Published Books

Imperial Rule and the Politics of Nationalism: Anti-Colonial Protest in the French Empire

Why did colonial subjects mobilize for national independence from the French empire? This question has rarely been posed because the answer appears obvious: in the modern era, nationalism was bound to confront colonialism. This book argues against taking nationalist mobilization for granted. It shows that elites in the French Empire shifted from demands for egalitarian reforms to calls for independent statehood only where the French refused to grant political rights to colonial subjects.

  • Winner, 2015 J. David Greenstone Book Prize for best book in history and politics, given by the American Political Science Association’s Politics and History Section.

  • Winner, 2015 L. Carl Brown Book Prize, given by the American Institute for Maghrib Studies

  • Winner, 2014 Jervis-Schroeder Best Book Award, given by the American Political Science Association's Organized Section on International History and Politics

Rethinking Violence: States and Non-State Actors in Conflict

Erica Chenoweth & Adria Lawrence, editors

States, nationalist movements, and ethnic groups in conflict with one another often face a choice between violent and nonviolent strategies. This volume asks how, why, and when states and non-state actors use violence against one another, and examines the effectiveness of various forms of political violence. The essays in this book helped launch an exciting new body of scholarship on the shift from violent to non violent tactics, and vice versa.

See Chapter 6: “Driven to Arms?
The Escalation to Violence in Nationalist Conflicts
.”

This chapter considers whether we should think of violence as escalation - as something that grows out of unresolved conflict - or as a separate outcome. Are unresolved non-violent conflicts likely to turn to violence?