Judith Large
About
As a Senior Research Fellow Judith brings three decades of practical experience in war and transition settings; particularly work for improved linkages between community/local and national levels for violence reduction and just outcomes after armed conflict. Her research emphasis has been on the dynamics of contested governance in transition settings, particularly in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Her book Pushback: Sri Lanka’s Dance with Global Governance (Zed Books, 2016) examines the Sri Lankan post-war imposition of security complex rather than peace process; including the rejection of rights-based conventions and tenants of liberal peace. Previous publications have included focus on Aceh’s negotiated political settlement, problems of war to peace transition in the Balkans; gender and conflict; and mediation/third party intervention. Judith’s current focus is on gendered citizen responses to elected autarchy and authoritarian revisionism. She also works with activist counterparts in Europe (including the UK) and South Asia on movements for resistance and renewal.
Professional
Judith has worked internationally with civic and community groups, national governments and UN agencies, including consultancies with the UNHCR, UNDP, WHO and UN Women. Previous experience includes work in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Indonesia, Nepal, Timor Leste, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Sudan. She conducted commissioned evaluations of transitional arrangements and human rights frameworks in East Slavonia, Timor Leste and Aceh, as well as an external evaluation for the EU on minority rights in Somalia and Iraq. She served on the Editorial Board, Journal of Peace building and Development, as a founder member of Rethinking Security, trustee of the Oxford Research Group and member of Council for the Conflict Research Society. Judith was Senior Advisor for Conflict and Human Security at International IDEA in Stockholm; Director of Conflict Resolution at CMI (Brussels), an advisor to the Berghof Foundation (Berlin) and lectured at numerous universities. She served on both EU and UN mediation rosters; conducted master classes on mediation and negotiation for the University of Utrecht (Netherlands), for ICCROM in Rome, Cairo and Amsterdam, and for the ICPS, London. Judith has given keynote addresses at research and policy conferences in Seoul, Jogjakarta, Antwerp, and Dresden on topics related to gender, conflict and governance.