For the launch of my Dollars and Dissent report on September 13, 2022, I was joined by Tom Perriello, Executive Director of Open Society – US. The launch was co-sponsored by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC) and Human Rights Funders Network (HRFN). Video of the launch event is available here. This report is the result of five years of research including in-depth case studies of Humanity United and the American Jewish World Service. You can download the report and watch the video online. And feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
New Article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy
Check out my latest article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy that details three big reasons why donors hesitate to support grassroots people powered movements as well as ways that donors have overcome these obstacles. And I invite you to “Imagine what might have become of Gandhi if he had spent his days completing monitoring and evaluation spreadsheets for potential donors thousands of miles away.”
Harvard Program on Negotiation Talk: “Friend or Enemy – Social Movement Strategy, Negotiation, and Democratization”
On February 9, 2022, I spoke with the Harvard Program on Negotiation community about my research that develops a relational approach to social movement strategy. This research draws on the strategy of the African National Congress (ANC) as part of the Anti-Apartheid Struggle. And it relies on archival material I collected in South Africa and the United Kingdom. This relational approach to movement strategy entails movement leaders conceiving of leaders of their target regime as having a dual identity – enemy and potential ally. You can watch the video of the presentation and discussion here.
About Me
Since August 2023, I have served as the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Social Movements Advisor, the first such position in the U.S. government. I am also a Ph.D. candidate and the Topol Fellow in Nonviolent Resistance at The Fletcher School where I teach and research social movements. My dissertation is comprised of three essays: “Dollars and Dissent: Foundation Support for Social Movement Building,” “Liberating the ‘Enemy’ in South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid Struggle,” and “Surviving Success: Nonviolent Rebellion in Sudan.”
Currently, I’m a Visiting Scholar at SciencesPo, a Term Member in the Council on Foreign Relations, a Truman National Security Fellow, and a Research Fellow with the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. During the 2020-2021 academic year, I was a USIP – Minerva Peace and Security Scholar. During the 2021 calendar year, I was a Graduate Research Fellow at the Harvard Program on Negotiation. During 2022, I served as International Collective Action and Social Movements Expert consultant for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
I hold a M.P.A. from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and a B.A. with honors from the University of Chicago. I have served as a Program Officer with the Open Society Justice Initiative, an electoral observer with The Carter Center, and a board member of the University of Chicago’s Human Rights Program. I co-directed Darfurian Voices, the first public opinion survey of refugees from Darfur on issues of peace, justice, and reconciliation.
My publications include “Nonviolent Resistance” and “The Founding Myth of the United States of America.” My teaching includes “From Gandhi to the Arab Spring: Theory and Practice of Nonviolent Resistance.” I’m the father of twin girls and husband of Nadia Marzouki.
My Dissertation
“Bridging Relationships in Pro-Democracy Social Movements”
My dissertation is comprised of three essays that detail how relationships between leaders across “enemy” lines affect the arc and outcome of social movements.
The first essay details why and how South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid Movement leaders sought to liberate their enemies as part of their resistance strategy. Whereas this first essay explores the development of bridging relationships, the second essay explores the dismantling of them. It details why the 2019 nonviolent uprising in Sudan faced systematic and widespread repression, but uprisings in 1964 and 1985 did not. The third essay details why and how institutional donors in the U.S. support nonviolent, pro-democracy, social movement building in non-democracies.
In an era of political polarization, it is important to highlight not only how social movements deconstruct political institutions by organizing and mobilizing to undermine governments’ pillars of support, but also how they construct and participate in political institutions like negotiations and elections.
My committee is comprised of Dr. Erica Chenoweth (Harvard), Dr. Alex de Waal (Tufts), Dr. Marshall Ganz (Harvard), and Dr. Richard Shultz (Tufts) as chair.