Sukanya Podder
Lecturer in International Development, Centre for International Security and Resilience (CISR)
Location: Wellington Hall
E: s.podder@cranfield.ac.uk
T: +44 (0) 1793 785969
Department of Management and Security
Current activities
Sukanya leads the Centre’s research on non-state armed groups with a focus on rebel group transition, ex-combatant reintegration and security sector reform as part of post conflict reconstruction and state-building activities.
She directs the Masters module on Study Skills and Research Methods at Cranfield.
She is completing her third book Youth in Conflict and Peacebuilding: Mobilization, Reintegration and Reconciliation based on field work in Liberia and Mindanao, Philippines.
She is planning new field work in Sri Lanka and Nepal in 2012-2013.
Clients
World Bank, UNDP, OECD, British Council, INGOs
Background
Dr Sukanya Podder is Lecturer in International Development at the Centre for International Security and Resilience, Cranfield University, and the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom (Shrivenham). Her research and advisory/consulting work is focused upon issues of post-conflict reconstruction, security sector reform, and youth involvement in conflict and peace-building. She has previously worked at the University of York and Coventry University (UK). With field research experience in Liberia, Mindanao, Sri Lanka and India, she specializes in qualitative research methods and participatory action research. She has recently completed a British Academy funded research on youth participation in civil conflict in Mindanao, Philippines and is incorporating findings as part of her third book ‘Youth in Conflict and Peacebuilding: Mobilization, Reintegration and Reconciliation, London: Palgrave Macmillan (2013). She will conduct field work in Sri Lanka as part of her post doctoral research on community-combatant relations in post conflict transitions during 2012.
Dr Sukanya Podder holds a Phd in Post War Recovery (PRDU, University of York). Prior to joining Cranfield she worked at the Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies, Coventry University and at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi India.
Selected publications
Books:
(2012) Co-authored volume with A. Özerdem, Youth in Conflict and Peacebuilding: Mobilization, Reintegration and Reconciliation(London, Palgrave Macmillan).
[Contract Secured]
(2011) Co-edited volume with A. Özerdem, Child Soldiers: From Recruitment to Reintegration(London, Palgrave Macmillan)
(2007) Co-edited Sri Lanka: Search for Peace, NewDelhi, Manas
Academic Articles:
(2012) (co-edited with Tom O’ Brien) Non-State Armed Groups and the Dynamics of Community Support: Religion and Ideology as Legitimization Strategies in Civil Conflict, Special Issue of Politics, Religion and Ideology, (forthcoming)
(2011) (with A. Özerdem), “Disarming Youth Combatants: Mitigating Youth Radicalization and Violent Extremism”, Journal of Strategic Security, (forthcoming).
(2012) ‘Community-combatant relations and Social Reintegration Challenges in Post Conflict Liberia’ (International Peacekeeping)
(2011) ‘Grassroots and Rebellion: A Study on the future of the Moro Struggle in Mindanao’ Civil Wars (under review).
(2010) (with A. Özerdem and E L Quitoriano) “Identity, Ideology and Child Soldiering: Community Mediation and Youth Participation in Civil Conflict: A study on the MILF, Mindanao, Philippines,” Civil Wars, 12 (3) (September), pp.304-325.
(2008) Review Essay on “Doctrinal Challenges, Terror Tactics and the Power of the Child: A Tale of Three ‘Sites’”, Strategic Analysis, 32(1), January: 147-159.
(2007) “Politics of Gun Control and India’s Internal Security” Strategic Analysis, 31(4), July: 675-687.
(2006) “Challenges to Peace Negotiations: The Sri Lankan Experience”, Strategic Analysis, July-September: 576-598.
(2006) “Children in Armed Conflicts: Translating Rhetoric to Reality”, Journal of Peace Studies, September – October.
Chapters in Books
(2011) “The Long Road Home: Conceptual Debates on Recruitment Experiences and Reintegration Outcomes” (with A. Özerdem) in S. Podder and A. Özerdem (eds) Child Soldiers: From Recruitment to Reintegration. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp, 3-28.
(2011) “Child Soldier Recruitment in the Liberian Civil Wars: Individual Motivations and Rebel Group Tactics,” in S. Podder and A. Özerdem (eds) Child Soldiers: From Recruitment to Reintegration. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp,50-75.
(2011) “Neither Child nor Soldier: Contested Terrains in Identity, Victimcy and Survival” in in S. Podder and A. Özerdem (eds) Child Soldiers: From Recruitment to Reintegration. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp, 141-158.
(2011) “Mapping Child Soldier Reintegration Outcomes: Exploring the Linkages” (with A. Özerdem) in S. Podder and A. Özerdem (eds) Child Soldiers: From Recruitment to Reintegration. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp, 309-322.
(2010) “Mapping Child Soldier Reintegration Outcomes: A Participatory Approach” in R. Bowd and A. Özerdem (eds.) Participatory Research Methodologies in Development and Post Disaster/Conflict Reconstruction, London, Ashgate: 165-180.
(2009) “Child Soldiers in Sri Lanka’s Ethnic Conflict and the International Response”, in W. Andy Knight (ed.) Children and War: Impact (Edmonton, University of Alberta Press).
