Rod Abouharb Publishes New Article on War and Infant Mortality Rates

C&C member Rod Abouharb, Associate Professor of International Relations at the Department of Political Science, has published a new article in the Journal of Human Rights.


In his article, he assesses the impact of interstate and civil wars on infant mortality rates since 1950. When writing the article, Rod was interested in understanding the consequences of different types of conflicts as well as the differences between the immediate and cumulative effects of conflict on infant mortality as an indicator of public health. In addition to the different types of conflicts, he finds that different conflict actors have varying effects on infant mortality rates. In contrast to previous research, arguing that states guided by the Geneva conventions better protect civilians from harm when they fight each other, he finds that interstate wars have the most deleterious impacts on infant mortality. The tragic example of Russia bombing maternity hospitals in Ukraine is a case in point. The article hopes to refocus our attention to how states fight with each other and the protections they have in place to minimise harm for non-combatants.

The article is now available and can be found here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14754835.2022.2122786


Visiting Conflict & Change members - Thank you for your contributions

After the end of another term at UCL, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank the three visiting researchers who we had the pleasure to welcome to the Conflict & Change cluster this term. Our three visiting PhDs from ETH Zurich and Australian National University contributed to the fortnightly Conflict & Change seminar series, attended the weekly Conflict Analysis Lab (COALA) sessions and were dear colleagues to the PhD community at the Department of Political Science!

Nicola Mathieson, Paola Galano Toro, Claudia Wiehler (from left to right)

Nicola Mathieson visited us from Australian National University in Canberra. Her stay at UCL provided an opportunity to get additional feedback on her PhD project. In her project tentatively titled ‘Communities of Practice and Foreign Fighters in the Soviet-Afghan and Afghan Civil War’, Nicola looks at the role of foreign fighters in said conflicts and their trajectories into global terrorism.

“I chose to undertake a visiting PhD fellowship at UCL because of the reputation of the Conflict and Change group. The group draws together experts on the scientific study of political violence. Participating in the fortnightly Conflict and Change workshops not only confirmed the world-leading expertise within this community but also their generosity in providing thoughtful and incisive feedback to all participants.”

Paola Galano Toro, who is doing her PhD at ETH Zurich, likewise appreciated her stay and is excited about the new research avenues for her project that she discovered while at UCL.

“The time spent at UCL allowed me to reframe my research in more interesting ways, I benefited from the great feedback from various members of the Conflict and Change cluster, including other PhD students. Both within and outside meetings of the Conflict and Change cluster there is a lot of engagement with other people’s research. Discussions are always lively, amicable, and inclusive towards junior members. During my time here I felt very inspired as well as welcomed. Even a short time in this department has been very impactful on my research, helping me envision new possibilities to improve and add value to my project.”

Paola’s project looks at the effects of ethnic inclusion and discrimination on the performance of state functions within Latin American countries.

Claudia Wiehler, who is also based at ETH Zurich for her PhD, studies the impact of communal conflict in Nigeria. The current title of her project is “Communal conflicts in the shadow of civil war: A mixed-method social network analysis”. Claudia already joined the Conflict & Change group last year during the pandemic online and was now finally able to join us in-person.

“I loved my time with the Conflict & Change group, and I will miss this inspiring academic home. I learnt a lot from engaging with the work of the Conflict & Change members and other visitors. It was a privilege to follow the discussions and critique of each other’s work. Not least, I really appreciated the openness and warm-heartedness of the group and I am amazed how much time the senior faculty took to engage with the work of junior scholars like me.”

It was great to have you all with us during this past term and we look forward to seeing how your projects are coming along in the future. It was a great pleasure to learn more about the world through your newly collected and rich data and your careful analyses. Keep in touch with Conflict & Change and we hope to see you all soon!

