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Peter Dixon, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Practice

Peter Dixon is an Associate Professor of Practice in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University. He received his PhD in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2015. In his research, Dr. Dixon uses mixed methodologies to understand how local knowledge can influence transformative solutions toward peace and justice in conflict-affected communities.

Currently, he is researching community-based transitional justice in Colombia and bottom-up approaches to public safety and restorative justice in urban America. He has received support for this work from foundations including the National Science Foundation, United States Institute of Peace, Inter-American Foundation, and Humanity United. His writing has been published in journals including the International Journal of Transitional Justice, the Journal of Human Rights Practice, and Law and Social Inquiry, and in a number of edited volumes.

Dr. Dixon collaborates with diverse organizations in his work, always with the goal of making his research useful for addressing social problems and respectful of the communities who these problems ultimately affect. As a former evaluation specialist at the United Nations in New York and at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, he also continues to support international organizations on monitoring, evaluation and strategy. He serves on the Boards of the NGO Everyday Peace Indicators and the Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation at Middlebury College. He is also a Faculty Affiliate at the University of California Berkeley Possibility Lab and fellow of the Salzburg Seminar.

Education

PhD in Sociology, University of California Berkeley
MA in Sociology, University of California Berkeley
BA in Sociology, Middlebury College

Publications

2023. “The Paradox of Justice: From Transitional to Everyday Justice.” Law and Social Inquiry. With Pamina Firchow and Fiorella Vera-Adrianzén.
2023. “Reimagining Public Safety: Defining ‘Community in Participatory Research.” Law and Social Inquiry. With Naomi Levy and Amy Lerman.
2022. “Images and indicators: mixing participatory methods to build inclusive rigour.” Action Research Journal. With Tiffany Fairey and Pamina Firchow.
2022. “Collective Justice: Ex-Combatants and Community Reparations in Colombia.” Journal of Human Rights Practice. With Pamina Firchow.
2022. “Opinion: To build peace in war-torn Colombia, we need to think smaller.” DevEx. With Alejandro Castillejo Cuéllar and Pamina Firchow.