Political Economy of Conflict

What are the factors driving civil unrest, protest, and conflict in the global North and South? In this course, we will look at how historical factors, business cycles, diversity, or access to the internet and social media affect conflict. Synthesizing the conclusions of a number of seminal studies in the field, we will identify and discuss the various drivers of conflict. In so doing, the course will address some of the most important questions in the study of conflict: Why and when is violence motivated on ethnic or religious grounds? How do violent groups ensure loyalty within their ranks? What are the human consequences of violence, specifically with regard to sexual assault? How can conflict be mitigated? How do minority groups coordinate and mobilize non-violent protest? We will critically evaluate the empirical strategies of research papers in the relevant sub-fields, identifying the strengths and weaknesses in causal identification. On the empirical side, topics to be covered include: Instrumental variable methods, differences-in-differences, regression discontinuity design and other empirical strategies. There will be deep-dives into various papers, where students prepare referee reports.