Historical Origins and Legacies of Conflict

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Political attitudes and institutions are often influenced by historical forces that extend beyond the immediate time frame. This panel brings together scholars of armed conflict, state violence, and authoritarian politics to explore the historical roots and enduring legacies of conflict, broadly construed.

Torres investigates the historical relationships between local tradition, civil war, and community dispute resolution mechanisms in contemporary Liberia. Building on the theme of legacies of violence, Kitagawa and Lee trace the multi-generational impacts of World War II-era sexual slavery across Asia; Charnysh and Lall turn to nomadic slave trades in Eastern Europe, connecting historical practice to patterns of socioeconomic development today. Two final papers shed light on the Spanish experience. Shen-Bayh and Esberg's study of political trials under the Franco regime demonstrates how conflict within courts served regime interests in legitimizing repression; Balcells and vanderWilden investigate how support for the far right can become normalized over time against the backdrop of an authoritarian past.

The papers marshal diverse methods, including archival, econometric, and survey-experimental approaches. By drawing comparative lessons from different regions and multiple levels of analysis — from individuals to entire communities and states — this panel reveals the complex interrelationships between historical and contemporary political phenomena.

Sub Unit

• Division 21: Conflict Processes

Chair

• Jelena Subotic Georgia State University

Discussants

• Hojung Joo University of Michigan

• Roya Talibova Harvard University

Individual Presentations

• Historic Sources of Dispute Resolution: Tradition and Conflict in Liberia - Priscilla Torres, Wellesley College

• The Story of “Lolas”: Gendered Historical Legacy of Wartime Sexual Violence - Risa Kitagawa, Northeastern University; Sumin Lee, Texas A&M University

• The Consequences of Eastern European Slavery - Volha Charnysh, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Ranjit Lall, London School of Economics

• Discounting Extreme Positions: Party Normalization and Support for the Far Right - Laia Balcells, Georgetown University; Ethan vanderWilden, University of Wisconsin - Madison