Jessica Steinberg

Jessica Steinberg is an Associate Professor in the Department of International Studies at the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, Indiana University Bloomington. She is also the Director of the Environment and Natural Resource Governance Program at the Ostrom Workshop, reflecting her interdisciplinary engagement with governance and environmental policy.

• Ph.D. in Political Science, University of Michigan, 2014
• M.A. in Political Science, University of Michigan, 2011
• B.A., Stanford University, 2006

Her research focuses on the political economy of development, particularly in regions of limited state presence. She investigates how natural resource extraction, state capacity, and violent conflict intersect, with a regional focus on Africa. Her work employs a mixed-methods approach, combining game theory, statistical analysis, and extensive fieldwork in countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Senegal. She is especially interested in how local communities interact with states and multinational firms in resource-rich areas, and how common-pool resource management affects post-conflict stability.

Her publications span leading journals including the American Political Science Review, Annual Review of Political Science, and Political Geography. Her work shows a consistent trend in analyzing governance under weak statehood, strategic repression, and environmental politics, particularly forestry and mining governance in conflict-affected regions.

• Mines, Communities, and States: The Local Politics of Natural Resource Extraction in Africa (Cambridge University Press, 2019)
• 'Strong' states and strategic governance (Journal of Theoretical Politics, 2018)
• Protecting the capital? On African geographies of protest escalation and repression (Political Geography, 2018)

She advises graduate students and leads research initiatives through the Ostrom Workshop, where she directs a program focused on environmental and natural resource governance. Though specific grants are not listed, her fieldwork and publication record suggest active external funding. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges political science, environmental studies, and development policy.

She is actively involved in research and teaching at IU Bloomington and contributes to academic discourse through high-impact publications and program leadership. Her work continues to explore the role of environmental governance in promoting local stability in fragile contexts.