Janet I. Lewis

Areas of Expertise

Political violence; ethnic conflict; state formation; Africa

Current Research

Professor Lewis's book, "How Insurgency Begins: Rebel Group Formation in Uganda and Beyond," was published in 2020 (Cambridge University Press, Studies in Comparative Politics Series). It examines why and how rebel groups form, with a focus on why many groups fail in the early stages, and what ethnicity has to do with it. It received the 2021 Book of the Year Prize by the Conflict Research Society, as well as the Honorable Mention for the Giovanni Sartori Award from the Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research section of APSA. It was also recommended as a top book of 2020 at the online magazine Political Violence @ A Glance.

In addition to continuing research on the start of armed conflict, her other projects seek to understand how information and beliefs travel through word-of-mouth networks in rural communities, and how states administer and monitor their peripheral regions. Her research articles have won several major awards.

Education

Ph.D., M.A. in Government, Harvard University

M.A. in International Policy Studies; B.A. (with honors) in Political Science, Stanford University

CV (PDF)

Publications

"From Chatter to Action: How Social Networks Inform and Motivate in Rural Uganda" Forthcoming. (with Jennifer M. Larson and Pedro Rodríguez). British Journal of Political Science. 

“Measuring Networks in the Field.” 2019. (with Jennifer M. Larson). Political Science Research and Methods. DOI: 10.1017/psrm.2019.5

“Rumors, Kinship Networks, and Rebel Group Formation” (with Jennifer M. Larson). 2018. International Organization. 72(Fall): 871–903.

“How Does Ethnic Rebellion Start?” 2017. Comparative Political Studies. 50(10): 1420-1450.

“Ethnic Networks” (w/ Jennifer M. Larson). 2017. American Journal of Political Science. 61(2): 350–364.

“When Decentralization Leads to Recentralization: Subnational State Transformation in Uganda.” 2014. Regional & Federal Studies. 24(5): 571-588.

“Administrative Unit Proliferation” (with Guy Grossman). 2014. American Political Science Review. 108(1): 196-207.

Office Hours

Varies, sign up at: https://www.wejoinin.com/sheets/ldzzx

Classes Taught

PSC 2381 - Comparative Politics of Africa

PSC 3192W - Political Violence

PSC 8288 - Political Violence