ICNC Academic Council

Over a period of years ICNC has built and cultivated close relations with aspiring and seasoned scholars whose writing, research or teaching advanced the field of civil resistance studies. Many of these academics are also veterans or current practitioners of nonviolent actions and insightful public commentators of the political events that pertain to nonviolent movements and civic mobilization for rights, freedom and justice around the world.

ICNC has drawn, among others, on the pool of its academic advisors to join and lead its Academic Council (AC). AC is an agile body with regularly rotating membership tasked to provide the highest quality counsel and guidance regarding the ICNC’s educational activities and the scholarship in civil resistance studies on an ongoing basis.

In addition to AC, ICNC established Academic Advisory Committee (AAC) comprised of scholars with whom ICNC has past or presently engaged who have agreed to serve in a consultative role for ICNC on an as-needed basis.

ICNC has always been on the lookout for diverse academic talents and scholars-enthusiasts from around the world who have potentials to advance critical and innovative studies, expand scientific inquiry and strengthen a vibrant network of intellectual pioneers in a growing civil resistance discipline. If you are one of such people we encourage you to review the information about our activities available on this website and contact us to tell us more about your work, teaching or research.

The current AC members include:

Véronique Dudouet, Senior Researcher and Program Director, the Berghof Foundation, Co-Chair of ICNC Academic Council

Dr. Véronique Dudouet is senior researcher and program director at the Berghof Foundation in Berlin. She has been coordinating participatory action research, training and policy advice activities on resistance and liberation movements in transition’ since 2005. She holds an MA (2001) and PhD (2005) in Conflict Resolution from the Department of Peace Studies, Bradford University, UK, as well as an MPhil in International Relations and Security and a BA in Political Science from the Institute d’Etudes Politiques, Toulouse, France.

Kathleen Gallagher Cunningham, Associate Professor at the Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland

Kathleen Gallagher Cunningham (Ph.D., University of California, San Diego 2007) is an Associate Professor at the Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland and is affiliated with the Center for International Development and Conflict Management. Her book Inside the Politics of Self-determination was published by Oxford University Press in 2014 and won Book of the Year from the Conflict Research Society. Cunningham’s primary research interests have included self-determination, secession, civil war, leadership in rebellion, and non-violent resistance. Her work has been published (or is forthcoming) at the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, International Organization, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Conflict Research, International Studies Quarterly, and Perspectives on Politics. Cunningham was a Fulbright Scholar and a Senior Researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo.

Isak Svensson, Professor at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University

Isak Svensson is Professor at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University, Sweden, and former Director of Research at the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Otago, New Zealand. His three main areas of expertise are 1) international mediation in civil wars, 2) religious and conflict, and 3) dynamics of strategic nonviolent conflicts.

He has published and edited ten books, and over 25 articles in international academic journals, including Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Conflict Resolution, European Journal of International Relations, and International Negotiation. His books include Ending Holy Wars: Religion and Conflict Resolution in Civil Wars, University of Queensland Press (2012), and International Mediation Bias and Peacemaking: Taking sides in civil wars (Routledge, 2015).

Cécile Mouly, Professor at FLACSO, Ecuador

Cécile Mouly (France) is a research professor at the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) in Ecuador. There she coordinates the research group on peace and conflict, and teaches postgraduate courses on peace and conflict studies, and human rights. She also conducts research on peacebuilding, civil resistance and the reintegration of former combatants to civilian life. She holds a Ph.D. in International Studies from the University of Cambridge and has published several academic works on civil resistance. Her main area of expertise in this field is civil resistance in the context of armed conflict, and in December 2017 she co-edited a special issue on this topic in the Journal of Peacebuilding & Development together with Maia Carter Hallward and Juan Masullo.

Janjira Sombatpoonsiri, Research-Oriented Assistant Professor, Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Janjira Sombatpoonsiri is currently a research-oriented assistant professor at the Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University, and an associate at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies.

Her research has focused on nonviolent activism and social movements in the context of democratization and autocratization, and recently digital repression. Her dissertation-turned-book is Humor and Nonviolent Struggle in Serbia (New York: Syracuse University Press, 2015). The modified Thai version of this book—published by Matichon Publishing—includes the case of the Thai pro-democracy group ‘Red Sunday’ and Poland’s ‘Orange Alternative.’