Laura Acosta
@lauraacostag.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Sociology @ucsandiego.bsky.social
Reposted by Laura Acosta
Preview the upcoming American Sociological Review article by Laura Acosta @lauraacostag.bsky.social @ucsandiego.bsky.social on how inventing political adversaries can create real civil division + be sure to listen to the podcast interview w/ the author for additional insights!
Sociological Study Reveals How Inventing Political Adversaries Can Create Real Civil Division | American Sociological Association
While it is widely assumed that civil wars reinforce the existing political divisions, a recent sociological study sheds light on how these divisions actually can be reinvented during social conflict. The study, “Fabricating Communists: The Imagined Third That Reinvented the National Fault Line in Mid-Twentieth-Century Colombia’s Civil War” by Laura Acosta (University of California-San Diego), appears in the December 2025 issue of the American Sociological Review. The author explores how, through their political discourse and military actions, politicians in […]
bit.ly
December 4, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Preview the upcoming American Sociological Review article by Laura Acosta @lauraacostag.bsky.social @ucsandiego.bsky.social on how inventing political adversaries can create real civil division + be sure to listen to the podcast interview w/ the author for additional insights!
"Fabricating Communists: The Imagined Third That Reinvented the National Fault Line in Mid-Twentieth-Century Colombia’s Civil War" Available OnlineFirst here: doi.org/10.1177/0003...
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October 5, 2025 at 8:56 PM
"Fabricating Communists: The Imagined Third That Reinvented the National Fault Line in Mid-Twentieth-Century Colombia’s Civil War" Available OnlineFirst here: doi.org/10.1177/0003...
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🚨Publication day! What happens when politicians fabricate enemies in political discourse? When do those enemies become real? And when does enemy fabrication trigger civil war? I answer these questions and more in my new article (1/2)
October 5, 2025 at 8:53 PM
🚨Publication day! What happens when politicians fabricate enemies in political discourse? When do those enemies become real? And when does enemy fabrication trigger civil war? I answer these questions and more in my new article (1/2)
Diego Gambetta and Thomas Hegghammer’s ed. volume Fight, Flight, Mimic is one of the first collections of studies of diverse cases that address these questions.
I wrote a book review for the European Journal of Sociology, go check it out! Available on FirstView here:
doi.org/10.1017/S000... (2/2)
I wrote a book review for the European Journal of Sociology, go check it out! Available on FirstView here:
doi.org/10.1017/S000... (2/2)
Identity Manipulation in Civil War: Deception on the Battlefield and Beyond - Diego Gambetta and Thomas Hegghammer, Fight, Flight, Mimic: Identity Mimicry in Conflict (Oxford, UK, Oxford University Pr...
Identity Manipulation in Civil War: Deception on the Battlefield and Beyond - Diego Gambetta and Thomas Hegghammer, Fight, Flight, Mimic: Identity Mimicry in Conflict (Oxford, UK, Oxford University Pr...
doi.org
March 7, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Diego Gambetta and Thomas Hegghammer’s ed. volume Fight, Flight, Mimic is one of the first collections of studies of diverse cases that address these questions.
I wrote a book review for the European Journal of Sociology, go check it out! Available on FirstView here:
doi.org/10.1017/S000... (2/2)
I wrote a book review for the European Journal of Sociology, go check it out! Available on FirstView here:
doi.org/10.1017/S000... (2/2)
Why do wartime actors pretend to be members of the enemy group? And how do they protect themselves against similar acts of deception? These questions illuminate a broad range of conflict dynamics, from how actors define strategic targets and develop military tactics to how they mitigate risks. (1/2)
March 7, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Why do wartime actors pretend to be members of the enemy group? And how do they protect themselves against similar acts of deception? These questions illuminate a broad range of conflict dynamics, from how actors define strategic targets and develop military tactics to how they mitigate risks. (1/2)