Alan Keenan

Region of Interest	South Asia
Primary Country of Residence	United States of America
Title	Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science
Affiliation	Bryn Mawr College
Email	ajkeenan@brynmawr.edu
Mailing Address	Department of Political Science Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr PA 19010-2899 USA
Phone/Fax Number(s)	phone: 610-527-1336 fax: 610-526-7475
Websites	http://www.brynmawr.edu/peacestudies/faculty/Keenan/keenan.html
Countries of Specialization	Sri Lanka
Education	PhD in political theory from the Johns Hopkins University
Research Interests	Field research, sponsored by a postdoctoral fellowship from the University of Pennsylvania's Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict, focused on the work of Sri Lankan human rights groups and other local "civil society" organizations and the role their efforts played in attempts to bring about a negotiated settlement to Sri Lanka's two decade old war. Presently working on a book manuscript that examines the complex politics of human rights in Sri Lanka, with particular focus on the difficult relations between the discourses of "human rights" and of "conflict resolution."
Teaching Interests	Teach courses on human rights, conflict, democratization, and transitional justice. Taught political, legal, and social theory at the Universities of California at Berkeley and at Santa Cruz
Publications	"Democracy in Question: Democratic Openness in a Time of Political Closure" (Stanford Univ. Press, 2003) "Human Rights and Sacred Cows: Framing Violence, Disappearing Struggles," co-authored with Vasuki Nesiah, forthcoming in Neve Gordon, ed., Human Rights from the Margins: Critical Interventions from Around the Globe, (New York: Lexington Books, 2004). "Building a Democratic Middle-Ground: Professional Civil Society and the Politics of Human Rights in Sri Lanka's Peace Process," forthcoming in Jeff Helsing and Julie Mertus, eds., Human Rights and Conflict: New Actors, Strategies and Ethical Dilemmas (Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2005). "'Is Past Past?': The Question of Transitional Justice in Sri Lankan Human Rights Education," co-authored with Sophia Elek, a report commissioned by The International Center for Transitional Justice (New York: ICTJ, June 2003). "Democratizing Human Rights, Strengthening Peace: Sri Lanka's Historic Challenge," Tamil Times (London) Vol. XXII, No. 3, (March 15, 2003).
Keywords	human rights ; civil society ; conflict resolution ; ...