Other Research

Sitting on a Nickel Mine: A Spatial Analysis of Anti-Mining Ethnic Mobilization in the Philippines

with Nakissa P. Jahanbani, Combating Terrorism Center, United States Military Academy at West Point

Identity and culture can serve as powerful impetuses for mobilization, yet they may not be enough to induce mobilization. Given the increasing importance of identity and ethnicity globally, we ask the question: why do some ethnic groups mobilize and others do not? We employ a geographically-weighted regression (GWR) to the study of ethnic group mobilization against mining operations from 2000 to 2017 in the Philippines to attempt to answer this question. Informed by the contentious political literature on grievance, we believe that the emergence of ethnic protests can be linked to structural factors (economic inequality and unequal political opportunities). We find that ethnic fractionalization has a positive significant effect on anti-mining protests in the Philippines overall, but the relationship between grievance and protest varies over spatial units. Through this study, we not only contribute to our knowledge of grievance and mobilization, but also demonstrate how spatial analytical methods can facilitate a better understanding of important phenomena in social science. We endeavor to apply this technique to understanding variation in mining protests in other countries with large foreign mining operations such as Guatemala in future research.

Terrorism and Political Violence

with Amira Jadoon, Clemson University, and Nakissa P. Jahanbani, Combating Terrorism Center, United States Military Academy at West Point

Another strand of my research focuses on terrorism and political violence, with female participation and the Philippines as my primary research areas. While there are important differences between “violent” and “non-violent” non-state actors, there are similar processes and questions underlying these areas of research. For example, why do people choose to participate in terrorist organizations and what is the impact of political opportunity structures on their choices? What strategies (such as framing) do terrorist organizations employ to recruit new members? What strategies do terrorist organizations choose to try to achieve their goals? How and why do groups’ strategies change over time?

  • The Right Frame of Mind? An Analysis of Global Anti-US-Military Protests

In this project, I am developing an original dataset of protest events against the US military in US host nations from 1990 to 2016. Drawing on news sources, the dataset captures a variety of variables prescribed in the social movement and base politics literatures including: estimated number of protesters, tactics, protest frames, change in the status of the base, transnationalism, and openings in the political opportunity structure (e.g., incidents attributable to the US military presence, important anniversaries, visits from officials, etc.). 

Keck and Sikkink (1999) argue that when activists’ demands are not met by their home government (“State A”), activists may create advocacy networks with activists in another country (“State B”) where the government is more responsive to activists’ demands. Activists in State B may be able to lobby their government into pressuring State A’s government to concede to activists’ demands. State B may also bring the issue to an international organization, which may put pressure on State A. This theory is called the “Boomerang Model.” Some activists in State A, however, seek recognition from international organizations themselves, among other strategies. In connecting with an international organization directly, State A activists hope that the organization will pressure their own government to concede to activists’ demands. The anti-helipad/Osprey movement in Okinawa, Japan has adopted this strategy to pressure the Japanese and US governments to close the US military’s helipads and the Northern Training Area (NTA) in the Yambaru Forest. Environmental activists used Japan’s United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) bid for World Natural Heritage (WNH) designation of the Yambaru Forest to draw international attention to the NTA and its impacts on the environment, including several flora and fauna species endemic to Okinawa. While the WNH designation was ultimately granted, activists’ efforts pressured the Japanese government to release previously private information from the US military about its activities and their impact in Yambaru as well as opened a channel for future international pressure. I build on Keck and Sikkink’s theory by drawing on interviews with Okinawan activists and other primary sources.