Though women tend to be considered victims of armed conflict, recognising their political agency is imperative for their inclusion in peacebuilding and combatant rehabilitation processes. Recent...Show moreThough women tend to be considered victims of armed conflict, recognising their political agency is imperative for their inclusion in peacebuilding and combatant rehabilitation processes. Recent studies suggest women’s presence is beneficial to mobilisation success, but it remains unclear whether this effect varies based on the roles women have. This research proposes two mechanisms to theorise why female presence in specific positions may increase a violent political campaign’s likelihood of success. A mobilisation mechanism suggests that women can prompt mass mobilisation, loyalty shifts and strong social capital. A legitimacy mechanism posits that they may increase external support and resources. Correlation between female participation in frontline, symbolic or leadership roles and campaign success is tested quantitatively with an analysis of 168 violent resistance campaigns drawn from the Women in Resistance dataset. Empirical results reveal that women’s presence in leadership roles may be a particular catalyst for the success of violent political campaigns. Conversely, there is no significant effect of female presence in frontline or symbolic roles on campaign outcome. This study thus contributes to the existing literature by providing a detailed analysis of women’s positions in armed mobilisation. Future research could deepen understandings of the topic by operationalising campaign outcomes in a more nuanced manner.Show less
Scholars tend to agree that moderation of radical groups stems from inclusionary tactics in the democratic process. However, there is evidence that counterinsurgency measures and exclusion could...Show moreScholars tend to agree that moderation of radical groups stems from inclusionary tactics in the democratic process. However, there is evidence that counterinsurgency measures and exclusion could also facilitate moderation. Therefore, this paper asks: ‘How do foreign counterinsurgency measures facilitate moderation of radical groups?’ The case study of the Lebanese Islamist group Hizballah, the Party of God, will be used to test the theory on collective angst, fear, and survival concerns resulting from counterinsurgency measures. Through a qualitative approach of applying process tracing to primary and secondary sources, this paper finds support for the argument that collective angst as a result of foreign counterinsurgency results in radical groups moderating their ideology.Show less
This study contends for a social-psychological lens to understand why some feminist movements resort to violence. Literature from feminist peace studies has argued that women are most likely to be...Show moreThis study contends for a social-psychological lens to understand why some feminist movements resort to violence. Literature from feminist peace studies has argued that women are most likely to be peaceful, and scholarship in criminology suggests women are more likely to choose nonviolent coping behaviors. A large body of social movement literature has argued for rationalist approach to understanding the choice to utilize violence vis-a-vis nonviolence as a method of resistance. However, literature within the field of political science has not entirely explored underlying individual-level behaviors to explain why women within a feminist movement utilize violence as a method of resistance. Thus, introducing the research question: Why do some feminist movements resort to violence? Cases of feminist movements increasingly utilizing violence is puzzling because it contradicts arguments made by rationalist studies and feminist peace studies. I apply Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory and argue that some feminist movements resort to violence because of a highly negative perception of the lack of governmental support to address a grievance in gender inequality, which generates negative emotions of anger and frustration that then leads to the likelihood of utilizing violent methods of resistance. I evaluate the argument using qualitative research in the single-case study of the Ni Una Menos (NUM) Movement in México. This study process traces data from semi-structured online interviews to analyze the causal mechanism of negative emotions through language utilized by activists of NUM to answer the research question.Show less
China is granting billion-dollar loans to African countries to build large development projects, mainly for extracting natural resources and building infrastructure. These loans are different from...Show moreChina is granting billion-dollar loans to African countries to build large development projects, mainly for extracting natural resources and building infrastructure. These loans are different from the loans from the Global North, in a sense that they are unconditional and do not require certain democratic or human rights standards. However, the implications of this unconditionality remain largely unexplored. In this paper, the relationship between human rights scores and the number of projects an African country receives from China is investigated for the period 2001-2007. Furthermore, the effect of voting alignment with China on this association is examined. So far, most research on China-Africa relations, and more specifically, research relating to how China impacts human rights situations in Africa, is done in a qualitative manner. However, this research borrows from several other related works and merges them into one theory that is tested in a quantitative manner. Linear, logistic, and negative binomial regressions are used to test the hypotheses. Furthermore, a mediation analysis is conducted to estimate the impact of voting alignment on the aforementioned association. The results show a negative and significant relationship between human rights score and the number of projects a country receives from China. Thus, it is important for African people and the international community to be aware of the potential risks of these Chinese-funded projects. Furthermore, the functioning of the conditional loans of the Global North might be undermined by the unconditional loans from China. Therefore, a careful re-examination of these loans is necessary to prevent any counterproductive effects.Show less
