Working Group on Political Violence, War, & Peace
in the Contemporary World

The Working Group on Political Violence, War, and Peace in the Contemporary World is a multidisciplinary group of scholars in the Newark-New York City Metropolitan Area devoted to the study of violent social and political conflict.  The origins and dynamics of violent conflict, methods for avoiding or lessening violent conflict, and alternatives to violence are examined. 

The Working Group meets approximately four times per semester at the Center for Global Change and Governance at Rutgers University, Newark.  The Working Group is open to scholars and graduate students in the Metropolitan Area either for individual meetings or as regular participants.  Papers to be discussed are distributed at least two weeks before the meeting. 

For more information, contact Professor Brian Ferguson, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, or Ms. Desiree Gordon, Center for Global Change and Governance.

Spring 2000 Meetings

March  30: Kurt Schock (Sociology & Anthropology, Rutgers-Newark). "Overcoming Constraints and Creating Opportunities: Nonviolent Action and the Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa."

April 27: Patrick James (Political Science, Iowa State University). "Elaborated Structural Realism and World Politics."

Current Participants

Brian Ferguson, Sociology and Anthropology, Rutgers-Newark

Yale Ferguson, Political Science, Rutgers-Newark

John Fousek, Center for Global Change and Governance, Rutgers-Newark

Carol Henderson, Sociology and Anthropology, Rutgers-Newark

Alexander Hinton, Sociology and Anthropology, Rutgers-Newark

Richard Langhorne, Center for Global Change and Governance, Rutgers-Newark

Hannah Lessinger, Independent Scholars of Asia

Roy Licklider, Political Science, Rutgers-New Brunswick

Saul Mendlovitz, Law School, Rutgers-Newark

Manus Midlarsky, Political Science, Rutgers-New Brunswick

Alexander Motyl, Center for Global Change and Governance, Rutgers-Newark

Kurt Schock, Sociology and Anthropology, Rutgers-Newark

Past Meetings

Spring 1999

March 10: Brian Ferguson (Sociology & Anthropology, Rutgers-Newark).  The State Under Siege: Political Disintegration in the Post Cold War Era."

March 31: Saul Mendlovitz (Law School, Rutgers-Newark) and John Fousek (Center for Global Change and Governance, Rutgers-Newark).   "Law and Human Rights."

April 27: Alexander Hinton (Sociology & Anthropology, Rutgers-Newark).  "Human Liver Eating in the Cambodian Genocide."

May 21: Open Discussion: "Kosovo"

Autumn 1999

October 6: Roy Licklider (Political Science, Rutgers-New Brunswick). "Democracy and the Resumption of Civil War."

November 3: Open Discussion: "Primordialism: Its Meaning and Contemporary Significance"

December 8: Richard Langhorne (Center for Global Change and Governance, Rutgers-Newark). "Avoiding Political Violence: The Problem of Accountability and De-Territorialized Centers of Power."

Sociology & Anthropology
Rutgers University, Newark