Resistance and Rebellion: Lessons from Eastern Europe explains how ordinary people become involved in resistance and rebellion against powerful regimes. The book shows how a sequence of casual forces - social norms, focal points, rational calculation - operate to drive individuals into roles of passive resistance and, at a second stage, into participation in community-based rebellion organization. By linking the operation of these mechanisms to observable social structures, the work generates predictions about which types of community and society are most likely to form and sustain resistance and rebellion. The empirical material centres around Lithuanian anti-Soviet resistance in both the 1940s and the 1987-1991 period. Using the Lithuanian experience as a baseline, comparisons with several other Eastern European countries demonstrate the breadth and depth of the theory. The book contributes to both the general literature on political violence and protest, as well as the theoretical literature on collective action.

罗杰•D.彼得森（Roger D. Petersen），麻省理工学院斯隆管理学院政治学副教授，芝加哥大学政治科学系博士毕业。彼得森主要研究领域为冲突和暴力、比较政治，特别关注的焦点主要是在东欧。他写了多本著作，包括有《抵抗和反叛：来自东欧的教训》（剑桥大学出版社2001年版）、《了解种族暴力：恐惧，仇恨和憎恶——20世纪的东欧》（剑桥大学出版社2002年版），和《在巴尔干半岛西部的干预：冲突的情感策略使用》（剑桥大学出版社2011年版）。彼得森主讲的课程涉及内战、族群政治和军民关系。