Professor Kristin M Bakke

Professor of Political Science and International Relations
Room: 2.08, 29/30 Tavistock Square
Tel: 0203 108 9295
Email: kmbakke@ucl.ac.uk
Website

 

Biography

I am Professor of Political Science and International Relations at UCL. I came to the Department of Political Science in 2009, where I am part of the Conflict & Change research cluster. I am a core faculty member in the European and International Social and Political Studies (EISPS) programme. I am also Associate Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) in Norway, and Associate Editor at the Journal of Peace Research.

Prior to joining UCL, I was Assistant Professor at Leiden University and a postdoctoral fellow at the Belfer Center at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Originally from Norway, I studied political science at Østfold College, in my hometown Halden, and theatre theory at the University of Oslo before moving abroad. I hold a BA (2000) in Journalism and Political Science from Indiana University, Bloomington, and a PhD (2007) in Political Science from the University of Washington, Seattle.

Research

Focusing on political violence, my research explores how states respond to opposition within their borders, the dynamics of violence in self-determination struggles, post-war state-building and wartime legacies, and geopolitical orientations. I draw on multiple methods—large-n cross-case analyses, surveys, and fieldwork-based case studies—and collaborate with colleagues from different disciplines. 

At present, I am a principal investigtor on two large collaborative research projects, exploring geopolitical orientations in Russia’s near abroad (jointly funded by the National Science Foundation and Research Councils UK) and the interactions between states, citizens, and informal authorities during and after revolutions and armed conflict, with a focus on Armenia, Ukraine, and Northern Ireland (funded by the Norwegian Research Council).

My book Decentralization and Intrastate Struggles: Chechnya, Punjab, and Québec received the Conflict Research Society’s Book of the Year Award in 2016. My work has been published in journals such as the British Journal of Political Science, International Security, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, Perspectives on Politics, Political Geography, and World Politics.

Publications

Books

• Bakke, K. M. (2015) Decentralization and Intrastate Struggles: Chechnya, Punjab, and Québec. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Journal articles

2023

• Bakke, K. M., Rickard, K. and O’Loughlin, J. (forthcoming 2023) ‘Perceptions of the Past in the Post-Soviet Space’, Post-Soviet Affairs.

2022

• Godefroidt, A., Dyrstad, K. and Bakke, K. M. (2022) ‘The Past, Brexit, and the Future in Northern Ireland: A Quasi-Experiment’, Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 33(1), pp. 149–161.
• Dyrstad, K., Binningsbø, H. M. and Bakke, K. M. (2022) ‘Wartime Experiences and Popular Support for Peace Agreements: Comparative Evidence from Three Cases’, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 66(9), pp. 1562–1588.

2021

• Rickard, K., and Bakke, K. M. (2021) ‘Legacies of Wartime Order: Punishment Attacks and Social Control in Northern Ireland’, Security Studies, 30(4), pp. 603–636.
• Dyrstad, K., Bakke, K. M. and Binningsbø, H. M. (2021) ‘Perceptions of Peace Agreements and Political Trust in Post-War Guatemala, Nepal, and Northern Ireland’, International Peacekeeping, 28(4), pp. 606–631
• Smidt, H. M., Perera, D., Mitchell, N. J. and Bakke, K. M. (2021) ‘Silencing Their Critics: How Effective are Governments in Restricting Civil Society?’,  British Journal of Political Science, 51(3), pp. 1270–1291.

2020

• Bakke, K. M., Mitchell, N. J. and Smidt, H. M. (2020) ‘When States Crack Down on Human Rights Defenders’, International Studies Quarterly, 64(1), pp. 85–96.

2018

• Bakke, K. M., Linke, A., O’Loughlin, J. and Toal, G. (2018) ‘Dynamics of State-Building after War: External-Internal Relations in Eurasian de facto States’,  Political Geography, 63(March), pp. 159–173.

2016

• Seymour, L. J. M., Bakke, K. M. and Cunningham, K. G. (2016) ‘E Pluribus Unum, Ex Uno Plures: Competition, Violence, and Fragmentation in Ethnopolitical Movements’, Journal of Peace Research, 53(1), pp. 3–18.

2014

• Bakke, K. M., O’Loughlin, J., Toal, G. and Ward, M. D. (2014) ‘Convincing State-Builders? Disaggregating Internal Legitimacy in Abkhazia’, International Studies Quarterly, 58(3), pp. 591–607.
• Bakke, K. M. (2014) ‘Help Wanted? The Mixed Record of Foreign Fighters in Domestic Insurgencies’, International Security, 38(4), pp. 150–187.

2012

• Bakke, K. M., Cunningham, K. G. and Seymour, L. J. M. (2012) ‘A Plague of Initials: Fragmentation, Cohesion, and Infighting in Civil Wars’, Perspectives on Politics, 10(2), pp. 265–284.
• Cunningham, K. G.,  Bakke, K. M. and Seymour, L. J. M. (2012) ‘Shirts Today, Skins Tomorrow: Dual Contests and the Effects of Fragmentation in Self-Determination Disputes’, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 56(1), pp. 57–93.

2010

• Ward, M. D., Greenhill, B. and Bakke, K. M. (2010) ‘The Perils of Policy by P-Value: Predicting Civil Conflicts’, Journal of Peace Research, 47(4), pp. 1–13.

2009

• Bakke, K. M., O’Loughlin, J. and Ward, M. D. (2009) ‘Reconciliation in Conflict-Affected Societies: Multilevel Modeling of Individual and Contextual Factors in the North Caucasus of Russia’, Annals of American Association of Geographers, 99(1), pp. 1012–1021.
• Bakke, K. M. (2009) ‘State, Society, and Separatism in Punjab’, Regional and Federal Studies, 19(2), pp. 291–308.
• Bakke, K. M., Cao, X., O’Loughlin, J. and Ward, M. D. (2009) ‘Social Distance in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the North Caucasus Region of Russia: Inter and Intra-Ethnic Attitudes and Identities’, Nations and Nationalism, 15(2), pp. 229–255.

2006

• Bakke, K. M. and Wibbels, E. (2006) ‘Diversity, Disparity, and Civil Conflict in Federal States’, World Politics, 59(1), pp. 1–50.

Book chapters

• Juon, A. and Bakke, K. M. (2023) ‘Managing Self-Determination Struggles Through Decentralization’, in R. D. Griffiths, A. Pavković and P. Radan (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Self-Determination and Secession. London: Routledge.
• Bakke, K. M. (2013) ‘Copying and Learning from Outsiders? Assessing Diffusion from Transnational Insurgents in the Chechen Wars’, in J. Checkel (ed.) Transnational Dynamics of Civil War. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 31–62.
• Bakke, K. M. (2010) ‘The Turn to Violence in Chechnya and Punjab: Self-Determination Struggles in Decentralized States’, in A. Lawrence and E. Chenoweth (eds.) Rethinking Violence. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 221–248.
• Bakke, K. M. (2010) ‘After the War Ends: Violence and Viability of Unrecognized States’, in N. Capersen and G. Stansfield (eds.) Unrecognized States in the International System. London: Routledge.

Full list of publications on my website

Teaching

I teach courses on ‘International Conflict and Cooperation’ (undergraduate), ‘Political Violence and Intrastate Conflict’ (undergraduate), and ‘Conflict Resolution and Post-War Development’ (postgraduate).

I welcome PhD applicants with an interest in political violence, the dynamics of civil wars and revolutionary movements, rebel governance and informal institutions, post-war state-building, and wartime legacies. For an overview of past and current PhD students, please visit my website.