Richard Nielsen

Richard Nielsen

Associate Professor of Political Science

E53-455

Biography

Richard Nielsen is an Associate Professor of Political Science at MIT. He completed his PhD (Government) and AM (Statistics) at Harvard University, and holds a BA from Brigham Young University. His first book, Deadly Clerics: Blocked Ambition and the Paths to Jihad (Cambridge University Press, 2017) uses statistical text analysis and fieldwork in Cairo mosques to understand the radicalization of jihadi clerics in the Arab world. Nielsen also writes on international law, the political economy of human rights, political violence, and political methodology. Some of this work is published or forthcoming in The American Journal of Political Science, International Studies Quarterly, Political Analysis, and Sociological Methods and Research. His research has been supported by an Andrew Carnegie fellowship, the National Science Foundation, the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, and the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

Website

CV

Teaching

  • 17.41
    Introduction to International Relations
  • 17.568
    Comparative Politics and International Relations of the Middle East

Selected Publications

Richard Nielsen, “Religious Fieldwork for International Relations Scholars,” International Studies Review, 2023

Richard Nielsen, “The Rise and Impact of Muslim Women Preaching Online,” in Melani Cammett and Pauline Jones, eds., Oxford Handbook of Politics in Muslim Societies (New York: Oxford University Press, 2022)

Richard Nielsen, “COVID-19 and Fieldwork: Challenges and Solutions,” PS: Political Science & Politics Vol. 53, No. 2 (April 2021) (With Peter Krause et al.)

Richard Nielsen, “Women’s Authority in Patriarchal Social Movements: The Case of Female Salafi Preachers,” American Journal of Political Science Vol. 64, No. 1 (2020)

Richard Nielsen, “Adjusting for Confounding with Text Matching,” American Journal of Political Science Vol. 65, No. 4 (2020) (With Margaret Roberts and Brandon Stewart)

Richard Nielsen, “Recite! Interpretive Fieldwork for Positivists,” in Peter Krause and Ora Szekely, eds., Stories from the Fields: A Guide to Navigating Fieldwork in Political Science (New York: Columbia University Press, 2020)

Richard Nielsen, “Statistical Matching with Time-Series Cross-Sectional Data: Magic, Malfeasance, or Something in Between?” in Luigi Curini and Robert Franzese, eds., The SAGE Handbook of Research Methods in Political Science and International Relations (Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage, 2020)

Richard Nielsen, “What Counting Words Can Teach Us About Middle East Politics,” MENA Politics Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 2 (Fall 2019) 

Richard Nielsen, “Baghdadi’s Martyrdom Bump,” Foreign Policy, October 29, 2019 (With Santiago Segarra and Ali Jadbabaie)

Richard Nielsen, “Why Propensity Scores Should Not Be Used for Matching,” Political Analysis Vol. 27, No. 4 (2019) (With Gary King)

Richard Nielsen, “Women will soon be issuing fatwas in Saudi Arabia. This isn't as groundbreaking as you'd think,” Washington Post Monkey Cage, October 10, 2017

For a complete list of publications

Books

  • Deadly Clerics cover

    Deadly Clerics: Blocked Ambition and the Paths to Jihad

    Richard A. Nielsen

    Cambridge University Press, 2017

    Abstract from Cambridge University Press

    Deadly Clerics explains why some Muslim clerics adopt the ideology of militant jihadism while most do not. The book explores multiple pathways of cleric radicalization and shows that the interplay of academic, religious, and political institutions has influenced the rise of modern jihadism through a mechanism of blocked ambition. As long as clerics' academic ambitions remain attainable, they are unlikely to espouse violent jihad. Clerics who are forced out of academia are more likely to turn to jihad for two reasons: jihadist ideas are attractive to those who see the system as turning against them, and preaching a jihad ideology can help these outsider clerics attract supporters and funds. The book draws on evidence from various sources, including large-scale statistical analysis of texts and network data obtained from the Internet, case studies of clerics' lives, and ethnographic participant observations at sites in Cairo, Egypt.

     

Media

Podcasts

Research on Religion Podcast: "Richard Nielsen on Deadly Clerics," Baylor Institute for the Study of Religion, May 6, 2018.

Commentary

"Baghdadi’s Martyrdom Bump: Killing the Islamic State leader will not kill his ideas," Foreign Policy, October 29, 2019. With Santiago Segarra and Ali Jadbabaie

"Women will soon be issuing fatwas in Saudi Arabia: this isn't as groundbreaking as you'd think," Washington Post Monkey Cage, October 10, 2017.

Press

"With increasing authority, women are gaining space while preaching Islam on the internet," KSUSentinel.com, February 1, 2021, interview with Rich Neilsen.

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