Congratulations to former Kellogg graduate M Tahir Kilavuz for publishing his recent article “Ghosts of the Black Decade: How legacies of violence shaped Algeria’s Hirak protests” in Sage Journal’s Journal of Peace Research.
Commonly, researchers argue there are two main theories surrounding the effects of episodes of political violence; that they may encourage or discourage future political mobilization. Taking into account data from Algerian’s in recent years as well as in the 1990s, the author argues that “exposure to mass violence decades ago should on average decrease protest onset, by heightening fears of repression and retribution. However, conditional on protesting, prior exposure to violence should increase protest longevity, by generating greater political grievances that fuel commitment to the cause.”