Biography
I am a Lecturer in International Security, returning to Global Studies after a period as a Research Fellow at the Centre for Women, Peace and Security at the London School of Economics and Political Science. For the 2018/19 academic year I am also the MA Director for International Relations.
My research focuses predominantly on feminist and gender theories of sexual violence, and the various ways in which the body is understood as becoming a weapon in wartime. My work has also examined international and national government responses to gender violence as pursued through the Women, Peace and Security agenda, particularly the UK's Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative. This more policy-curious work includes several ongoing collaborations with Professor Laura Shepherd at the University of Sydney. Other recent publications have focused on pop culture and the politics of fantasy; gendered attributions of responsibility for violence; violent masculinities; critical pedagogy; and critical war and security studies. I also take a close interest in arguments about opening up academic research culture for a wider public, one product of which is a guide to 'Open Access in the Social Sciences'.
I was previously a co-editor of the European Journal of International Relations (2014-2015), one of three editors of Millennium: Journal of International Studies (Volume 39, 2010-2011), co-editor with Marsha Henry of a special issue of International Feminist Journal of Politics on the topic of 'Rethinking Masculinities and Practices of Violence in Conflict Settings' (published in December 2012), and most recently with Laura Shepherd co-editor of a special issue of International Affairs marking the 15 years since UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which inaugurated the Women, Peace and Security agenda (published in March 2016). I am currently editor, again with Laura Shepherd, of the LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security Working Paper Series.
Role
Lecturer in International Security
MA Director
Member, Centre for Advanced International Theory
Member, Sussex Centre for Conflict and Security Research
Member, Centre for Gender Studies