Mohammad Ali Kadivar is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and International Studies. His work contributes to political and comparative-historical sociology by exploring the interaction between protest movements and democratization. Kadivar has examined both the internal organization, tactics, and perceptions of pro-democracy movements as well as their success or failure in gaining and sustaining democratic improvements.

This work grows out of his experience as a participant-observer of the pro-democracy movement in Iran, but his research agenda moves outward from this case to explore these issues on a global scale, using case studies, comparative-historical methods, and statistical analyses.

Kadivar’s research has been published in the American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Socius, and Mobilization, and he has also published analyses of Iranian politics for public audience in English and Farsi in outlets such as Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog and BBC Persian.