Violence & Peacebuilding
The social impact of political violence has been described as development in reverse, with no conflict-affected country achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Violent conflict imposes significant costs on the countries that experience it and the individuals who are victimized by it. It is, therefore, of paramount importance to understand the nature and drivers of these outcomes; how adversities can be overcome; and how violent manifestations of conflict can be avoided. ISDC studies how households experience conflict, how individuals respond to violence, and the performance of interventions designed to avoid conflict occurring in the first place, or designed to rebuild societies post-conflict. We pay particular attention to various types of political violence, ranging from perceived insecurity via riots, terrorism and uprisings to civil war and international war as well as genocide.