International Studies

Phone:

(812) 856-7326

Email:

steinbjf@indiana.edu

Website:

http://www.jessicasteinberg.com/

Department:

International Studies

Campus:

IU Bloomington

Research Summary

Jessica Steinberg is Assistant Professor in the International Studies Department at Indiana University. Her research focuses on the political economy of development, local politics of natural resource extraction, territorial sovereignty, and violent conflict. Her book, “Mines, Communities, and States: The Local Politics of Natural Resource Extraction in Africa” (Cambridge University Press 2019) investigates the strategic interaction between international mining firms, states, and local communities to understand different governance outcomes in regions of natural resource extraction. Her next book-length project explores the use of common-pool resources (forestry in particular) in conflict and post-conflict contexts to explore the effect of common-pool resource management participation on local stability. Other areas of interest include technologies of repression, conflict events reporting, and private investment in unstable regions. She employs a mixed-methods approach, including game theory, comparative case analysis, and statistical methods, and she has conducted fieldwork in Congo-Brazzaville, Zambia, DRC, Senegal, and Mozambique.

Educational Background

• Ph.D., Political Science, University of Michigan, 2014
• M.A., Political Science, University of Michigan, 2011
• B.A., Stanford University, 2006

Regions of Interest

• Africa
• India
• regions of limited state presence

Research Topics

• politics of natural resources
• non-state goods provision
• regions of limited state presence
• violent conflict
• technologies of repression

Representative Publications

• Steinberg, J. (2019). Mines, Communities, and States: The Local Politics of Natural Resource Extraction in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Steinberg, J. (2018). ‘Strong’ states and strategic governance: A model of territorial variation in state presence. Journal of Theoretical Politics, 30(2), 224–245. 
• Steinberg, J. (2018) Protecting the capital? On African geographies of protest escalation and repression. Political Geography, Volume 62, 12-22.