Laia Balcells is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Duke University and served as a Visiting Associate Research Scholar at the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance at Princeton University from September 2015 to July 2016. She earned a B.A. in Political Science from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, M.A. in Social Sciences from the Center for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences at the Juan March Institute, and B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University.

Professor Balcells researches the factors influencing political violence and civil wars, warfare dynamics during conflict, and redistribution and conflict with an emphasis on Spain.

Representative Publications

Balcells, Laia, and Abbey Steele. “Warfare, Political Identities, and Displacement in Spain and Colombia.” Political Geography 51 (2016): 15-29.

Fernández‐Albertos, José, Alexander Kuo, and Laia Balcells. “Economic Crisis, Globalization, and Partisan Bias: Evidence from Spain.” International Studies Quarterly 57.4 (2013): 804-816.

Balcells, Laia. “Continuation of Politics by Two Means: Direct and Indirect Violence in Civil War.”Journal of Conflict Resolution 55.3 (2011): 397-422.