Identity Politics Working Group

The Identity Politics Working Group brings together graduate students from various epistemological, methodological, and disciplinary approaches who all share a common interest in identity politics broadly defined. The goal is to develop cooperative relationships among the relatively large number of students who study this topic and related topics (potentially ranging from citizenship to ethnic violence to party politics) from different approaches. Presenters are drawn from students and faculty at both MIT and other institutions, and membership is open to students from the Departments of Political Science, Economics, and Urban Studies and Planning. The working group is advised by faculty members Roger Petersen and Melissa Nobles. For more information please contact Nathan Cisneros, Andrew Radin and Kristen Fabbe. We will be meeting at the 6th Floor Conference Room at the Center for International Studies, located at 292 Main Street in Cambridge.

 

Spring 2008 (Thursdays, 5:30-7:00 pm)

March 20th
Jeremy Allouche:

>>The nation state confluence and conflict in post soviet and post colonial countries - Ivory Coast and Tajikistan as 'non-nation' conflict cases

April 3rd
Austin Kilroy:

>>How does the spatial configuration of a rapidly-growing city impact on urban insecurity? A case study of Bamako, Mali

April 17th
Brenna Powell:

>>Race and Politics in Brazil

May 8th
Nathan Cisneros:

>>Some thoughts on class and identity in affluent democracies

 

Fall 2007

October 31st, 5:30-7pm
Mila Dragojevic, Brown University:

>>Exploring Diverse Paths of Newcomer Incorporation in Migrations to Ethnic Homeland
 
November 14th, 5:30-7pm
Kristin Bakke:

>>Separatist Struggles and Center-Region Relations in Chechnya, Punjab, and Quebec

December 5th, 5:30-7pm
Zeynep Bulutgil:

>>Interstate Conflict and Ethnic Cleansing

December 12th, 5:30-7pm
Kristin Fabbe:

>>Church-State Relations and the End of the Ottoman Empire

 

Spring 2007

February 28th, 5:30-7:30 pm
Keith Darden, Assistant Professor of Politics, Yale University
Discussant: Andrew Radin

>>Nationalism, Networks, and Armed Resistance to Occupation: Lessons from a Natural Experiment

March 14th, 5:30-7:30 pm
Yuhki Tajima, Harvard University
Discussant: Reo Matsuzaki

>>Ethnic Rioting During Democratic Transitions: Informal Norms and Formal State Institutions

March 21th, 5:30-7:30 pm
Adam Ziegfeld, MIT
Discussant: Paul Staniland

>>Caste, Demography and the Role of Ethnicity in Structuring the Party Systems

April 4th, 5:30-7:30 pm
Gabriel Rubin, MIT
Discussant: Jessica Wattman

>>Shaping Fear: How Mass Fear leads to Reductions in Civil Liberties after Terror Attacks

April 11th, 5:30-7:30 pm
David Art, Tufts University
Discussant: Joe Kannegaard

>>Far-Right Parties in Europe

May 2nd , 5:30-7:30 pm
Roger Petersen and Paul Staniland, MIT
Discussant: Sarah Zukerman

>>Ethnicity in the Military


Fall 2006

October 4th
Emily Greble Balic, Research Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; PhD Candidate in History, Stanford University
Discussant: Evan Liaras

» Race, Religion, Nation: Codifying Identity in Wartime Sarajevo

October 18th
Monika Nalepa, Assistant Prof. of Political Science, Rice University; Harvard Academy Scholar, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs Harvard University
Discussant: Nathan Cisneros

» Skeletons in the Closet: Transitional Justice in the Post-Communist World

November 1st
Sarah Zuckerman, MIT
Discussant: Josef Kannengaard

» Explaining  Riotous Variation in Relations between Ethno-national States and Ethnic Minority Groups in the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc?

November 15th
*Special Joint Session of Harvard's Civil Conflict Workshop, MIT's Working Group on Insurgency and Irregular Warfare and MIT's Identity Politics Working Group*
Roger Petersen, MIT

» Reason and Passion in the Reconstruction of Multi-ethnic States

December 13th
Fotini Christia, Harvard University
Discussant: Paul Staniland

» TBA

Spring 2006

February 16, 2006
Chris Wendt, Political Science, MIT
Discussant: Reo Matsuzaki, Political Science, MIT

» Riding the Wave: The Rise and Fall of Majoritarian Ethnic Parties in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, 1970-2006

March 2, 2006
Marc Alexander, Government Department, Harvard
Discussant: Reo Matsuzaki, Political Science, MIT

» Endogenous Integration: An Overlapping Generations Approach

March 16, 2006
Scott Radnitz, Political Science, MIT
Discussant: Evan Liaras, Political Science, MIT

» Networks, the State, and Mobilization in Central Asia

April 6, 2006
Reo Matsuzaki, Political Science, MIT
Discussant: Kristen Fabbe, Political Science, MIT

» A 'supply-side' theory of assimilation

April 27, 2006
Boaz Atzili, Political Science, MIT
Discussant: Paul Staniland, Political Science, MIT

» The Borders of Germany's Identity: Coming to Terms with Post War Realities

 

Fall 2005

October 13, 2005
Michiko Ueda, Political Science, MIT
Discussant: Reo Matsuzaki, Political Science, MIT

» Does Minority Representation Matter for Policy Outcomes?: Evidence from the U.S. States

November 17, 2005
Michael Piore, Political Science and Economics, MIT

» Shifting Axes of Social Mobilization and Changing Regimes of Workplace Governance

December 1, 2005
Adam Ziegfeld, Political Science, MIT

» Caste, Coalitions, and Charisma: The Rise of Regional Parties in India's States

December 8, 2005
Evan Liaras, Political Science, MIT

» Ethnic Demographies and Electoral Systems

 

Spring 2005

Thursday February 24, 2005
Yinan He, Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, Harvard University
Discussant: Paul Staniland, Political Science, MIT

» The Clash of Memories: National Mythmaking and the Sino-Japanese 'History Issue'

Thursday March 10, 2005
Austin Long, Political Science, MIT
Discussant: James Patrick Boyd, Political Science, MIT

» Schools of War: Army and Marine Culture and Counterinsurgency in Vietnam

Friday April 8, 2005
Rachel Gisselquist, Political Science, MIT
Discussant: Reo Matsuzaki, Political Science, MIT

» Ethnicity, Class, and Party System Change: Explaining the Rise of the Indigenous Left in Bolivia

Friday April 29, 2005
Nichole Argo, Political Science, MIT
Discussant: Jessica Wattman, Political Science, MIT

» A Martyrdom Complex? Examining Palestinian Cities with High and Low Human Bomb Generation

 

Fall 2004

Friday November 5, 2004
Roger Petersen, Political Science, MIT
Discussant: Evan Liaras , Political Science, MIT

» Identity, Rationality, and Emotion in the Processes of State Disintegration and Reconstruction

Friday December 3, 2004
Nikolaos Biziouras, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Discussant: Adam Ziegfeld, Political Science, MIT

» Economic Liberalization and the Propensity for Ethnic Conflict: Ethnic Mobilization, Selective Incentives and Mobilizational Resources

 

Fall 2007

Spring 2007

Fall 2006

Spring 2006

Fall 2005

Spring 2005

Fall 2004