Updates: Kate Cronin-Furman

It has been a busy few weeks for C&C member Dr Kate Cronin-Furman, Lecturer in human rights at the Department of Political Science at University College London (UCL).

On 23 April 2019, Kate wrote “What happened in Sri Lanka? Here’s what you need to know” in the Washington Post. In it, she presents important context to the recent Easter Sunday attacks, analyses the Sri Lankan government’s response to the attacks and describes how the attacks might affect the upcoming presidential elections.

On 6 June, Kate was also quoted in the Daily Beast article “Remember The Darfur Genocide? With Saudi Help, One of the Killer Commanders There Is Taking Over Sudan”, which investigates the role of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the ongoing crisis in Sudan.

Looking ahead, on 17 June Kate will be part of an expert panel to discuss ‘The Prosecutors', a feature length documentary that tells the story of three dedicated lawyers who fight to ensure that rape in war is not met with impunity. The panel, which also includes Director and Producer Leslie Thomas and PhD student Vindhya Buthpitiya, will discuss depictions of human rights victims in film and photography. You can sign up for the event here.

Manuel Vogt presents parts of his forthcoming book at University of El Salvador

On March 29, Manuel Vogt, Lecturer in International Security at the Department of Political Science, held a talk on ‘Indigenous Mobilization and Political Inclusion in Central America’ at the University of El Salvador in San Salvador. The talk took place on the occasion of the University's inauguration of the new academic year. Manuel presented parts of his forthcoming book on ‘Mobilization and Conflict in Multiethnic States’ (Oxford University Press), focusing on the impact of ethnic mobilization in Latin America. Manuel’s work shows that in extremely unequal multiethnic societies, ethnic organizations promote the political inclusion of historically marginalised groups. Thus, rather than fomenting division and violence, as suggested in previous research, in societies with a history of ethnic discrimination, ethnic organizations contribute to between-group equality.

The Conversation: "Why changing the Good Friday Agreement because of Brexit is such a dangerous idea"

Conflict & Change members Kit Rickard and Kristin M. Bakke wrote a commentary piece for The Conversation, discussing the UK government's recent claims about wanting to "amend" the Good Friday Agreement. They argued that, "whether the Good Friday Agreement needs amending is not a question that ought to be driven by the British government’s Brexit strategy. Our research shows that this is a question that should be driven from the bottom up, by the needs and concerns of the population in Northern Ireland."

Conflict & Change at Policy & Practice: Political violence in a new global order

Members of the Conflict & Change group organised a very well attended Policy & Practice public panel on "Political Violence in a New Global Order." 

The Department of Political Science's Policy & Practice Seminar Series includes presentations of scholarly research and talks by high-profile policy makers, practitioners and academics. This panel brought together C&C experts to discuss the likelihood and patterns of political violence – and how we can confront it – in a new global order.

Dr. Zeynep Bulutgil began the event by discussing the changing global order. Dr. Rod Abouharb covered trends in international and civil wars, followed by Dr. Kate Cronin-Furman on ethnic cleansing and genocide and Dr. Manuel Vogt on terrorism. Dr. Nils Metternich concluded the presentations by discussing international intervention. The event was chaired by Prof. Kristin M. Bakke and Kit Rickard, who moderated a lively audience discussion.

Presentation at the University of Birmingham

Conflict & Change member Dom Perera presented his research on states’ restrictions of civil society organizations on at the workshop on “Foreign Aid Donors and Human Rights in the Global South” at the International Development Department at the University of Birmingham.

While there are growing govt restrictions on civil society around the world, civil society is fighting back -- @Dom_Perera at the #AidHumanRights event @unibirmingham. pic.twitter.com/6k3hqBNYgA

— Niheer Dasandi (@NiheerDasandi) December 12, 2018