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Virginia Tilley (born 1953) is an American political scientist specialising in the comparative study of ethnic and racial conflict. She is Professor of Political Science at
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU or SIUC) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Founded in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. The university enrolls students from all 50 s ...
in the US.


Background

Tilley's grandfather was the early filmmaker W.H. Tilley. Her parents were English professor Wesley H. Tilley, Jr. and Barbara. She has two siblings, John and Susan. She grew up in Gainesville, Florida, Davidson, North Carolina, Decatur, Illinois, New York and Absecon, New Jersey. In her youth she developed a keen interest in science fiction and in the natural sciences, especially animal behavior.


Career

Tilley received her BA in Political Science from
Antioch College Antioch College is a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1852 as a non-sectarian institution; politician and education reformer Horace Mann was its f ...
(1986) and an MA from the Centre for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown (1988). She completed an MA and PhD in Political Science at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
(1997), where she studied comparative politics and theories of ethnic, racial and national identities under Professor
M. Crawford Young Merwin Crawford Young (November 7, 1931 – January 22, 2020) was an American political scientist and professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Education He received his Bachelor of Arts, B.A. from the University of Michigan and his PhD ...
and international relations theory under Professors Michael Barnett and Emanuel Adler. After finishing her MA in Arab Studies at Georgetown, she served as Assistant Director of the International Organisation for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (EAFORD) in Washington DC, where she developed a second field in the politics of indigenous peoples. This interest led her to focus her doctoral dissertation on the politics of 'being Indian' or indigeneity in Latin America, published in 2005 as ''Seeing Indians: A Study of Race, Nation and Power in El Salvador'' (University of New Mexico Press). In 1997, Tilley joined the Department of Political Science at
Hobart and William Smith Colleges Hobart and William Smith Colleges are Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts colleges in Geneva, New York. They trace their origins to Geneva Academy established in 1797. Students can choose from 45 maj ...
(HWS) where she taught courses on Latin American politics, the politics of development, and Middle East politics, as well as introductory courses on international relations and comparative politics and senior seminars on comparative racial and ethnic conflict. With Professor Kevin Dunn, she developed the International Relations Major and served as Co-coordinator, and for several years led the Development Studies minor. She was appointed as Associate Professor in 2003 but in 2005 took leave to conduct research in South Africa, initially at the Centre for Policy Studies in Johannesburg. In 2006, Tilley went on extended leave from HWS to assume a senior post at the
Human Sciences Research Council (South Africa) The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of South Africa is Africa's largest dedicated social science and humanities research agency and policy think tank. It primarily conducts large-scale, policy-relevant, social-scientific projects for publi ...
(HSRC), where she conducted studies of South Africa's transition from apartheid to democracy, with special projects on poverty alleviation and rural development. In 2011, she left South Africa to serve as Director of Governance Studies at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. In 2014, she returned to the United States to assume the position of Chair of Political Science at
Southern Illinois University Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU or SIUC) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Founded in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. The university enrolls students from all 50 s ...
. In June 2016, she stepped down as chair and continues at SIUC as tenured full professor.


Research

Tilley has adopted a critical position regarding the Middle East peace process and has authored several articles and opinion pieces criticizing Israel's occupation policies. In her first book on the topic, ''The One-State Solution'' (2005, University of Michigan Press), she argued that Israel's settlements in the West Bank have made a two-state solution obsolete. In her second book, she edited a co-authored study, commissioned by the South African Government and conducted at the HSRC, which found that Israeli policies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are consistent with colonialism and apartheid as these regimes are codified in international law. Released initially in 2009, this study was later published in 2012 by Pluto Press under the title ''Beyond Occupation: Apartheid, Colonialism and International Law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories''. Tilley has also specialized in the global comparative politics of settler colonialism and indigenous peoples. Her book on Salvadoran indigenous identity, titled ''Seeing Indians: A Study of Race, Nation and Power in El Salvador'', was published by the University of New Mexico Press in 2005. She has also published or co-authored a series of policy briefs on economic development strategies in post-apartheid South Africa and on nation-building in Fiji and other small island states in the south Pacific.


ESCWA report withdrawal

Tilley co-authored with
Richard Falk Richard Anderson Falk (born November 13, 1930) is an American professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, and Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor's Chairman of the Board of Trustees. In 2004, he was listed as the autho ...
a report on
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
released in March 2017 by the
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA; ar, الإسكوا) is one of five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The role of the Commission is to promote e ...
(ESCWA), which accused Israel of racism and apartheid. This report sought to answer the question of whether Israel has established an apartheid system with regards to its relations with Palestinians inside and outside its borders. In this report, Tilley and Falk charged: "By developing discrete bodies of law… for each territory and their Palestinian populations Israel has both effected and veiled a comprehensive policy of apartheid directed at the whole Palestinian people." The pair went on to state that "Israel has exploited this fragmentation to secure Jewish national-domination." The report was strongly condemned by the United States citing anti-Israel bias; Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman likened the report to ''
Der Stürmer ''Der Stürmer'' (, literally "The Stormer / Attacker / Striker") was a weekly German tabloid-format newspaper published from 1923 to the end of the Second World War by Julius Streicher, the ''Gauleiter'' of Franconia, with brief suspensions ...
'', the anti-Semitic Nazi publication. The
World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as ...
responded the report by calling it "propaganda". The
Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...
(ADL) called the report "hostile and biased". ADL described the authors as having "a demonstrable track record of hostility toward Israel." UN Secretary-General
António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Socia ...
distanced himself from the report, which he stated had been released without authorization, and ordered its removal from the ESCWA website. ESCWA Executive Secretary
Rima Khalaf Rima Khalaf Hunaidi ( ar, ريما خلف; born 1953, in Kuwait) is a national of Jordan who served as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) from 2010 to 2017. She resigned from this po ...
resigned in protest of the Secretary-General's order.


Awards

* ''Seeing Indians'' chosen as book of the year by the 2006 Congress of Central American Anthropologists * 1999 Prize for the best English language article from the Congress on Latin American History, with Prof. Erik Ching.


Selected articles

* * * * * "The Generation of Ethnic Conflict by the International System". In Cris Toffolo, ed.
''Emancipating Cultural Pluralism''
SUNY Press, 2002. * * * *


References


External links



Virginia Tilley's science fiction stories and artwork
Unpetrified Opinion
Virginia Tilley's blog
UN ESCWA report accusing Israel of apartheid
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tilley, Virginia 1953 births Living people American women political scientists American political scientists Antioch College alumni Georgetown University alumni Hobart and William Smith Colleges faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni University of the South Pacific faculty Southern Illinois University Carbondale faculty American women academics 21st-century American women