Founder and Network Convener (main contact point)
Gyda M Sindre is an Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations at the University of York. Her research and policy engagement focus on the political transformation and inclusion of armed non-state groups, the Politics of DDR, mediation and post-war governance more generally. She has authored several articles on the theme of Rebel-to-Party-Transformations and armed groups’ political inclusion including on Internal party democracy in former rebel parties, From secessionism to regionalism: Intra-organizational change and ideological moderation within armed secessionist movements, In whose interests? Former rebel parties and ex-combatant interest group mobilisation in Aceh and East Timor, Adapting to peacetime politics? Rebranding and ideological change in former rebel parties. She is the co-editor of two special issues on rebel group political inclusion Understanding Armed Groups and Party Politics (with Johanna Söderström) and What happens to ideas and ideology in armed groups turned political parties (with Devon Curtis) and the PAW-book The effects of rebel parties on governance, democracy and stability after civil war: From guns to governing (with John Ishiyama). Gyda is the co-editor of the PAW-research-brief series The Political Dynamics of DDR. Gyda has significant experience providing evidence based policy advice to international organisations and NGOs and has consultancy research for various international NGOs and agencies.
Steering group members
Carrie Manning is a Professor of Political Science at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. Much of her research focuses on the impact of post-rebel parties on electoral politics – and the ways that elections shape these parties – particularly over the longer term with multiple seminal articles including Party-Building on the Heels of War, Building democracy after war? Post-rebel electoral parties and the construction of stable party systems and Electoral performance by post-rebel parties. She is the author of several leading books including The making of Democrats: Elections and party development in postwar Bosnia, El Salvador and Mozambique and Parties, Politics, Peace: Electoral inclusion and peacebuilding (with Ian Smith and Ozlem Tuncel Orlek). Her most recent work tracks the incorporation of post-rebel parties in electoral politics in 50 countries over more than 20 years as reflected in the dataset Rebels with a cause: Introducing the post-rebel electoral parties dataset.
John Ishiyama is a University Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of North Texas. He is also the former Editor in Chief of the American Political Science Review and the past President of the American Political Science Association. His broad research interests are in Democratisation, Political Parties and ethnic politics. His most recent publications include seminal work on rebel-to-party transformation and party system development in the aftermath of war. John is the editor of the special issue From Bullets to Ballots and the co-editor of the PAW-book The effects of rebel parties on governance, democracy and stability after civil war: From guns to governing (with Gyda Sindre). Recent publications on PAW-related themes include the articles Does political inclusion of rebel parties promote peace after conflict (with Michael Marshall), Civil Wars and Party Systems and Electoral performance of former rebel parties after civil war ,Why do civil war successor parties renounce violence? and (with Post Basnet) Born out of civil war: Are former rebel parties and organisationally distinct type of party?
Mimmi Söderberg Kovacs is Senior Specialist and Advisor in Peace Processes and Security Transitions at the Folke Bernadotte Academy – the Swedish Agency for Peace, Security and Development. She has 20 years of experience with issues pertaining to armed conflict and peace processes in the intersection of research, policy and practice. Her research and policy involvement focus on rebel-to-party transformation, non-state actors in civil war, conflict resolution, post-war military reform and post-war democratisation, especially (but not exclusively) in Burundi, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Mozambique, El Salvador and the Philippines. Her publications include the articles Rebel-to-party transformation in civil war peace processes 1975-2011 (with Sophia Hatz), The legacy of a revolution that never happened: The post-war politics of former rebel party RUFP in Sierra Leone, and the co-edited book (with Jesper Bjarnesen): Violence in African Elections: Between Democracy and Big Man Politics. She is the co-editor of the PAW-research-brief series The Political Dynamics of DDR.
Véronique Dudouet is Programme Director for Conflict Transformation Research at the Berghof Foundation. She joined the Berghof research team in 2005 and has since managed various collaborative research projects on resistance/liberation movements, negotiations and third-party intervention in asymmetric conflicts, inclusive political/security transitions, post-war governance and civil resistance. She conducts regular policy advice, peer exchange, comparative learning and training seminars for political and social stakeholders in conflict-affected countries. She also carries out consultancy research for various civil society organisations and international agencies. She holds an MA and PhD in Conflict Resolution from the University of Bradford, UK. Véronique has co-authored several books and publications on transitions from armed to non-armed politics, including Civil Resistance and Conflict Transformation: Transitions from Armed to Non-Armed Struggle (Routledge 2014) and Nonviolent Resistance and Democratisation (Palgrave MacMmillan 2020). She has co-authored several research reports on the theme of political transformation of armed groups including Political integration and the continuation of the struggle after war: Women ex-combatants in formal and informal politics and Leaving conflict firmly behind through the political transformation of armed groups: Notes for DDR and peacebuilding practitioners. She is the co-editor of the PAW-research-brief series The Political Dynamics of DDR.
Devon Curtis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Emmanuel College. Her main research interests and publications deal with power-sharing and governance arrangements following conflict, UN peacebuilding, non-state armed movements in Africa, and critical perspectives on conflict, peacebuilding, and development. Her field research concentrates on the Great Lakes region of Africa, especially Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Previously, Devon worked for the Canadian government and the United Nations Staff College, and she has been a consultant for the UK Department for International Development, the Overseas Development Institute, and a Visiting Senior Advisor to the International Peace Institute. She has had fellowships at the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University, and at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford University. Her work on rebel group political transformation include the articles Post-war state building in Burundi: Ruling party elites and illiberal peace, The limits of resistance ideologies? The CNDD-FDD and the legacies of governance in Burundi (with Ntagahoraho Z. Burihabwa) and Transforming state visions: Ideologies and ideas in armed groups turned political parties (with Gyda Sindre). She is the co-editor of the Journal Special Issue What happens to ideas and ideology in armed groups turned political parties (with Gyda Sindre), and the PAW-research-brief series The Political Dynamics of DDR.
Matthew Whiting is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of York. His research approach is at the intersection of conflict studies and comparative politics. His research interests include the moderation and radicalisation of non-state armed groups, how states respond to internal security threats, and how local dynamics shape internal conflicts. He has a particular interest in the cases of Irish Republicanism in Northern Ireland and radical Kurdish groups in Turkey. He is the co-convenor of the Turkish Politics Specialist Group of the Political Studies Association. Matthew previously held positions at the University of Reading, the University of Birmingham, and at the LSE. He is the author of the book Sinn Fein and the IRA: From Revolution to Moderation and the journal articles The myth of power sharing and polarisation: Evidence from Northern Ireland (with Stefan Bauchowits), Sowing divisions: Kurds in the Syrian War, Moderation without change: the strategic transformation of Sinn Fein and the IRA in Northern Ireland.
Jacqui Cho is a researcher at the swisspeace Mediation program. Her doctoral research was part of the research project ‘International Peacemaking in Pursuit of a “Good Peace”: Integration or Separation?’, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. She also supports swisspeace’s operational activities. Her recent publications include Decentring foreign peace mediation in the case of Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis and In search of the folden formula: Trends in peace mediation research and practice (with Dona Landau). Previously, she worked with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in East Africa, as well as with the UN Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Jacqui is the co-editor of the PAW-research-brief series The Political Dynamics of DDR.
For full list of Network Members see Meet the Team.
Politics After War 