Research on Violence against Social Activists

Juan Albarracín Dierolf will be wel­comed as a new Visiting Fellow at PRIF and the Research Center “Trans­formations of Political Violence (TraCe)” in June and July 2024.

Juan Albarracín Dierolf is Assis­tant Professor in the Depart­ment of Politi­cal Science at the Uni­versity of Illinois, Chicago (UIC). His research focuses on the restric­tions on poli­tical and civil rights in cases of orga­nized violence and extra-legal gover­nance. In this sense, his work lies at the inter­section of studies of demo­cratization, criminal and politi­cal violence, criminal gover­nance, and politi­cal insti­tutions. Juan Albarracín Dierolf is also interested in the trans­formation of political vio­lence after transitions from autho­ritarian rule and/or armed conflict.

During his stay, Juan Albarracín Dierolf will focus on the patterns and causes of vio­lence against social activists. To­gether with Jonas Wolff, he is building on existing re­search on the poli­tical logic of post-conflict violence. In the recently published wor­king paper on “Targeted Violence Against Social Activists”, they address the question of whether and to what extent lethal vio­lence against activists can be con­sidered as reflecting a trans­formation of the (violent) re­pression of civil society actors.