Christine Cheng
Biographic Data
| ID | 3684206 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Christine Cheng |
| GIVEN NAMES | Christine |
| FAMILY NAME | Cheng |
| SIGNATURE | CHENG C |
| AFFILIATIONS | King's College London |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2556-9813 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 164 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 18 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Rethinking peace in turbulent times
With considerable flux in the peace and conflict landscape, scholars, policymakers, practitioners and publics alike are scrambling to understand emerging realities. Moreover, a sometimes slow academic publishing cycle means that much material appearing in academic journals seems already outdated–reporting on a peace and conflict landscape as though we are still in an era of comprehensive peace processes and peace accords. In an effort to shed som…
Research ethics and state power
In the study of armed actors, the state poses significant – yet often unrecognised – ethical challenges for researchers. This article provides a framework for researchers to pro-actively manage their relationships with the state. First, we show how the state affects the ethics of research on armed actors. Then we illustrate the danger of ignoring, discounting, or misreading the state, both at home and abroad. We question common assumptions about …
Research ethics and the study of armed actors
This Special Issue assesses the state of the field and advances corresponding debates by reflecting unflinchingly on the unanticipated costs and consequences that have resulted from our collective studies of armed actors, especially in unstable and insecure settings. We introduce the idea of research silences – the controversial topics, regions, populations and perspectives that tend to be neglected or avoided, representing an ethical blind spot …
Does the Marriage Tax Differential Influence Same‐Sex Couples' Marriage Decisions
Objective This article evaluates whether the federal marriage tax penalty (penalty) or federal marriage bonus (bonus) affects the marriage decisions of same‐sex couples (SSCs). Background Extant studies provide limited, mixed evidence that the penalty has a nominal economic effect on different‐sex couples' marriage decisions. No evidence exists indicating that the marriage bonus impacts couples' marriage decisions. We use the 2013 federal recogni…
How Cognitive Frameworks Shape the American Approach to International Relations and Security Studies
Why do American perspectives of international relations (IR) continue to hold sway over an increasingly diverse discipline? What actually constitutes “Americanness” in IR? Who is considered “American” in IR? These are the central questions we explore in this essay. Drawing on cognitive and behavioral insights from social psychology, we argue that there is a distinct “American approach” to international relations and security studies and that this…
Rubber
In Chapter 5, both the situations on the Guthrie and Sinoe rubber plantations serve as vivid examples of how extralegal groups emerge, develop, and become entrenched. The theoretical framework guides the analysis of the Guthrie and Sinoe Groups, as well as the failure of two other nascent extralegal groups in the rubber sector. The relatively low barriers to entry (minimal capital and skills) allow extralegal groups to flourish in the rubber sect…
Theoretical Framework
Chapter 2 provides an in-depth treatment of the extralegal groups framework. It sets out the post-conflict conditions in which the framework will be applied, and discusses the three stages of emergence, development, and entrenchment, and how a group transitions between them. The framework lays out a causal logic for how ex-combatants seeking employment can transform in response to local opportunity structures. It shows how and why these groups be…
How to Study Extralegal Groups
Chapter 1 introduces key concepts for studying and comparing extralegal groups. It begins by differentiating extralegal groups from conceptual cousins such as warlords and mafias—politicized terms which are commonly used as shorthand for “bad guy” or “actors that the UN and the West disapprove of.” The chapter then turns to two ideas for analyzing extralegal groups: conflict capital and time horizons. First, conflict capital helps to explain the …
Timber
During the civil war, Liberia’s forestry sector rose to prominence as Charles Taylor traded timber for arms. When the war ended, the UN’s timber sanctions remained in effect, reinforced by the Forestry Development Authority’s (FDA) domestic ban on logging. As Liberians waited for UN timber sanctions to be lifted, a burgeoning domestic timber market developed. This demand was met by artisanal loggers, more commonly referred to as pit sawyers. Out …
Civil War
