The Evolution of Political Violence

This section, organised by the Standing Group on Political Violence, aims to bring together researchers working on topics related to the evolution of political violence. The objective is to investigate the reasons behind its increasing lethality, the consequent issues of force protection and base security, and the relational dynamics between space and violence. Ultimately, this section will provide a comprehensive assessment of trends and patterns in political violence. Several spectrums of dissent and political violence will be included, such as protest demonstrations, industrial conflict, terrorism, riots, social movements, lone actor violence, hate crimes and extremism, civil wars, and insurgencies. Papers employing multidisciplinary approaches and methods are particularly welcome. Full panels thematically organised around regional empirical cases—such as Political Violence in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Asia—are encouraged. This time, the section invites papers and panels particularly (but not exclusively) on the following topics: • Historical vs. Contemporary Political Violence • Religiously Inspired Extremism and Radicalization • Urban Protests, Radical Direct Action, and Protest Violence • New Militancy in Social Movements • Political Violence in Cyberspace • Incel Violence • Gendered Perspectives on Political Violence • International Conflicts (such as Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine) • Role of Symbolic Violence • Political Violence Between State and Non-State Actors • Intercommunal Violence and Ethnic Conflict • Terrorism and Counterterrorism • Far-Right Extremist Practices and Discourses • Citizens’ Perceptions and Experiences of Political Violence • Non-Violence and Pacifism • Legacy of Political Violence in (Post-)Conflict Societies • Strategies for Preventing and Fostering Resilience to Violent Extremism Potential Chairs include those on the steering committee and other individuals who are increasingly involved with the section such as: Eleanor Williams, Raquel da Silva, Leena Maliki, David Maher, Lamprini Rori, Catia de Carvalho, Deniz Kocak and Stefan Mahthaner. The Standing Group on Political Violence will award a Best Paper Award for the best paper presented in this section. To be considered, the paper must be unpublished at the time of the conference, and its main author(s) must have received their PhD degree in 2015 or later.