Political Instability and Armed Conflicts

Research group

Political Instability and Armed Conflicts

About the research group

The Department of Sociology and Political Science has an internationally recognized research community on armed and unarmed forms of conflict and processes of institutional change, especially democratization. The research community has long had close cooperation with PRIO – The Peace Research Institute in Oslo.

The research group consists of more than 20 Faculty, Postdoctoral Researchers, PhDs, MA students, and Researchers working on a variety of topics from climate and conflict to women's participation in violent and nonviolent forms of dissent, historical influences on democratization, the drivers of political trust during and after violent conflict, and the economics of conflict and war, among many others. Check out our individual profiles (to the right) for more information.

Our core institution is the fortnightly Violence Instability and Peace research seminar series. Over the 2019-2023 period, we have welcomed more than 30 guest speakers to the seminar series, along with regular presentations from our members. We aim, through the seminar series, to provide a forum for the presentation of ongoing research work and an environment for open, inclusive, and constructive feedback and discussion for researchers from M.A students to Faculty members and external guests.

Our research projects are supported by numerous external grants, including funding from the European Research Council for the LEGACIES project and CLIMSEC, from the Norwegian Research Council for the Anatomy of Resistance Campaigns project and the TRUST and CAVE projects. Our work has also received support from the United States Institute of Peace, the National Science Foundation in the United States, and we gratefully acknowledge funding from the Department and Faculty at NTNU to support postdoctoral researchers, PhD projects, and our VIP seminar series.

Violence, Instability and Peace Research Seminar Series

Click here to see overview of VIP seminars in Spring 2025

Tema: Political Instability and Armed Conflicts

Projects
Publications

Projects

The Anatomy of Resistance Campaigns (ARC). ARC is part of the research project SIVIC.
- Charles Butcher, Ingrid Vik Bakken and Marius Wishmann
CLIMSEC Climate Variability and Security Threats - in cooperation with PRIO.
- Ingrid Vik bakken and Ole Magnus Theisen
CAVE- Climate Anomalies and Violent Environments - in cooperation with PRIO.
- Ingrid Vik bakken and Ole Magnus Theisen
SECVIC - Securing the Victory? Understanding Dynamics of Short-run and Long-Term Success in Popular Uprisings and Democratization? - in cooperation with PRIO.
- Charles Butcher, Ingrid Vik Bakken and Jonathan Pinckney
Attitudes for Peace: Postconflict Public Opinion.
- Karin Dyrstad
TRUST: Attitudinal Impacts of Refugees on Host Communities in the Global South - in cooperation with PRIO
- Halvard Buhaug and Karin Dyrstad

Publications

Dyrstad, Karin og Helga Malmin Binningsbø (2019): Between Punishment and Impunity: Public Support for Reactions against Perpetrators in Guatemala, Nepal and Northern Ireland. International Journal of Transitional Justice.
Bjørneseth, Frida; Smidt, Martin; Stachowski, Jakub. (2019): Gender, parenthood, and feelings of safety in Greek refugee centres. Journal of Refugee Studies.
Bakken, Ingrid Vik; Rustad, Siri Camilla Aas. (2018): Conflict Trends in Africa, 1989–2017. Conflict Trends (6).
Dyrstad, Karin; Binningsbø, Helga Malmin; Brigham, Thandeka; Bakke, Kristin M. (2018):Transitional Justice: What Do the People Want? Views from the ground in Guatemala, Nepal, and Northern Ireland. Conflict Trends
Smidt, Martin; Theisen, Ole Magnus. (2018): Climate Change and Conflict: Agriculture, Migration and Institutions. Crisis and Conflict in Agriculture. CABI.
Butcher, Charles; Gray, John Laidlaw; Mitchell, Liesel. (2018): Striking it Free? Organized labor and the outcomes of civil resistance. Journal of Global Security Studies. vol. 3 (3).
Eide, Arne Henning; Dyrstad, Karin; Munthali, Alister; Van Rooy, Gert; Braathen, Stine Hellum; Halvorsen, Thomas; Persendt, Frans; Mvula, Peter; Rød, Jan Ketil. (2018:) Combining survey data, GIS and qualitative interviews in the analysis of health service access for persons with disabilities. BMC International Health and Human Rights. vol. 18 (26).
Mandal, Roland; Dyrstad, Karin. (2017): Explaining variations in general practitioners’ experiences of doing medically based assessments of work ability in disability benefit claims. A survey-based analysis. Cogent Medicine. vol. 4.
Visagie, Surona; Eide, Arne Henning; Dyrstad, Karin; Mannan, Hasheem; Swartz, Leslie; Schneider, Marguerite; Mji, Gubela; Munthali, Alister; Khogali, Mustafa; van Rooy, Gert; Hem, Karl-Gerhard; MacLachlan, Malcolm. (2017): Factors related to environmental barriers experienced by persons with and without disabilities in diverse African settings. PLoS ONE. vol. 12 (10).
Butcher, Charles. (2017): Geography and the outcomes of civil resistance and civil war. Third World Quarterly. vol. 38 (7).
Butcher, Charles; Goldsmith, Benjamin. (2017): Elections, Ethnicity, and Political Instability. Comparative Political Studies. vol. 50 (10).
Theisen, Ole Magnus; Gleditsch, Nils Petter. (2017): Resources, the environment, and conflict. Routledge Handbook of Security Studies.
Theisen, Ole Magnus; Gleditsch, Nils Petter; Buhaug, Halvard. (2017) Climate change and violence: Reviewing the evidence. States and peoples in conflict: Transformations of conflict studies.
Butcher, Charles; Griffiths, Ryan D. (2017): Between Eurocentrism and Babel: A Framework for the Analysis of States, State Systems, and International Orders. International Studies Quarterly. vol. 61 (2).
Goldsmith, Benjamin; Butcher, Charles. (2017): Genocide Forecasting: Past Accuracy and New Forecasts to 2020. Journal of Genocide Research.
Nanlohy, Sascha; Butcher, Charles; Goldsmith, Benjamin E. (2017): The Policy Value of Quantitative Atrocity Forecasting Models. RUSI Journal. vol. 16 (2).
Dyrstad, Karin; Binningsbø, Helga Malmin; Dyrstad, Karin; Binningsbø, Helga Malmin; Bakke, Kristin; Eide, Arne Henning. (2016): Public Support for Peace Agreements: The Cases of Guatemala, Nepal, and Northern Ireland. Conflict Trends.

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