This website stores cookies on your computer. These cookies are used to collect information about how you interact with our website and allow us to remember your browser. We use this information to improve and customize your browsing experience, for analytics and metrics about our visitors both on this website and other media, and for marketing purposes. By using this website, you accept and agree to be bound by UVic’s Terms of Use and Protection of Privacy Policy.  If you do not agree to the above, you can configure your browser’s setting to “do not track.”

Skip to main content
People Departments Maps Buildings Rooms A-Z
University
of Victoria
Apply Library
Sign in Online tools Sign out
Political Science

Michael Carpenter

Michael Carpenter

Sessional instructor

Political Science

Contact:
Office: DTB A335
Credentials:
PhD (2017) UVic
Area(s) of expertise:
Comparative politics

Michael J. Carpenter received his PhD from the Department of Political Science at the University of Victoria in 2017. His dissertation focused on the theory and practice of civic struggle, also known as nonviolent direct action, civil resistance, and ‘people power,’ especially in the context of the Middle East, and Palestine in particular.

Michael’s research builds on the legacy of Gene Sharp, a pioneer in the practical study of nonviolent action, and draws heavily on Hannah Arendt’s conceptualization of power and James Tully’s work on nonviolent civic engagement.

This alternative approach to struggle has manifested in numerous social movements around the world and has demonstrated the potential to substitute for armed strategies and tactics in conflict settings.

Michael’s thesis explores the neglected question of how resistance movements organize. He argues that bottom-up, community-based forms of participation and decision-making are most conducive to effective and sustainable civic action.

He recently conducted research with a grassroots popular resistance movement in the occupied Palestinian territories (the West Bank), examining their methods of action and forms of organization through interviews, surveys, and embedded observation.

Teaching

Courses

Teaching Fall 2024

Teaching Spring 2025

Previously taught

  • POLI 309: Democracy and Disobedience
  • POLI 319: Protest and Change in the Middle East
  • POLI 323: Issues in Politics: Civil Disobedience in the Middle East
  • POLI 347: Discourses in World Politics
  • POLI 433: Issues in Politics: Borders and Migration (Seminar)