of the conference, participants will present their ongoing research and investigate ways in which different approaches can be combined to advance scholarship about the complex processes driving the microdynamics of political violence.
Conference Program
9:00 am Panel IV: Dynamics of Civil Conflict III
- Vigilante Mobilization and Local Order: Evidence from Mexico, Javier Osorio, City University of New York, Livia I. Schubiger, London School of Economics and Political Science, Michael Weintraub, Binghamton University (SUNY)
- Political Violence as a Channel of Persistence: Evidence from the Peruvian Mita, Jenny Guardado, Georgetown University
- Everyday Forms of Resistance Under Insurgent Rule, Marc Opper, University of Virginia
10:45 am Coffee Break
11:15 am Panel V: Dynamics of State Repression
- Challenger Demands and Human Rights Improvements in Guatemala, 1975-1985, Christopher Sullivan, Louisiana State University
- The Military Organization of State Repression During the Argentine Dirty War, 1976-1983, Adam Scharpf, University of Mannheim
- The Moroccan Monarchy’s Use of Political Violence During Post-Independence: A Reaction to Dissent and a Survival Tool, Yasmina Abouzzohour, University of Oxford
- The Anatomy of State Repression: Micro-Level Analyses of the Internal Organization and Management of Colonial Police Forces in Former German Southwest Africa, Alexander De Juan, University of Konstanz, Fabian Krautwald, Freie Universitat Berlin, Jan Pierskalla, Ohio State University
1:15 pm Lunch
2:15 pm Panel VI: Dynamics of Protest
- Civilian Protest during the June 17 1953 uprising in East Germany: Economic Grievances and Revolutionary Unrest, Henry Thomson, University of Oxford
- Chronicle of a Foretold Survival: How Protest Behavior Against Armed Actors Influence Violence in Colombian Civil War, 1988-2005, Carlos Moreno Leon, Binghamton University
3:30 pm Coffee Break
4:00 pm Panel VII: Dynamics of Civil Conflict IV
- Non-Competitive Elections and Incentives for Insurgency: Micro-Level Evidence from the Soviet Union, Arturas Rozenas, New York University
- Compelling Collaboration: British Counterinsurgency in Palestine, 1936-1939, Evgeny Finkel, George Washington University, Joshua R. Goodman, Yale University
- Wartime mobilization and postwar remobilization of the youth in former Japanese Empire – from the 1947 Taiwanese rebellion to a comparative outlook, Victor Louzon, SciencesPo
6:00 pm Coffee Break
6:30 pm Round Table
- Ana Arjona, Northwestern University
- Laia Balcells, Duke University
- Stathis Kalyvas, Yale University
- Matthew Kocher, Yale University