Daniela Sofia Galeana Gaspar, Grade 11
UWC ISAK Japan

I first found out about Dr Adriana Arellano and his research from a publication at the Peace Research Institute Oslo titled “The Legacy of White Violence in the US” while I was educating myself to understand the Black Lives Matter Movement and social, political and economic disparity. This inspired me to learn even more about these and related topics like war, government and violence, ideology, opposition, social movements, rebellion, economic crisis, political alliance, authority and identity and the misuse of political power. I am intrigued by his research on political violence and the meaning of historical legacies. 

  1. Several weeks ago I read an article that highlighted human connection and social networks as the main cause for people to join radical or terrorist groups, but I haven’t been capable of understanding the reason why. I always understood that radicalized groups were the consequence of retaliation towards other groups, especially political organizations, not a consequence of familiarity. How can human relation lead to the radicalization of groups, does it hold more importance than other factors like economic disparity or political oppression? 
  2. How can authority and identity instigate political violence? 
  3. Not too long ago you contributed on a publication titled “IS 2020 THE NEW 1968?” that compared and contrasted different aspects of the protest and social movements that peaked last year as a result of police brutality and racial inequality with the ones of the period between 1968 and 1972. As I read through it the part where it briefly speaks about how violent this period was. How has violence from different levels of authority evolved through history and what factors influenced these changes?
  4. In the publication “The Legacy of White Violence in the US” in the section of blurred lines toward state violence you talk about how in many cases, law enforcement assisted and abetted mobs. And how they were often the same people. Even Though this statement refers to the specific case study of the US, from a historical perspective, do you think that this is true to many other political issues that have sparked politcal movents, oppostion or rebillion?
  5. How can political alliances be misused to form a capacity for political violence? 
  6. Several Governments around the world are not really fractured by corruption, inequality or violence, rather than that they are built over them. They use them to function. For example in the US where unpaid labour is still part of its economy, but now it comes from prison inmates. Do you believe these issues should be tackled by deconstructing, abolishing or reforming state systems?
  7. Throughout your research about the consequences of conflict, what are some factors or events that you can observe are constantly repeated in history and in different places?
  8. How is conflict significant to the development of a nation?
  9. Is the causality of conflict different at different levels? (national and sub-national)
  10. Will conflict create economic growth or economical retrocession?
  11. How do ideologies created in relation to identity and in relation economic distribution differ from one another in their value to overall development and change within political structure? 
  12. Why are many political and economic ideologies created to oppose an already existing one? I understand that growth and development happen by experience, which can be obtained by questioning current practices, but creating opposing systems doesn’t seem to be a solution
  13. Do you believe it's possible for a government to have a rotational system that complies its beliefs to different necessities as they change through a continuum of significant events or crises? Or do you believe it's better for a government to have strong ideals that help sustain authority and identity in relation to its population?
  14. How do you know when a source of data or information holds meaning to your research? For example when do behavioral patterns or historical matters become significant for them to be recorded in some kind of way as part of the historical legacy of something

Image Courtesy: ​https://www.lse.ac.uk/government/people/research-staff/adrian-arellano