When do we say violence was used in an incident? The answer may seem obvious at first. But interim results from a study by Jolien van Breen show that Dutch people are labelling events in increasingly broad contexts as violent.

Mexico is currently facing an unprecedented social and political crisis, with expanding criminal and political violence, rampant impunity and crumbling political institutions. Next to the daily report of anonymous victims of violence, last summer in Central Mexico at least 15 citizens were executed…

Anti-establishment parties with populist appeal have become part and parcel of the political landscape in many European countries. Some of these parties are more successful than others. PhD candidate Tomáš Cirhan studied the rapid rise of ANO, the party of Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš. He concludes…

What does a political party do in the wake of a disastrous electoral defeat? Martijn van Nijnanten researched this and discovered that parties turn to core values from the past. PhD defence on 12 September.

A significant percentage of children who have spent a period in youth care institutions or foster homes since 1945 received inadequate protection from physical, psychological and sexual violence. Interventions by supervisory authorities in cases involving violence were inadequate.

Dutch troops, judges and politicians collectively condoned and concealed the systematic use of extreme violence during the Indonesian War of Independence. Historians have now shown how this could happen. ‘It was scandal management rather than prevention,’ says Leiden historian and research leader Gert…

Now the election results are in, how should we interpret them? Time to call Associate Professor in Political Science Tom Louwerse.

On Wednesday 7 June, the EPFR research program had its annual research day (toogdag). The venue we had for this year was the Gravensteen, a beautiful historic building right by Pieterskerk.

On 24 April 2024, Carlotta Rigotti and Gianclaudio presented their new report on sexual violence and harassment in the metaverse during a webinar co-organised by AUDRi, Equality Now, and VULNERA.

Political scientist Simon Otjes (Leiden University) receives a grant from The Dutch Research Council (NWO). The grant is part of the SGW Open Competition XS, which aims to stimulate innovative scientific research within the Social Sciences and Humanities domain. Otjes receives the grant for his research…

Research into 25 years of lethal violence in the Netherlands and into language socialisation of deaf families in Africa will receive grants from the Leiden University Fund (LUF).

The elections for the Leiden University Student Council and Faculty Councils are coming up, starting on the 17th of May!

Why do violent incidents occur in prisons? And how do staff respond? Assistant Professor Esther van Ginneken will use a grant from the NWO Vidi Talent Programme to conduct research into these and other questions. She intends to make use of virtual reality.

Political scientists Tom van der Meer, Lisa Janssen (University of Amsterdam) and Tom Louwerse (Leiden University) analyse polls presented by the main polling agencies in the Netherlands, as well as micro-level panel data. They reach three main conclusions. First, vote intention polls in the Netherlands…

China is a one-party regime, yet elections are held for the local congresses. PhD candidate Wang Zhongyuan investigated how the Communist Party uses this democratic instrument to strengthen the authoritarian regime. PhD defence 31 January.

An ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis on 7 January, igniting nationwide fury over escalating federal violence. Could such an incident occur in the Netherlands?

An ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis on 7 January, igniting nationwide fury over escalating federal violence. Could such an incident occur in the Netherlands?

A leaving do, birthday or other celebration? Many people like to ask for a donation to a good cause for their birthday or anniversary present. Leiden research can be one such cause.

At the winter conference of the Dutch Christian student union CSFR, Mark Dechesne, Associate Professor, spoke about the decline in terrorist violence in the Netherlands.

Research has shown that terrorist attacks in the US are more often committed by right-wing extremists than by islamitic extremists. However, news about attacks by right-wing extremists hardly ever reach the media. Jelle van Buuren tells the Dutch newspaper Trouw that right-wing extremists are at least…

Cryptographer Max Fillinger developed new methods to analyse a group of algorithms called commitments schemes. These schemes are building blocks for cryptographic protocols, which enable multiple parties that do not trust each other to work together safely. His PhD Defence is on 19 March.

Hiring commercial consultancy firms by (local or regional) authorities remains controversial and it is at the centre of attention. This was previously revealed in an investigation carried out by Dutch television programme ‘Nieuwsuur’. Dutch news platform Binnenlands Bestuur also sheds light on this…

On Monday 4 September, Professor Christopher Martinez, from the Universidad de Concepción (University of Concepción), Chile, was invited by the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law to introduce his forthcoming book at our university.

