Reconceptualizing resistance organizations and outcomes: Introducing the Revolutionary and Militant Organizations dataset (REVMOD)
| Date | 01 September 2019 |
| Author | Benjamin Acosta |
| DOI | 10.1177/0022343319835888 |
| Published date | 01 September 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Special Data Features |
Special Data Feature
Reconceptualizing resistance organizations
and outcomes: Introducing
the Revolutionary and Militant
Organizations dataset (REVMOD)
Benjamin Acosta
DataHalfLife.Com
Abstract
In recent years, scholars of various forms of conflict involving revolutionary and militant organizations (such as
terrorism, civil war, and nonviolent contestation) recognized that arbitrary organizational categories and typol-
ogies often leave large-N studies incomplete and biased. In moving away from nominal categorical boundaries
that produce such selection biases and looking to a more generalized conception of resistance organizations, I
constructed an original dataset that aims to bridge the gap between conflict literatures. Transcending tradi-
tional classifications, the Revolutionary and Militant Organizations dataset (REVMOD) consists of over 500
resistance organizations operative sometime between the years 1940 and 2014 and includes a diverse array of
types of resistance organizations – many of which utilize a multitude of tactics, operate in various conflict
contexts, and/or confront numerous target types. The dataset documents organizational attributes, allies, and
adversaries at annual intervals (organization-years), making reliable time-series analyses possible. Tracking
variables like organizational outcome-goal type and degree of achievement, political capacity, leader/s, consti-
tuent identity group, violence and demonstration levels, size, organization aliases, and several others,
REVMOD breaks new ground in the collection of information on resistance organizations and can spur
countless studies. A preliminary data analysis demonstrates that differences in organizational political capacity
explain variation in resistance outcomes generally and in particular contexts such as civil war, terrorism, and
nonviolent revolutions. REVMOD provides a unique opportunity to develop a new research paradigm for
resistance studies that employs large-N empirical analyses to uncover generalities between different forms of
political contention in the contemporary era, as well as to better understand why and how distinct resistance
processes may produce specific outcomes.
Keywords
conflict outcomes, dataset, resistance organizations, resistance studies
Research on civil war, terrorism, nonviolent contesta-
tion, and revolution commonly focus on the endeavors
of non-state actors to resist and change the political sta-
tus quo or resist and counter attempts to undo an exist-
ing system. In recent years, conflict scholars recognized
that arbitrary organizational categories often leave large-
N studies incomplete and biased. Looking to a more
generalized conception of resistance organizations,Icon-
structed an original dataset that aims to bridge the gap
between conflict literatures. Transcending traditional
classifications, the Revolutionary and Militant Organiza-
tions dataset (REVMOD) consists of over 500 resistance
organizations operative sometime between the years
1940 and 2014 and includes a diverse array of types of
resistance organizations – many of which use a multitude
of tactics, operate in various conflict contexts, and/or
Corresponding author:
binyaminacosta@gmail.com
Journal of Peace Research
2019, Vol. 56(5) 724–734
ªThe Author(s) 2019
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/0022343319835888
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