2nd Social Conflict and Political Economy (SCoPE) Workshop

University of Sydney, 3-4 June 2025

The workshop will take place in Seminar Room 650, Social Sciences Building (A02), Camperdown (main) campus.

Programme

DAY 1: 3 JUNE 2025

Morning Tea (9:30 AM – 10:00 AM)

Session 1 – Institutions (10:00 AM – 11:30 AM)

  1. Ballot Stuffing: A Structural Approach – Anastasia Burkovskaya (University of Sydney)
  2. The Rise and Fall of Technocratic Democracies: Unstable Majorities and Delegation to Technocrats – Gabriele Gratton (UNSW)
  3. Prison Norms and Society Beyond Bars – Maxim Ananyev (University of Melbourne)

Lunch (11:30 AM – 12:15 PM)

Invited Session I (12:15 PM – 1:00 PM)

  • Agricultural Growth, Deforestation, and Infectious Disease Risk - Ore Koren (Indiana University)

Session 2: Environment/Agriculture (1:00 PM – 2:30 PM)

  1. The political economy of socioenvironmental conflict: Evidence from Peru – David Kreitmeir (Monash University)
  2. The Political Consequences of Structural Transformation: Agro-Business, Misallocation, and Deforestation – Ricardo Dahis (Monash University)
  3. Land Reform as a Panacea? Evidence from Rural Protests in Latin America – Prasad Bhattacharya (Deakin University)

Afternoon Tea (2:30 PM – 2:45 PM)

Invited Session II (2:45 PM – 3:30 PM)

  • War and Deception - Paul Raschky (Monash University)

Session 3 – Conflict (3:30 PM – 5:00 PM)

  1. Boundary change, social network and ethnic peace – Bishal Kumar Chalise (Deakin University)
  2. Terrorism and local economic development – Sundar Ponnusamy (Deakin University)
  3. Local economic shocks and conflict: Evidence from maize markets across Africa – Aaron Humphreys (University of Sydney)

Dinner (6:00 PM, venue TBA) – BY INVITATION ONLY

DAY 2: 4 JUNE 2025

Morning Tea (10:00 AM – 10:45 AM)

Invited Session III (10:45 AM – 11:30 AM)

  • Masculinity Around the World - Pauline Grosjean (UNSW)

Session 4: Gender/Social Norms (11:30 AM – 1:00 PM)

  1. The Gendered Consequences of Armed Conflict: An analysis of Women’s Agency Over Long-term Armed Conflict in Sri Lanka – Olga Shemyakina (Georgia Tech)
  2. Cultural Crossroads: Gender Roles and Family Dynamics in Post-WWII Taiwan – Ruikun Ma (University of Melbourne)
  3. The Economic Costs of Xenophobia – Nixon Chekenya (Texas Tech)

Lunch (1:00 PM – 2:00 PM)

Invited Session IV (2:00 PM – 2:45 PM)

  • Refugee camps in sub-Saharan Africa: Policy motivation, data availability, and associated outcomes – Colette Salemi (University of Victoria)

Session 5: Migration/Displacement (2:45 PM – 4:15 PM)

  1. The effect of foreign aid on migration – Lukas Wellner (Monash University)
  2. Communities of Commerce: The Legacy of Chinese Immigration on Java, Indonesia – Quoc Anh Do (Monash University)
  3. The Cost of Inaction: Impacts of Humanitarian Assistance Shortfalls on Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons – Anubhav Gupta (Virginia Tech)

Registration

Fill this form to register for and stay up-to-date with any news and updates related to the workshop.

Organizers

David Ubilava, Ashani Amarasinghe, Justin Hastings, and Andrey Vasnev

Acknowledgement

The workshop organizers gratefully acknowledge support from the School of Economics at the University of Sydney and the Australian Research Council.