I am the Political Science Board of Visitors Early Career Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science at Pennsylvania State University and a Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). My research is motivated by a desire to better understand and contribute to the prevention of violent conflict and the violation of human rights. I am particularly interested in the ways in which judicial institutions can be used for good or for evil through political consolidation and exclusion, social reconciliation, and narrative construction by both governments and rebel groups.
My new book, Escaping Justice: State Impunity in the Age of Accountability is out with Cambridge University Press.
My current work focuses on rebel judicial systems to address questions of the ways in which people resolve disputes in domains of contested authority. Through a new project on collective action and climate change, I engage questions of contested soverignty and rule-making in times of crisis. Our current work is focused on contested governance in Mozambique.
I have looked at these issues through field work in East Africa, primarily Rwanda and Uganda, as well as Mozambique, Northern Ireland, Turkey, and Nepal. I am also the co-creator of the Post-Conflict (PCJ) and During-Conflict Justice (DCJ) Datasets.
Developing ethical best practices for reserach on armed conflict is central to my work. I focus my attention on reserach-related trauma for scholars and in-country research team members.
Kathleen Cunningham and I co-convene the Rebel Governance Network. Join us!
