A jury consisting of Aysegul Aydin (University of Colorado - Boulder), Lisa Hultman (Uppsala University), and Brian J Phillips (University of Essex) has awarded this year’s Nils Petter Gleditsch Article of the Year to Melanie Sauter (University of Mannheim) for her article entitled ‘Politicized health emergencies and violent resistance against healthcare responders’ (JPR 61(4): 513-528). All articles published in Volume 61 of the Journal of Peace Research were eligible for the award. Articles were judged based on their theoretical contribution, methodological sophistication, and substantive relevance.
The award-winning article seeks to address a highly important and timely topic: violence against healthcare workers in conflict zones. Focusing on the case of Ebola responders in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2018-2020, Sauter addresses the puzzle of why health workers were attacked by the same communities they were trying to protect from disease. The article uses an innovative mixed-methods approach. It starts with process tracing to theory build and then employs an interrupted time-series (ITS) approach to test the argument. In process tracing, Sauter carefully sorts through a wealth of archival data including reports from IGOs/NGOs, newspapers, public statements from politicians and practitioner accounts to trace the causal mechanisms of violence against Ebola responders. With ITS, the author tests the link between the exclusion of Ebola regions from 2018 presidential elections and violence. The analysis finds that while distrust of health workers was a key factor in violence against responders, political exclusion played a substantial role as well. The article shows how political grievances can lead to not only political violence involving civilians but also the increased spread of a virus. Overall, the article is a substantial contribution to the study of political violence and other topics including global health. The award is worth USD 1,000.
In addition to the winning article, the jury has identified two runners-up: Masanori Kikuchi - 'How does war affect cultural tolerance? Evidence from concert programs, 1900-60' (JPR 61(2): 163-179), and Dongshu Liu and Li Shao - ‘Nationalist propaganda and support for war in an authoritarian context: Evidence from China’ (JPR 61(6): 985-1001).