Zeynep Bulutgil Speaks to Prof Jennifer Hudson on UCL's "Uncovering Politics" Podcast

C&C member Zeynep Bulutgil spoke with Prof Jennifer Hudson on UCL’s Uncovering Politics podcast about her new book, The Origins of Secular Institutions . They discussed key questions addressed in the book—what explains the variation in institutional secularism? Why did some states secularize centuries ago, while others underwent a secular shift more recently? You can listen to the conversation here:

Annual PhD Workshop: Re-connecting in-person

“By a show of hands, for how many is this the first in-person workshop after the pandemic?”

Professor Nils Metternich’s opening question of the annual Conflict & Change PhD Workshop set the tone right from the start. After moving online in 2021, this year’s edition of the workshop on 14th-15th March brought more than 25 PhD researchers from the UK and continental Europe back to London. As in previous years, the workshop programme featured varied panels, a keynote speech, and an accompanying social programme. The pool of participants featured more than a dozen institutions including Hertie School Berlin, University of Amsterdam, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), University of Oxford, ETH Zurich, and the University of Oxford, amongst others. Over the two days, participants—often for the first time in person—presented their PhD projects and other work, and received feedback from senior members of the Conflict & Change research cluster.

The first panel Cooperation, Fragmentation, and Conflict Processes saw presentations on insurgent violence and pro-government militias, the role of violent wings in contentious movements, violence against social minorities, and in-fighting of armed groups. C&C members Dr Luis Schenoni and Professor Nils Metternich served as discussants and provided valuable feedback on these projects.

The subsequent panel on Varying Approaches to Conflict Resolution and Peace concerned different aspects of the peacebuilding process. The projects ranged from the study of interventions by UN peacekeepers and states to projects on peace communities and demobilisation. Dr Rob Abouhard and Professor Neil Mitchell provided feedback.

After lunch, the afternoon offered two additional panels. For the first one on the Repression, Repercussions, and Perceptions of Protest, Dr Katerina Tertytchnaya and Dr Samer Anabtawi discussed papers that looked at the perceptions of repression and protests, the effects of protests on public discourse and the external support for protest movements.

The last panel of the first day comprised projects on the Moral, Social, and Political Legacies of Conflict. Here, Professor Kristin Bakke and Dr Zeynep Bulutgil provided feedback for projects on the legacy of heritage sites, the role of civil resistance for halting democratic backsliding, and socialisation processes among German prisoners of war (POWs) in the UK.

The second day of the workshop kicked off with a great and insightful keynote by Dr Abbey Steele who discussed the edges of conflict research and provided invaluable advice to the early career researchers in the room. She was present throughout the entire workshop and her active participation was appreciated by everyone.

The morning panel thereafter focused on Resettlement, Displacement, and Wartime Order. Dr Abbey Stelle discussed papers ranging from education and property rights and its intricate relationship with displacement, to resettlement and coups during civil wars.

The final two panels of the workshop focussed on Modern Technology and Communication During Crises as well as Communal Conflict and Local Dynamics. Dr Kalina Zhekova offered feedback for presentations on the impact of varying technologies such as transnational trolls, the role of sirens, and digital repression on conflict dynamics. Dr Inken von Borzykowski and Dr Manuel Vogt commented on four insightful papers on election violence, foreign direct investment and conflict dynamics, communal conflict and civil war in Nigeria, and the importance of hostage taking for terrorists’ strategies.

This year’s workshop was organised by C&C members Sigrid Weber, Finn Klebe, Kit Rickard, and Sam Erkiletian. The workshop would not have been possible without the generous funding from the Octagon Small Grants Fund by the Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS) and the School of Public Policy (SPP)! Thank you to all the participants for presenting their great projects as well as all discussants for their thoughtful feedback.

The C&C research cluster look forward to future editions of the workshop.

 

Zeynep Bulutgil Publishes New Book

C&C member H. Zeynep Bulutgil, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at UCL has published her second monograph, The Origins of Secular Institutions: Ideas, Timing, and Organization (Oxford University Press). In this new book, she offers an original theory and meticulous analysis of how advocates of political secularization emerged historically and why they succeeded in some contexts but not others. Her new book is also available in the US.