Building on Liberia’s social and political inheritance, this chapter places the Liberian civil war in historical context and shows how conflict dynamics affected the development of extralegal groups. It examines the period of political instability leading up to the war (1979–89) and the post-conflict transition period that followed it (post-2003), as well as the war itself (1989–2003). The emphasis is not on the battles fought, nor the military t…
History and Society
Beginning with the troubled relationship between the freed slaves from America (Americo-Liberian Settlers), this chapter traces how a history of discrimination and ingrained social inequality prepared the ground for the emergence of extralegal groups almost two centuries later. While providing a broad sociopolitical sketch of the country’s evolution, the chapter discusses four key ideas: distrust of the central state, the use of violence and coer…
Extralegal Groups in Post-Conflict Liberia
In the aftermath of the Liberian civil war, groups of ex-combatants took control of natural resource enclaves. With some of them threatening a return to war, these groups were widely viewed as the most significant threats to Liberia’s hard-won peace. Building on fieldwork and socio-historical analysis, this study shows how extralegal groups emerge as a product of livelihood strategies and the political economy of war. It analyzes the trajectory o…
Feminist Experiences of ‘Studying Up’
This article makes the case for feminist IR to build knowledge of international institutions. It emerges from a roundtable titled ‘Challenges and Opportunities for Feminist IR: Researching Gendered Institutions’ which took place at the International Studies Association Annual Convention in Baltimore in 2017. Here, we engage in self-reflexivity, drawing on our conversation to consider what it means for feminist scholars to ‘study up’. We argue tha…
Helping Smokers Quit
The Smoking Cessation Leadership Center (SCLC) was established in 2003 to increase the rate of smoking cessation attempts and the likelihood those efforts would succeed. Although smoking remains the number one cause of preventable death and disability, clinicians underperform in smoking cessation. Furthermore, many clinical organizations, governmental agencies, and advocacy groups put little effort into smoking cessation. Initially targeted at in…
Helping Smokers Quit
Smoking is much more common among persons with behavioral health conditions (mental illnesses and/or substance use disorders). Persons with these disorders are more likely to die from smoking-related causes than any other reason. Studies have shown that stopping smoking can improve mental health function, as well as improve outcomes for substance use disorders. Yet, for a variety of reasons, smoking cessation has not been integrated into the trea…
From the Sidelines to the Frontline
Smoking is a major contributor to premature mortality among people with mental illness and substance abuse. Historically, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) did not include smoking cessation in its mission. We describe the development of a unique partnership between SAMHSA and the University of California, San Francisco’s Smoking Cessation Leadership Center. Starting with an educational summit in Virginia in 20…
Informal Influences in Selecting Female Political Candidates
The authors argue that the gender composition of party gatekeepers—those responsible for candidate recruitment— plays a crucial role in either encouraging or discouraging women candidates to run for office. Using an original data set that includes constituency-level information for all parties and candidates in the 2004 and 2006 Canadian national elections, the authors find support for this proposition. Women candidates are more likely to be nomi…
Introduction – Key Themes in Peacebuilding and Corruption
Informal Influences in Selecting Female Political Candidates
The authors argue that the gender composition of party gatekeepers—those responsible for candidate recruitment— plays a crucial role in either encouraging or discouraging women candidates to run for office. Using an original data set that includes constituency-level information for all parties and candidates in the 2004 and 2006 Canadian national elections, the authors find support for this proposition. Women candidates are more likely to be nomi…
Feminist Experiences of ‘Studying Up’
This article makes the case for feminist IR to build knowledge of international institutions. It emerges from a roundtable titled ‘Challenges and Opportunities for Feminist IR: Researching Gendered Institutions’ which took place at the International Studies Association Annual Convention in Baltimore in 2017. Here, we engage in self-reflexivity, drawing on our conversation to consider what it means for feminist scholars to ‘study up’. We argue tha…
How Cognitive Frameworks Shape the American Approach to International Relations and Security Studies
