SAMIRA DIEBIRE

PhD Thesis

Below is the abstract for my PhD thesis. As my thesis progresses, I will add abstracts for its component papers.

How does violence develop and restructure after a popular revolution? Popular uprisings and revolutions are often explosive, violent events in the wake of which governments fall and societies change. While recent research has elucidated the causes and patterns of revolutions, we know little about what happens after a regime has been successfully toppled. Using survey data after Burkina Faso’s latest uprising in 2014, I argue that post-revolutionary political discontent can lead to the increase and diffusion of violence. I demonstrate that (1) depending on the level of discontent in post-revolutionary societies, people express grievances using different types of violence, e.g., rioting, interethnic violence, or terrorist tactics; (2) popular distrust in the government’s protection leads to the spread of violence; and (3) although the revolutionary uprising was most present in urban areas, post-revolutionary violence first occurs in rural areas where excluded populations live. These findings contribute to informing policy debates about how the forces of a popular revolution and discontent structure post-revolutionary politics and violence. This study also provides actionable evidence that helps policymakers and stakeholders understand where and why violence emerges after an uprising and how domestic and international organisations can manage such increases in violence.

Working Papers