Interested in peace and security?

You can now submit your abstract to the next Swiss political science conference (select the group Peace and Security). Dana Landau, Sara Hellmüller and I will be happy. University of Zurich @ipz.bsky.social - 15/16 Jan 2026. www.svpw-assp.ch/spsa-annual-...

New book: "Ceasefires" edited by Govinda Clayton and colleagues @ethzurich.bsky.social.

Includes case studies on how ceasefires are negotiated and influence violence: Syria, Sudan, Bosnia etc.

One is on #Colombia by Valerie Sticher, Juanita Millán and me.
press.georgetown.edu/Book/Ceasefi...

In the process, I learned how the simple shuffling of survey questions can become a powerful experiment.

More research on lynching in the American Sociological Review journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Journal of Peace Research @jpeaceresearch.bsky.social journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Out in 2025! @cpsjournal.bsky.social: "How Moral Beliefs Influence Collective Violence"

I argue that moral salience diminishes support for collective violence, but group-oriented values increase it.

With a survey on lynching in Mexico, free access: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... #conflictsky

More:
- Lynching in Latin America data: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... --> Data tool: css-ethz.github.io/lyla/
- Morality and lynching: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
- Lynching in Indonesia: ethz.ch/content/dam/...
Op-ed on lynching in Mexico: redaccion.nexos.com.mx/sed-de-justi...

Now in the American Sociological Review:

Building on Mark Twain, Elinor Ostrom, and Mancur Olson, I argue that lynch mobs overcome the collective action problem by drawing on strong community.

Open access to The "Dark Side" of Community Ties in Mexico: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

New article: Introducing the Lynching in Latin America (LYLA) dataset with Govinda Clayton

Highlights:
- First cross-national data on lynching events
- 2818 events (2010-2019)
- Highest rates: Guatemala, Bolivia, Mexico

Open access-Journal of Peace Research: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

To examine moral salience, I randomize the questionnaire order. I find that individuals who think about their own morals before being asked about collective punishment (rather than after) are less likely to support lynching, and show more compassion for the attacked thief.

I argue that individual support for collective violence depends on the salience of moral concerns and the content of moral beliefs. I examine these two logics of moral influence focusing on a proximate and common form of collective violence – lynching in Mexico City.

Lynching is a common form of violence in Latin America. How common?
Check out our tool to play with the first cross-national dataset on reported «Lynching in Latin America» (LYLA): css-ethz.github.io/lyla/ (works better on computer than phone).
Article forthcoming in Journal of Peace Research.