Sheena Chestnut Greitens – författare

Politics of the North Korean Diaspora examines how authoritarian security concerns shape global diaspora politics. Empirically, it traces the recent emergence of a North Korean diaspora - a globally-dispersed population of North Korean émigrés - and argues that the non-democratic nature of the DPRK homeland regime fundamentally shapes diasporic politics. Pyongyang perceives the diaspora as a threat to regime security, and attempts to dissuade emigration, de-legitimate diasporic voices, and deter or disrupt diasporic political activity, including through extraterritorial violence and transnational repression. This, in turn, shapes the North Korean diaspora's perceptions of citizenship and patterns of diasporic political engagement: North Korean émigrés have internalized many host country norms, particularly the civil and participatory dimensions of democratic citizenship, and émigrés have played important roles in both host-country and global politics. This Element provides new empirical evidence on the North Korean diaspora; demonstrates that regime type is an important, understudied factor shaping transnational and diasporic politics; and contributes to our understanding of comparative authoritarianism's global impact.

Politics of the North Korean Diaspora examines how authoritarian security concerns shape global diaspora politics. Empirically, it traces the recent emergence of a North Korean diaspora - a globally-dispersed population of North Korean émigrés - and argues that the non-democratic nature of the DPRK homeland regime fundamentally shapes diasporic politics. Pyongyang perceives the diaspora as a threat to regime security, and attempts to dissuade emigration, de-legitimate diasporic voices, and deter or disrupt diasporic political activity, including through extraterritorial violence and transnational repression. This, in turn, shapes the North Korean diaspora's perceptions of citizenship and patterns of diasporic political engagement: North Korean émigrés have internalized many host country norms, particularly the civil and participatory dimensions of democratic citizenship, and émigrés have played important roles in both host-country and global politics. This Element provides new empirical evidence on the North Korean diaspora; demonstrates that regime type is an important, understudied factor shaping transnational and diasporic politics; and contributes to our understanding of comparative authoritarianism's global impact.

How do dictators stay in power? When, and how, do they use repression to do so? Dictators and their Secret Police explores the role of the coercive apparatus under authoritarian rule in Asia - how these secret organizations originated, how they operated, and how their violence affected ordinary citizens. Greitens argues that autocrats face a coercive dilemma: whether to create internal security forces designed to manage popular mobilization, or defend against potential coup. Violence against civilians, she suggests, is a byproduct of their attempt to resolve this dilemma. Drawing on a wealth of new historical evidence, this book challenges conventional wisdom on dictatorship: what autocrats are threatened by, how they respond, and how this affects the lives and security of the millions under their rule. It offers an unprecedented view into the use of surveillance, coercion, and violence, and sheds new light on the institutional and social foundations of authoritarian power.