Janjira Sombatpoonsiri is currently Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University, Thailand, where she teaches violence and nonviolence in politics, peace and conflict studies, international relations theories, and international security.

Her research has focused on the politics of nonviolent action and pro-democracy social movements. Her dissertation-turned-book is Humor and Nonviolent Struggle in Serbia (New York: Syracuse University Press, 2015). The modified Thai version of this book – published by Matichon Publishing – includes the case of the Thai pro-democracy group ‘Red Sunday’ and Poland’s ‘Orange Alternative.’ In addition, she has published journal articles in Global Change, Peace & Security, Journal of Peace & Policy, Journal of Resistance Studies, Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs, and Asian Journal of Peace Building, and several book chapters. Her research exploring issues such as new civic activism and civic networks against democracy in Thailand is currently supported by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She has also published op-eds in Matichon newspaper (in Thai), 101.com (in Thai), Opendemocracy.org, and The Conversation Global.

She served as the co-Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Peace Research Association (APPRA) in 2014-2017, and she is currently a board committee for International Peace Research Foundation (IPRAF). She has been a member of academic journals’ editorial board such as Asian Political & Policy Journal, Journal of Resistance Studies and Journal of South Asian Studies. She was a research fellow at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advanced Study and the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses in India.