Over half the world’s population now lives in cities. By 2050 this number will reach almost 70 percent. This process of urbanization and the accompanying changes to population structure and composition are altering socio-economic and political relations in important ways. While generating considerable opportunities, these transitions can also create significant challenges. Focusing on the city as a site, and urbanisation and population change as processes, the Cities and Populations research group at PRIO seeks to understand how these places and processes can affect livelihoods of citizens, shape social, economic, and political outcomes, and create conditions for peace and conflict.
PRIO's Gudrun Østby beat out fierce competition to become one of the first researchers to join the newly established Young Academy of Norway.
Kristian Hoelscher succesfully defended his PhD thesis at the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo. His thesis is titled Institutions and Social Violence.
The evaluation committee:
* Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach, GIGA, Hamburg
* Prof. Gary LaFree, University of Maryland
* Prof. Carl Henrik Knutsen, ISV
Supervisors:
* Research Prof. Henrik Urdal, PRIO
* Prof. Anne Julie Semb, Institutt for statsvitenskap, UiO
In April, 800 hundred million people began casting their ballots all across India in the largest election the world has ever seen. When we think of voting in India, we often picture a poor elderly villager showing a big ink-stained thumb and boasting a wide smile as proof of democracy in action. But elections in today's India mean big money, big ideas and a growing focus on big urban centers as the drivers of development that will continue to catapult it from a 20th century agrarian laggard to a 21st century global power.
Ragnhild Nordås and Christian Davenport have written a blog post based on their upcoming article in AJPS (American Journal of Political Science); http://ajps.org/2013/09/24/guest-post-by-ragnhild-nordas/
Ragnhild Nordås (PRIO) and Christian Davenport (University of Michigan) have published the article "Fight the Youth: Youth Bulges and State Repression".
A new three-year research project on urban security in India was initiated on 1 March, funded by the Research Council of Norway’s INDNOR program. It involves PRIO researchers Halvard Buhaug (project leader), Kristian Hoelscher, Jason Miklian, and Gerdis Wischnath, as well as researchers from the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation. URBIN will study the interaction between three related social challenges in India: (1) managing an inclusive and peaceful transition from rural to urban society; (2) ensuring sustained social and economic inclusion; and (3) tackling environmental change. The project is explicitly multi-disciplinary and will combine quantitative analysis with qualitative fieldwork-based research. URBIN is a collaborative project between PRIO and Observer Research Foundation, lasting from March 2013 through December 2015.
A new edited volume on civil war and fragile states has just been published by Edward Elgar. The book contains no less than four PRIO articles:
Journal Article in Latin American Perspectives
Journal Article in Urban Studies
Conference Paper
Conference Paper
Conference Paper
Book Chapter in Elgar Companion to Civil War and Fragile States
Book Chapter in The Routledge Handbook of Civil Wars
Journal Article in Political Geography
Conference Paper
Popular Article in The Pioneer
Kristian Hoelscher
Research Director