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Julie Mazzei's research focuses primarily on irregular political violence, looking at the ways in which actors like paramilitary groups (or “death squads”) organize and procure the resources necessary to employ violence for political ends. Mazzei argues that these irregular forces are able to organize and commit often extraordinary acts of violence in part because they are able to access institutional resources and use them without recourse. Dr. Mazzei is currently researching the rise of violent organizations in Iraq after the US occupation, looking specifically at (a) the ways in which the structural and policy environment facilitated the ascendence of those groups, and (b) the targeting and murder of professors, scientists, and scholars. 

In her most recent work, Dr. Mazzei collaborated with Todd Nelson (Ph.D., Cleveland State University), introducing the "illiberal security complex" concept. In this piece, Mazzei and Nelson examine the network of states that participated in the disappearance, detention and torture of individuals by the U.S. extraordinary rendition program under George W. Bush. Mazzei has one forthcoming book chapter looking at the rise and evolution of paramilitary groups in Chiapas, Mexico, focusing on the ways in which neoliberal economic dynamics intersect with nonstate political violence. Another forthcoming chapter looks at the targeted assassination of Iraqi intelligentsia by death squads following the U.S. invasion in 2003. Dr. Mazzei is also the author of published in 2009 by University of North Carolina Press. Among her additional publications are articles on the post-conflict ramifications of paramilitary violence and reconciliation processes in El Salvador (Human Rights Quarterly, 2011), and the development agenda and its impact on rights in Cuba, looking specifically at the so-called "tourist apartheid" (Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 2012).

Dr. Mazzei is the Director of the School of Multidisciplinary Social Sciences and Humanities and an Associate Professor in International Studies. She teaches courses on globalization, human security, human rights, and political violence. 

SCHOLARLY, CREATIVE & PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

PUBLICATIONS

Books and Book Chapters:

• 2023. “Science and Epistemology as Territory in Conflict: the U.S. Occupation and Violence Against Academics in Iraq,” invited book chapter for Civic Vice, Civic Virtue. P. Johnson and W. Wittels, eds. Routledge.
• 2022. “Landowners, Politicians, and the Threat from Below: Emergence and Evolution of Paramilitary Groups in Chiapas, Mexico,” In Hristov, J., Sprague, J.,  and Tauss, A. (Eds.). Paramilitary Groups and the State under Globalization: Political Violence, Elites, and Security.
• , Editor. 2017. Research in Social Movements, Conflict and Change series, Vol. 41. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Group.
• Death Squads or Self-Defense Forces? Paramilitary Emergence in Contemporary Latin America. 2009. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Peer-review Articles:

• 2024. .” with Sweta Sen. Small Wars & Insurgencies.
• 2022. “Kids Today: They Care, but They Don’t Think We Do,” with Andrew Barnes, Oindrila Roy, and George Poluse. Journal of Political Science Education. Published online 26 July. DOI: 10.1080/15512169.2022.2099878
• 2021. “The Extraordinary Rendition Network: Illiberal Security Complexes and Global Governance,” co-authored with Todd Nelson. International Journal of Human Rights. Published on-line 13 October. <>
• 2012. "Negotiating Domestic Socialism with Global Capitalism: So-Called Tourist Apartheid in Cuba," Communist and Post-Communist Studies. 
• 2011. “,” 2011. Human Rights Quarterly. 33(2):431-452.
• 2009. "You Got It, So When Do You Flaunt It?: Field Work Settings and the Strategic Deployment of Gender.” Co-authored with Dr. Erin O’Brien. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. 38(3): 358-383.
• 2002. “” Co-authored with Dr. William M. LeoGrande. Journal of Latin American Studies. 34:325-363.

Opinion Editorials

• 2021. Akron Beacon Journal. January 15.
• 2021. “ Cleveland Plain Dealer and cleveland.com. Published on-line February 7.