Every couple of months State Repression.Com picks a scholar whose work is path-breaking and/or historically solid (i.e., they have pointed to and/or provided the direction for subsequent work to follow).  Click the scholar's name above for access to their webpage.

For our eleventh recipient of the State Repression.com "Scholar of Attention" Award, we select:

Neil Mitchell

Mitchell's work has advanced the study of state repression in diverse ways.  In one important work, he got us to focus on the connections or lack thereof between those that plan repressive policies and those who implement them, noting how the connection/disconnection provokes violent activity. In another work, he identifies how democratic leaders can avoid being held accountable for the activities that most believe they should be held accountable for.  Ever provocative.

Previous Awardees

Lisa Hultman

Hultman's work covers a wide range of topic areas relevant to the study of state repression. Sometimes she examines global patterns, sometimes case-specific; sometimes she examines one-sided/asymmetrical state violence, sometimes she examines government behavior within the context of an ongoing conflict with a political opponent. Always interesting. 

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Reed Wood

Wood's work has run the gamut in the area of state repression.  He Co-Directs the Political Terror Scale (perhaps the most frequently used data base in the field), writes about why repression is applied as well as why it is stopped.  Definitely a must-read.  

Scott Straus

Straus' work has assisted in "mainstreaming" the topic genocide in a way that complements as well as goes beyond that of other scholars.  In particular his efforts to push conceptualization have proven to be highly invaluable be it in the context of individual genocides or comparatively.

Matthew Krain

Krain has repeatedly been at the forefront of repression scholarship.  He was among one of the first to rigorously and statistically study genocide - first examining why it occurred and later examining what influences its termination. 

Ted Gurr

Gurr's work represents one of the main pioneering efforts in the field.  Over an amazing career spanning from the late 1960s, he has studied coercive capacity, ethnic discrimination, state repression and genocide/politicide.  If political authorities have done it against their citizens, in all likelihood Gurr has studied it.  

Sarah Soule

Soule's work largely focuses on the theoretical and empirical explanation of protest policing (i.e., the things that authorities do at protest events).  Indeed, she has contributed more to this line of research than any other scholar at this point. Soule's work is both insightful and thorough as well as wide reaching.  

Emilie Hafner-Burton

Hafner-Burton's work largely focuses on the importance of diverse international phenomenon for understanding human rights violations: e.g., trade and law.  A tireless organizer, she has also been crucial for building the network of scholars interested in the topic.  

David Richards

 Richard's work focuses on measuring human rights (he Co-Directs the Cingranelli and Richard human rights database [CIRI]) as well as seeking to account for its variation using a variety of explanatory factors including political institutions and economic relations.

Amanda Murdie

Murdie's work focuses on human rights and international organizations but employing an interest in networks.  She is an early explorer of how intervention influences state-challenger interactions.

Courtenay Conrad

Conrad's work focuses on human rights, international organizations and comparative political institutions.  She Co-Directs the ITT project with Will 
Moore, which documents allegations of torture by Amnesty International.  A great combination of statistical and formal work.