Weatherhead Research Cluster on Identity and Conflict
Addressing Ethnic and Religious Conflict
The Weatherhead Research Cluster on Identity and Conflict will be dormant during the 2025–2026 academic year.
From Germany to Brazil, the world has witnessed the rise of ethno-nationalism over the past two decades, a trend which recently culminated with the deadly storming of the US Capitol in January 2021 by mostly white, right-wing protesters. The spectacle of insurrection against the world’s most stalwart democracy illustrates how far extreme identity politics can penetrate. This resurgence of far-right parties in Europe has polarized the public, resulting in the breakdown of communication and rising intolerance.
In parallel, ethnic and sectarian violence and conflict are on the rise across the world—or at least show few signs of abatement—making it urgent to understand why some communities develop norms and practices of toleration, achieve reconciliation, or resist the politicization of these identities. Even if they are not the root cause of these conflicts, nationalism, ethnicity, and religion often become salient when political violence targets “others”—and they exhibit remarkable stickiness in social and political life. When intergroup tensions have ratcheted up, is it possible to mitigate the impact? Can a shared civic identity be (re)constructed in the wake of violence waged in the name of nationalism, ethnicity, or religion?
Learning from cases of “success” and “failure” can help us answer these questions. Why do some places, such as South Africa, achieve relative success with transitional justice while other countries, such as Rwanda, face deep obstacles to postconflict reconciliation? Why were the Netherlands and Austria able to unwind transitional power-sharing arrangements to develop more effective democratic institutions while Northern Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and other countries remain locked into suboptimal governance arrangements cemented by power-sharing systems? Why have Christians and Druze in some villages and towns in the Chouf learned to live together peacefully after bloody violence during the Lebanese Civil War while others remain deeply antagonistic toward each other?
This research cluster explores ethnic, religious, and other forms of identity-based politics, as well as ways to improve intergroup relations in diverse settings, by bringing together a network of scholars at different career stages from Harvard and other US- and globally based institutions who work on conflict, conflict resolution, and identity politics. Through workshops, seminars, and lectures, the cluster aims to establish lasting collaborations among researchers domestically and abroad that will forge innovative scholarship and draw on evidence from diverse global regions. Where relevant, the cluster also creates opportunities for scholars to translate their research into short, accessible, policy-oriented pieces and to engage directly with representatives from relevant government agencies and civil society organizations to share and discuss their findings.
The questions at the heart of the research cluster promise to shed light on the prospects for coexistence in places around the world where the weaponization of ethno-religious and national identities during conflict has ripped apart societies. Practitioners and scholars increasingly acknowledge that interventions aimed at postconflict prejudice reduction and improved intergroup relations have yielded mixed results, and citizens are increasingly skeptical about NGO-led interventions to promote intergroup reconciliation. Research on how peacekeeping missions, national and local political institutions, local-level initiatives, or other approaches can foster peacebuilding more effectively can generate policy-relevant knowledge based on strong academic foundations.
Administration
The Weatherhead Research Cluster on Identity and Conflict is chaired by Professor Melani Cammett. Jessica Barnard is the cluster coordinator.
Melani Cammett
mcammett@g.harvard.eduResearch interests: Conflict; religion and ethnicity; development; and Middle East politics.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Jessica Barnard
jbarnard@wcfia.harvard.edu
Current Affiliates (2025–2026)
Jessica Barnard
jbarnard@wcfia.harvard.edu
Melani Cammett
mcammett@g.harvard.eduResearch interests: Conflict; religion and ethnicity; development; and Middle East politics.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Marko Kljajić
Research interests: Postconflict reconciliation; political violence; transitional justice; collective acknowledgment; collective victimhood; and western Balkans.
Pepi Pandiloski
Research interests: Political economy and development with regional focus on the Balkans, focused on questions in identity, culture, and social networks.
All Weatherhead Research Clusters
Born out of a need to complement the Center’s traditional focus of supporting individual faculty and student research, our Weatherhead Research Clusters revolve around hefty questions for the social sciences and the world. These research clusters represent core faculty interests, and aim to make a significant contribution by pushing the frontier of knowledge in their respective fields.
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Learn more about the business and government research cluster >
How do we extend cultural membership to the greatest number in society? Gain a better understanding of the social and cultural processes behind recognition gaps? Determine how social scientists and policy makers can better respond to help make societies more inclusive? By bringing together academics from a variety of disciplines and institutions, the cluster fosters a research community that seeks to build up the systemic theory around inequality and recognition gaps and create sustained opportunities for cross-pollination of ideas. Cluster affiliates have studied a wide range of topics—including racism, xenophobia, homophobia, immigration, destigmatization, incorporation, citizenship, indigeneity, and more—across various national and transnational contexts.
Learn more about the comparative inequality and inclusion research cluster >
Addressing climate change requires global collective action, underpinned by international institutions, frameworks, and policies. However, current climate action is moving too slowly—due to unwieldy policy structures and obstacles presented by multipronged core missions, among other reasons. This research cluster aims to accelerate the pace and scale of climate action by identifying and developing new global policy initiatives that address the challenges at hand. We leverage experts across many fields at Harvard and MIT to generate policy ideas, galvanize action, and engage students and alumni toward a deeper understanding of international climate coordination.
Learn more about the global climate policy research cluster >
Global history is one of the leading new approaches in recent years that has helped to transform the study of the past. The contemporary trends summarized under the term “globalization” have lent urgency to research that examines historical processes, networks, identities, and events across the boundaries of the nation-states that traditionally served as the privileged framework for much of the discipline. Historians worldwide have contributed to exciting research on the trends that so many societies have undergone together. In the process, global history has drawn on the expertise of political scientists, sociologists, art historians, economists, anthropologists, and others. This research cluster was designed to build on and focus its faculty leadership in new directions for international study.
The deliberate targeting of LGBTQI+ communities is part of an increasingly coordinated and well-resourced transnational strategy to polarize societies, weaken democratic institutions, and expand illiberal influences. This rising transnational threat is in many respects a reactionary backlash against hard-earned advances won by and for LGBTQI+ people over the last generation. This research cluster examines the interplay of state and nonstate actors as leading drivers of this global backlash against democracy and human rights. We convene leading human rights scholars, policymakers, practitioners, and activists to produce cutting-edge interdisciplinary research, data-informed policy recommendations, and new public engagement and culture change strategies to promote the safety and security—and protect and advance the human rights—of LGBTQI+ people worldwide.
Learn more about the global LGBTQI+ human rights research cluster >
Ethnic and sectarian conflict are on the rise across the world—or at least show few signs of abatement—making it urgent to understand why some communities develop norms and practices of toleration, achieve reconciliation, or resist the politicization of these identities. When intergroup tensions have ratcheted up, is it possible to mitigate the impact? Can a shared civic identity be (re)constructed in the wake of violence waged in the name of nationalism, ethnicity, or religion? This research cluster explores ways to improve intergroup relations in postconflict countries by bringing together a worldwide network of scholars that will draw on evidence from diverse global regions.
Learn more about the identity and conflict research cluster >
Valuing Accessibility
The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs welcomes affiliates with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you are associated with the Weatherhead Center or one of its programs and would like to request accommodations or have questions about the physical access provided, please get in touch with your program coordinator in advance of your participation. Requests for Sign Language interpreters and/or CART providers should be made at least two weeks in advance, if possible. Please note that the university will make every effort to secure services, but that services are subject to availability.