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We met at a workshop in 2006
Maria was part of an organization that promoted the idea that nonviolent resistance works
I was a doctoral student that was interested in the idea that violence worked
we had competing ideas, we sat down and came up with a project idea together
So at this workshop, I was at the international center on nonviolent conflict at the time
Erica and I had great conversations
by the end of the workshop actually Erica had the table of contents for the book that we eventually wrote together on the back of a napkin
So it was a very nice and very productive workshop.
We have lots of examples in our book of cases where nonviolent resistance has succeeded
even where violent insurgency hasn’t
places like the Philippines, Serbia, Iran, and other places
In today’s world, you can imagine lots of places where armed insurgency has been going on for a long time
like in West Papua, in Nepal and other places where it actually hasn’t really advanced the cause much
but then you see civil resistance actions building up and they’ll look very promising.
And I would just say that all the places where people continue to fight for human rights continue to fight for democratic governance
continue to fight for women’s rights and environmental rights
the idea that civil resistance can be effective
as a means of fighting for these rights is very hopeful for peoples all around the world
So whether it’s in the middle east where people struggle to achieve democracy in these countries
or in places where human rights are being violated in many places around the world
I think it’s actually a hopeful finding for what they are trying to achieve.
I certainly think this award with its incredible international visibility
really will help us to both spread the word about the strategic implications of nonviolent resistance
but also to justify having other researchers to devote their time and energy to building a body of work around this topic.
From a policy perspective
even though I should say in this interview that I represent my own views and not those of the United States government
but still working for the state department is the primary department in the US government focuses on how to prevent violent conflict
So if you think about civil resistance and the idea that it can be effective
more effective than arms struggle, this is actually something important for policy makers
How do we help support nonviolent actors in movement or at least not harm them
So it has actually a very important policy of ramification as well.
For political scientists the Grawemeyer award actually is the Nobel Prize
because there’s no Nobel Prize in political science
it’s economic or peace but the peace prize usually goes rightfully to people who are on the ground advocating for peace
So it does get that kind of visibility in political science that this is the closest you get to a Nobel Prize.