Violent Backlash to Political Reform: Evidence from Anti-Jewish Pogroms in 1905 Russian Revolution 

Please join the Harriman Institute for a lecture by Scott Gehlbach. Moderated by Timothy Frye.
Local violence often accompanies moments of momentous political change, as feelings of political threat intersect with preexisting prejudice. In this talk, Scott Gehlbach will examine the relationship between such violence and demographics during the 1905 Russian Revolution, which triggered numerous anti-Jewish pogroms. Often, scholars explain the sharp increase in pogroms after October 1905 by ethnoreligious polarization, but this study shows that the patterns of pogroms are better explained with the Esteban-Ray model of conflict: the political reform instituted by the October Manifesto altered the distribution of benefits in the Russian society.