How Has Violent Political Conflict Changed Over the Last Two Centuries?

 A public lecture by

Professor Stathis N. Kalyvas

Professor of Political Science

Director of Program on Order, Conflict and Violence, Yale University.

Chair: Dr Kieran Mitton, Lecturer in International Relations, Department of War Studies, King's College London.

Abstract:

The immense majority of research on civil wars in political science has focused on the post-WW II period. This was a practical choice dictated by the availability of aggregate, cross-national data. However, it comes with limitations that are not always acknowledged explicitly. For example, findings are assumed to hold if not across history, at least for a much broader period than is justified. In this presentation, I take a broader historical view going back to the late 18^th century and using as my chief analytical lens the concept of “technologies of rebellion.” I ask how civil wars have changed over this period of time, what patterns emerge, and how the relative prevalence or absence of civil war corresponds to the relative presence of other forms of political violence.

Speaker Profile:

Stathis N. Kalyvas is Arnold Wolfers Professor of Political Science and Director of the Program on Order, Conflict, and Violence. He is the author of The Logic of Violence in Civil War (Cambridge University Press, 2006), The Rise of Christian Democracy in Europe (Cornell University Press, 1996), and Modern Greece (Oxford University Press, 2015), as well as the co-editor of Order, Conflict & Violence (Cambridge University Press, 2008).

He is currently researching various aspects of conflict, both at the micro and macro levels. Recent articles include 'How Civil Wars Help Explain Organized Crime–And How They Do Not' (Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2015); 'Militias in Civil Wars: An Emerging Research Agenda' (with Corinna Jentzsch & Livia I. Schubiger, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2015), 'Is ISIS a Revolutionary Group and if Yes, What Are the Implications?' (Perspectives on Terrorism, 2015) and 'Does Warfare Matter? Severity, Duration, and Outcomes of Civil Wars' (with Laia Balcells, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2014).

Organised and hosted by:

The Conflict, Security & Development Research Group (CSDRG), Dept of War Studies, King’s College London

The Conflict Research Group, Dept of Government, LSE