Why do American perspectives of international relations (IR) continue to hold sway over an increasingly diverse discipline? What actually constitutes “Americanness” in IR? Who is considered “American” in IR? These are the central questions we explore in this essay. Drawing on cognitive and behavioral insights from social psychology, we argue that there is a distinct “American approach” to international relations and security studies and that this…
Introduction – Key Themes in Peacebuilding and Corruption
Research ethics and state power
In the study of armed actors, the state poses significant – yet often unrecognised – ethical challenges for researchers. This article provides a framework for researchers to pro-actively manage their relationships with the state. First, we show how the state affects the ethics of research on armed actors. Then we illustrate the danger of ignoring, discounting, or misreading the state, both at home and abroad. We question common assumptions about …
Research ethics and the study of armed actors
This Special Issue assesses the state of the field and advances corresponding debates by reflecting unflinchingly on the unanticipated costs and consequences that have resulted from our collective studies of armed actors, especially in unstable and insecure settings. We introduce the idea of research silences – the controversial topics, regions, populations and perspectives that tend to be neglected or avoided, representing an ethical blind spot …
Introduction – Key Themes in Peacebuilding and Corruption
Informal Influences in Selecting Female Political Candidates
The authors argue that the gender composition of party gatekeepers—those responsible for candidate recruitment— plays a crucial role in either encouraging or discouraging women candidates to run for office. Using an original data set that includes constituency-level information for all parties and candidates in the 2004 and 2006 Canadian national elections, the authors find support for this proposition. Women candidates are more likely to be nomi…
From the Sidelines to the Frontline
Smoking is a major contributor to premature mortality among people with mental illness and substance abuse. Historically, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) did not include smoking cessation in its mission. We describe the development of a unique partnership between SAMHSA and the University of California, San Francisco’s Smoking Cessation Leadership Center. Starting with an educational summit in Virginia in 20…
Helping Smokers Quit
The Smoking Cessation Leadership Center (SCLC) was established in 2003 to increase the rate of smoking cessation attempts and the likelihood those efforts would succeed. Although smoking remains the number one cause of preventable death and disability, clinicians underperform in smoking cessation. Furthermore, many clinical organizations, governmental agencies, and advocacy groups put little effort into smoking cessation. Initially targeted at in…
Helping Smokers Quit
Smoking is much more common among persons with behavioral health conditions (mental illnesses and/or substance use disorders). Persons with these disorders are more likely to die from smoking-related causes than any other reason. Studies have shown that stopping smoking can improve mental health function, as well as improve outcomes for substance use disorders. Yet, for a variety of reasons, smoking cessation has not been integrated into the trea…
Rubber
In Chapter 5, both the situations on the Guthrie and Sinoe rubber plantations serve as vivid examples of how extralegal groups emerge, develop, and become entrenched. The theoretical framework guides the analysis of the Guthrie and Sinoe Groups, as well as the failure of two other nascent extralegal groups in the rubber sector. The relatively low barriers to entry (minimal capital and skills) allow extralegal groups to flourish in the rubber sect…
Theoretical Framework
Chapter 2 provides an in-depth treatment of the extralegal groups framework. It sets out the post-conflict conditions in which the framework will be applied, and discusses the three stages of emergence, development, and entrenchment, and how a group transitions between them. The framework lays out a causal logic for how ex-combatants seeking employment can transform in response to local opportunity structures. It shows how and why these groups be…
How to Study Extralegal Groups
Chapter 1 introduces key concepts for studying and comparing extralegal groups. It begins by differentiating extralegal groups from conceptual cousins such as warlords and mafias—politicized terms which are commonly used as shorthand for “bad guy” or “actors that the UN and the West disapprove of.” The chapter then turns to two ideas for analyzing extralegal groups: conflict capital and time horizons. First, conflict capital helps to explain the …
Timber
