Books By David D. (The James T. Watkins IV and Elise V. Watkins Professor of Political Science, Stanford University) Laitin - Author

David D. Laitin was born in Brooklyn, New York. He received his BA from Swarthmore College, and his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley, working under the direction of Ernst Haas and Hanna Pitkin. As a student of comparative politics, he has conducted field research in Somalia, Yorubaland, Catalonia and Estonia, working on issues of language and religion, and how these cultural phenomena link nation to state. His books include "Politics, Language and Thought: The Somali Experience", "Hegemony and Culture: Politics and Religious Change Among the Yoruba", and "Identity in Formation: The Russian-Speaking Populations in the Near Abroad". Most recently, in collaboration with James Fearon, he has published two papers in the "American Political Science Review" on ethnicity, ethnic cooperation, and the sources of civil war.