Volha Charnysh
Assistant Professor
Office Hours by appointment
Legacies of violence; political economy; political behavior; Eastern Europe; Holocaust; WWII; ethnic politics; authoritarianism; politics and history; migration.
Biography
Volha Charnysh joined MIT’s Department of Political Science in the fall of 2018. In 2017-2018, she was a fellow at the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance at the Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. She received her PhD in Government from Harvard University in May 2017.
Dr. Charnysh’s research focuses on historical political economy, legacies of violence, nation- and state-building, and ethnic politics. Her book project examines the long-run effects of forced migration in the aftermath of World War II in Eastern Europe, synthesizing several decades of micro-level data collected during a year of fieldwork in Poland, funded by the Social Science Research Council and Center for European Studies.
Dr. Charnysh’s work has appeared in the American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, and the European Journal of International Relations. Her dissertation won the 2018 Ernst B. Haas Best Dissertation prize, awarded by the European Politics and Society Section of the American Political Science Association, as well as the Best Dissertation Prize, awarded by the Migration & Citizenship Section. Dr. Charnysh has also contributed articles to Foreign Affairs, Monkey Cage at the Washington Post, National Interest, Transitions Online, Arms Control Today, Belarus Digest, and other media.
Publications
Charnysh, V. 2019. “Diversity, Institutions, and Economic Development: Post-WWII Displacement in Poland.” American Political Science Review, 113 (12): 423-441.
Charnysh, V., E. Finkel. 2017. "The Death Camp Eldorado: Political and Economic Effects of Mass Violence." American Political Science Review 111 (4): 801-818.
Charnysh, V., S. Markus. 2017. "The Flexible Few: Oligarchs and Wealth Defense in Developing Democracies." Comparative Political Studies 50 (12): 1632–1665
Charnysh, V. 2015. “Historical Legacies of Interethnic Competition: Anti-Semitism and the EU Referendum in Poland.” Comparative Political Studies 48 (13): 1711-1745.
Charnysh, V., P. Lloyd, B.A. Simmons. 2015. "Frames and Consensus in International Relations: the Case of Human Trafficking." European Journal of International Relations 21 (2): 323-351.
Charnysh, V., C. Lucas, P. Singh. 2015. “The Ties that Bind: National Identity Salience and Pro-Social Behavior.” Comparative Political Studies 48 (3): 267-300.
Charnysh V. 2013. "Identity Mobilization in Hybrid Regimes: Language in Ukrainian Politics." Nationalities Papers 41 (1): 1-14.
Teaching
17.591. Research Seminar in Applied International Studies
17.S951 Historical Political Economy (Link to Stellar)
News
Biography
Volha Charnysh joined MIT’s Department of Political Science in the fall of 2018. In 2017-2018, she was a fellow at the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance at the Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. She received her PhD in Government from Harvard University in May 2017.
Dr. Charnysh’s research focuses on historical political economy, legacies of violence, nation- and state-building, and ethnic politics. Her book project examines the long-run effects of forced migration in the aftermath of World War II in Eastern Europe, synthesizing several decades of micro-level data collected during a year of fieldwork in Poland, funded by the Social Science Research Council and Center for European Studies.
Dr. Charnysh’s work has appeared in the American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, and the European Journal of International Relations. Her dissertation won the 2018 Ernst B. Haas Best Dissertation prize, awarded by the European Politics and Society Section of the American Political Science Association, as well as the Best Dissertation Prize, awarded by the Migration & Citizenship Section. Dr. Charnysh has also contributed articles to Foreign Affairs, Monkey Cage at the Washington Post, National Interest, Transitions Online, Arms Control Today, Belarus Digest, and other media.
Publications
Charnysh, V. 2019. “Diversity, Institutions, and Economic Development: Post-WWII Displacement in Poland.” American Political Science Review, 113 (12): 423-441.
Charnysh, V., E. Finkel. 2017. "The Death Camp Eldorado: Political and Economic Effects of Mass Violence." American Political Science Review 111 (4): 801-818.
Charnysh, V., S. Markus. 2017. "The Flexible Few: Oligarchs and Wealth Defense in Developing Democracies." Comparative Political Studies 50 (12): 1632–1665
Charnysh, V. 2015. “Historical Legacies of Interethnic Competition: Anti-Semitism and the EU Referendum in Poland.” Comparative Political Studies 48 (13): 1711-1745.
Charnysh, V., P. Lloyd, B.A. Simmons. 2015. "Frames and Consensus in International Relations: the Case of Human Trafficking." European Journal of International Relations 21 (2): 323-351.
Charnysh, V., C. Lucas, P. Singh. 2015. “The Ties that Bind: National Identity Salience and Pro-Social Behavior.” Comparative Political Studies 48 (3): 267-300.
Charnysh V. 2013. "Identity Mobilization in Hybrid Regimes: Language in Ukrainian Politics." Nationalities Papers 41 (1): 1-14.
Teaching
17.591. Research Seminar in Applied International Studies
17.S951 Historical Political Economy (Link to Stellar)