A Conversation with Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan

Erica Chenoweth, a professor and associate dean for research at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies, and Maria Stephan, a Senior Policy Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace, earned the 2013 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order for the ideas set forth in their book, Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Non-Violent Conflict. Chenoweth and Stephan collected and analyzed data on all known uprisings between 1900 and 2006 involving more than 1,000 people that related to a country’s secession, overthrow of a dictatorship or removal of a foreign occupation. They learned that the non-violent campaigns succeeded twice as often as the violent ones—even in the face of brutal repression. They also found that the governments of countries where the peaceful resistance took place were far more likely to become or remain stable democracies afterward.

The discussion will be moderated by Dr. David Buckley, University of Louisville Assistant Professor, Political Science; Paul Weber Endowed Chair in Politics, Science and Religion. The event is free and open to the public; advance reservations are not required.