Citizens in multiple crime-ridden countries strongly support the militarization of security—that is, placing the military in charge of traditional policing duties. Yet, we know little about the determinants of such support. Do people approve of militarization even in the face of human fatalities? Political…

This year’s University elections will be held from 25 to 29 May. You get to choose who will represent you this coming year in the University Council as well as the faculty council of the Science Faculty. This week, the various student parties will introduce themselves. Today: Christelijke Studentenfractie…

This year’s University elections will be held from 25 to 29 May. You get to choose who will represent you this coming year in the University Council as well as the faculty council of the Science Faculty. This week, the various student parties will introduce themselves. Today: Liberale Studentenparti…

This year’s University elections will be held from 25 to 29 May. You get to choose who will represent you this coming year in the University Council as well as the faculty council of the Science Faculty. This week, the various student parties will introduce themselves. Today: Ondernemende Studenten…

This year’s University elections will be held from 25 to 29 May. You get to choose who will represent you this coming year in the University Council as well as the faculty council of the Science Faculty. This week, the various student parties will introduce themselves. Today: Lijst Vooruitstrevende…

Leiden University was present for the second time at the second Leiden Pride on Saturday.

In prehistoric times there was a huge wave of migration, from the steppes in Russia and Ukraine to West Europe. The newcomers’ genes began to dominate. Archaeology research in Leiden into burial mounds in the Veluwe and Utrechtse Heuvelrug areas of the Netherlands yielded this spectacular conclusion.…

Fear and hatred of Muslims are rising rapidly to the surface in the United Kingdom, Assistant Professor Tahir Abbas writes in his new book. British politicians and journalists play an insidious role in this, he says.

Promotor: R. Cramer

In the last two decades, there have been heated public and scholarly debates in France, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands on the violent end of empire. Nevertheless, the broader comparative investigations into colonial counterinsurgency tend to leave atrocities such as torture, execution, and…

For Dutch politician Pieter Omtzigt, the PVV’s unconstitutional party manifesto remains a stumbling block to form a coalition. Referring to a study conducted by Wim Voermans, Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law, Marc Chavannes sets out the options on Dutch news website De Corresponden…

Carlotta Rigotti, post-doc researcher at eLaw – Center for Law and Digital Technologies, and Professor Clare McGlynn , Durham University, have co-authored a new article in the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, introducing the concept of meta-rape and exploring its potential treatment under criminal l…

Following the elections for the University Council, the new student party ONS has won five seats, LVS two and CSL one. All the parties in the staff section have retained their seats. The turn-out was low for both staff and students.

The world’s attention will shift to China as the Communist Party is set to hold its five-yearly congress beginning on 16 October. We talk to Senior University Lecturer Florian Schneider about how its leader Xi Jinping is expected to cement his place as the country’s most powerful leader since Mao Ze…

Joana Cook talks about the Islamist parties increasingly taking power in the last four decades on ABC News.

The University elections are taking place from 15 to 19 May. It's your chance to vote for who you think will best represent your interests in the Humanities Faculty Council. Meet the student parties!

More parties are standing in this national election than at any point since the Second World War. Simon Otjes, an assistant professor in Dutch Politics who conducts research into new political parties, explains why this is. He also predicts which new parties stand a serious chance of winning a seat…

To get important topics such as climate and human rights higher on the agenda of listed companies, stakeholders other than shareholders and employees should officially be given more say. This is what Professor of Business Law Harold Koster said in his inaugural lecture on 18 March. He proposes introducing…

It is one of the most talked-about subjects right now: how do we eradicate sexual harassment and violence? Alumnus Femke Eisma is the spokesperson for Mariëtte Hamer, the government commissioner tasked with tackling this persistent social problem. Eisma studied the Dutch language at Leiden. How is her…

When Dutch citizens request information under the Open Government Act (Woo), third parties can ask the public authority to withhold certain information. Leiden research reveals that the position of these third parties is unclear and accessing information is a difficult process.