During the civil war, Liberia’s forestry sector rose to prominence as Charles Taylor traded timber for arms. When the war ended, the UN’s timber sanctions remained in effect, reinforced by the Forestry Development Authority’s (FDA) domestic ban on logging. As Liberians waited for UN timber sanctions to be lifted, a burgeoning domestic timber market developed. This demand was met by artisanal loggers, more commonly referred to as pit sawyers. Out …
Civil War
Building on Liberia’s social and political inheritance, this chapter places the Liberian civil war in historical context and shows how conflict dynamics affected the development of extralegal groups. It examines the period of political instability leading up to the war (1979–89) and the post-conflict transition period that followed it (post-2003), as well as the war itself (1989–2003). The emphasis is not on the battles fought, nor the military t…
History and Society
Beginning with the troubled relationship between the freed slaves from America (Americo-Liberian Settlers), this chapter traces how a history of discrimination and ingrained social inequality prepared the ground for the emergence of extralegal groups almost two centuries later. While providing a broad sociopolitical sketch of the country’s evolution, the chapter discusses four key ideas: distrust of the central state, the use of violence and coer…
Extralegal Groups in Post-Conflict Liberia
In the aftermath of the Liberian civil war, groups of ex-combatants took control of natural resource enclaves. With some of them threatening a return to war, these groups were widely viewed as the most significant threats to Liberia’s hard-won peace. Building on fieldwork and socio-historical analysis, this study shows how extralegal groups emerge as a product of livelihood strategies and the political economy of war. It analyzes the trajectory o…
Feminist Experiences of ‘Studying Up’
This article makes the case for feminist IR to build knowledge of international institutions. It emerges from a roundtable titled ‘Challenges and Opportunities for Feminist IR: Researching Gendered Institutions’ which took place at the International Studies Association Annual Convention in Baltimore in 2017. Here, we engage in self-reflexivity, drawing on our conversation to consider what it means for feminist scholars to ‘study up’. We argue tha…
How Cognitive Frameworks Shape the American Approach to International Relations and Security Studies
Why do American perspectives of international relations (IR) continue to hold sway over an increasingly diverse discipline? What actually constitutes “Americanness” in IR? Who is considered “American” in IR? These are the central questions we explore in this essay. Drawing on cognitive and behavioral insights from social psychology, we argue that there is a distinct “American approach” to international relations and security studies and that this…
Does the Marriage Tax Differential Influence Same‐Sex Couples' Marriage Decisions
Objective This article evaluates whether the federal marriage tax penalty (penalty) or federal marriage bonus (bonus) affects the marriage decisions of same‐sex couples (SSCs). Background Extant studies provide limited, mixed evidence that the penalty has a nominal economic effect on different‐sex couples' marriage decisions. No evidence exists indicating that the marriage bonus impacts couples' marriage decisions. We use the 2013 federal recogni…
Research ethics and state power
In the study of armed actors, the state poses significant – yet often unrecognised – ethical challenges for researchers. This article provides a framework for researchers to pro-actively manage their relationships with the state. First, we show how the state affects the ethics of research on armed actors. Then we illustrate the danger of ignoring, discounting, or misreading the state, both at home and abroad. We question common assumptions about …
Research ethics and the study of armed actors
This Special Issue assesses the state of the field and advances corresponding debates by reflecting unflinchingly on the unanticipated costs and consequences that have resulted from our collective studies of armed actors, especially in unstable and insecure settings. We introduce the idea of research silences – the controversial topics, regions, populations and perspectives that tend to be neglected or avoided, representing an ethical blind spot …
Rethinking peace in turbulent times
With considerable flux in the peace and conflict landscape, scholars, policymakers, practitioners and publics alike are scrambling to understand emerging realities. Moreover, a sometimes slow academic publishing cycle means that much material appearing in academic journals seems already outdated–reporting on a peace and conflict landscape as though we are still in an era of comprehensive peace processes and peace accords. In an effort to shed som…
Political science (15 works) · Law (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Economics (9 works) · Politics (6 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (5 works) · Political economy (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Law (4 works) · Computer security (3 works)