Dr Julie Norman

Associate Professor (Teaching) in Politics and International Relations
Room: G.04, 36-38 Gordon Square
Email: julie.norman@ucl.ac.uk
Twitter
Website
Podcast

Biography

I am currently Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations and Director of the BSc programme in Politics and International Relations (PIR). I am also the Co-Director of the UCL Centre on US Politics (CUSP).

I have a PhD in International Relations from American University in Washington, DC, with concentrations in Human Rights and Conflict Resolution, and a BA from Duke University. Prior to joining UCL, I was a Research Fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s University Belfast, and a Lecturer in Politics at McGill University and Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.

Research

I have a diverse research portfolio with interests in conflict, political violence, and divided societies. My current research uses experimental methods to assess public opinion on political violence and polarization in the United States, and my previous research used mixed methods to investigate security, rights, and resistance in protracted conflicts, with a focus on the Middle East. 

I am the author of The Palestinian Prisoners Movement: Disobedience and Resistance (Routledge 2021), and three books on unarmed resistance, including Understanding Nonviolence (Polity 2015) and The Second Palestinian Intifada: Civil Resistance (Routledge 2010). I have also published on political imprisonment, conflict and development, and critical approaches to preventing/combatting violent extremism (P/CVE), with recent publications in Perspectives on Politics, Security Dialogue, PS: Politics & Political Science, and other journals. 

Practice

My academic research and teaching is complemented by my work in policy and practice. I am currently a lead researcher on the project ‘Conflict Sensitivity and Community Resilience in Conflict Zones’ with the NGO Christian Aid, with fieldwork in central Africa and Myanmar. In the past I was a researcher for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the British Council in Iraq, and the US Institute of Peace (USIP), and I have provided expert analysis to the US State Department, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and other national and international agencies. I also have ongoing roles with Fighters For Peace (FFP), a Beirut-based NGO, and the EU’s Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN).

Media

I am a frequent guest on the BBC, CNN, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, Euronews, other media outlets, and I have published widely in the Washington Post, Huffington Post, The Hill, Newsweek, and The Conversation. I am also the host of the podcast, The Julie Norman Show.

Selected publications

Books

• Magowan, F., Rebelo, P., Lehner, S., Norman, J. M. and Phillips-Hutton, A. (2023) Sounding Conflict. London: Bloomsbury.
• Norman, J. M. (2021) The Palestinian Prisoners Movement: Disobedience and Resistance. London: Routledge. 
• Hallward, M. C. and Norman, J. M. (eds.) (2015) Understanding Nonviolence. London: Polity Press.  
• Hallward, M. C. and Norman, J. M. (eds.) (2011) Nonviolent Resistance: Activism and Advocacy in the Second Intifada. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
• Norman, J. M. (2010) The Second Palestinian Intifada: Civil Resistance. London: Routledge.

Journal articles

• Norman, J. M. (2022) ‘Other People’s Terrorism: Ideology and the Perceived Legitimacy of Political Violence’, Perspectives on Politics, FirstView, pp. 1–18. 
• Mikhael, D. and Norman, J. M. (2021) ‘Collaboration in Commissioned Research: Benefits and Challenges of Scholar–Practitioner Partnerships in Conflict Contexts’, PS: Political Science & Politics, 54(3), pp. 554–557. 
• Norman, J. M. (2021) ‘Negotiating Detention: The Radical Pragmatism of Prison-based Resistance in Protracted Conflicts’, Security Dialogue, 53(2).
• Norman, J. M. (2020) ‘Beyond Hunger Strikes: The Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement and Everyday Resistance’, Journal of Resistance Studies, 6(1), pp. 40–68.
• Norman, J. M. (2018) ‘The Mobility Myth: Risk and Resilience of Refugee Youth in the MENA Region’, Forced Migration Review.
• Norman, J. M. (2013) ‘Memory and Mobilization: Identity, Narrative and Nonviolent Resistance in the Palestinian Intifadas’,  Quest: Issues in Contemporary Jewish History, 5. 

Book chapters

• Norman, J. M. and Foerch, C. (Forthcoming) ‘Former Fighters and Preventing Violent Extremism in Lebanon’, in G. Clubb, R. Scrivens and M. Islam (eds.) Former Extremists: Roles in Preventing and Countering Violence. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Norman, J. M. (2023) ‘Resistance: Performing the Frontline’, in F. Magowan, P. Rebelo, S. Lehner, J. M. Norman and A. Phillips-Hutton (eds.) Sounding Conflict. London: Bloomsbury.
• Norman, J. M. (2021) ‘Terrorism in Israel/Palestine’, in R. English (ed.) The Cambridge History of Terrorism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 149–172).
• Mikhael, D. and Norman, J. M. (2020) ‘Getting Local Engagement Right: Key Considerations for Local-level P/CVE Research’, in K. Aryaeinejad (ed.) Researching Violent Extremism: Context, Ethics, and Methodologies. Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace (USIP).
• Norman, J. M. (2015) ‘“We Do Not Work for Peace”: Reframing Nonviolence in Post-Oslo Palestine’, in K. Schock (ed.) Civil Resistance: Comparative Perspectives on Nonviolent Struggle. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 35–58.

View a full list of publications on my website

Teaching

I currently convene the undergraduate modules: ‘How to Argue About Politics’; ‘Political Violence’; ‘Middle East Politics’; and ‘America in the World (US Foreign Policy)’.

I have also taught modules on: ‘International Conflict and Cooperation’; ‘Globalisation and Populism’; ‘Human Rights and International Justice’; ‘Social Movements’; ‘International Development’; and ‘International Security’.