About:
Why do some nonviolent revolutions lead to successful democratization while others fail to consolidate democratic change? And what can activists do to push toward a victory over dictatorship that results in long-term political freedom?
Several studies show that nonviolent revolutions are generally a more positive force for democratization than violent revolutions and top-down political transitions. However, many nonviolent revolutions, such as the Arab Spring revolution in Egypt, do not seem to fit this pattern. This study takes on this puzzle and reveals that the answer lies in large part in the actions of civil society prior to and during transition. Democracy is most likely when activists can keep their social bases mobilized for positive political change while directing that mobilization toward building new political institutions.
Speaker:
DR. JONATHAN PINCKNEY
Dr. Pinckney is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the department of Sociology and Political Science at the Norwegian University of Technology and Science, where he works on the Anatomy of Resistance Campaigns project. He is also an external associate at the Peace Research Institution of Oslo (PRIO). Dr. Pinckney previously worked as a research fellow at the Sie Cheou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy, where he supervised data collection for the Social Conflict Analysis Database (SCAD) and the Nonviolent and Violent Campaigns and Outcomes (NAVCO) 3.0 data project.
Dr Pinckney’s research is focused on extra-institutional political contention in non-democracies, with a particular focus on nonviolent civil resistance. His current book project examines political transitions following successful nonviolent movements, seeking to explain the factors that lead from the nonviolent overthrow of an authoritarian regime to democratization.
Dr. Pinckney received his PhD in International Relations from the University of Denver in March 2018, an MA also from the University of Denver in 2014, and a BA in International Affairs from Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts in 2008. Dr. Pinckney was a 2012 recipient of the Korbel School's Sie Fellowship and a 2016 recipient of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict's PhD fellowship.