Activism:
Stop Our States (SOS)
Trying to End State (and Societal) Repression
Although terrorism and civil war receive the most attention nowadays, the largest threat to human life still emerges from governments and those associated with them. Mass killing, execution, torture, disappearances, beatings, harassment, imprisonment and domestic spying undertaken by political authorities still impact more individuals than anything done by other socio-political actors - taking lives as well as political freedom.
For approximately 15 years, I have been trying to understand what influences state repression/human rights violation as well as (more recently) what can be done to reduce its occurrence and severity. The work provided here explores different resolutions to the problem.
To date, most of my research considers the pacifying influence of democracy/democratization. Newer work considers the influence of other factors such as military intervention, economic sanctions, “naming and shaming” and other political-economic policies. Most of my activism and advisory work concerns fact-finding, documenting past abuses, truth commissions, international criminal tribunals and developing alternatives means for dealing with the legacy of state repressive behavior.
Providing Insight for Action (Scholarism) - General
Member of American Political Science Task Force on Governance Indicators. 2010
"Data from the Dark Side: Notes on Archiving Political Conflict and Violence" PS
– Political Science and Politics 43(1): 37-41. 2009. From a Symposium on
"Data Collection and Collaboration."
Evidence-based Peacekeeping: Exploring the Epidemiology of Lethal Violence in
Darfur (with Alex DeWaal, Chad Hazlett and Joshua Kennedy) The Harvard
Humanitarian Initiative; The Global Policy Forum. 2010.
Participant, “Anticipating, Preventing and Responding to Genocide and Mass
Atrocities (Workshop).” University of Pittsburgh-Henry Stimson Center.
Washington, DC. July 22-23, 2009.
Report for the Social Science Research Council (SSRC)/”AIDS, Security and
Conflict Initiative” (ASCI) - “The Conflict-HIV/AIDS Nexus: An Empirical
Assessment” (with Cyanne Loyle). 2009.
Research - “Toward Never (Again): An Empirical Assessment of Genocide
Termination." (with Ben Appel). 2010.
Member of Social Science Research Council working group - Ending Genocide.
2006-Present
Member of American Political Science Task Force on Political Violence and
Terrorism. 2006-7.
Punishing Accused Genocidaires in Rwanda
"What Really Happened in Rwanda?" Miller-Mccune Magazine. 2009.
Organizing for America reprint
Progressives, South Bend reprint
Emoiz Latest World and Tech News
Newswire - All Girl Army
Tanzania Science and Technology
Commentary on the article: Newstrust
“Understanding Rwandan Violence in Space and Time” (with Allan Stam). GIS
Educator. (Spring): 6-7. 2005.
Expert Witness for International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda - Defense
(2001-2003)
Expert Witness for International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda - Prosecution
(2004-2006)
Ending Untouchability in India
Understanding Untouchability: A Comprehensive Study of Practices and
Conditions in 1589 Villages with David Armstrong (University of Wisconsin),
Amanda Klassing (Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Center), Martin Macwan
(Navsarjan/Dalit Shakti Kendra), Manjula Pradeep (Navsarjan Trust), Allan Stam
(University of Michigan), Sushma Vania (Navsarjan Trust) & Monika Kalra Varma
(Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Center). 2009.
Understanding Untouchability press release
Completed first “Census of Untouchability” in 1589 Villages within Gujarat, India
Developing a program for using “Census” to guide anti-Untouchability Initiatives at
Local, State, National and International levels
Understanding Socio-Political Violence Against African Americans 1860-2010
Developing a catalog of all abuses directed against African Americans for Truth,
Reconciliation and Compensation
Creating a memorial for African Americans lynched in the U.S.
Links for Socio-Political Change
The Responsibility to Protect: Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty - the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS)
Human Rights Watch: Defending Human Rights Worldwide
Genocide Watch: The International Campaign to End Genocide
A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility
Statewatch: Monitoring the State and Civil Liberties in Europe
U.S. Organizations in Defense of Freedom
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum - Committee of Conscience
“I GETS MY THING IN ACTION: TO WORK, TO PLAY, TO LIVE, TO LEARN”
Bob Dorough (School House Rock, “Verb: That’s What’s a’Happenin”) and Method Man
I have dedicated this project to my dearly departed brother-in-arms, friend, colleague, counselor and inspiration - Steven Poe. Steve’s extraordinary kindness, warmth of spirit and pioneering work in the field of human rights and state repression has motivated us all to make the world a little better.