Category: News

Political Studies Review: a research-based interview project

Some researchers claim that “a key to accessible, interesting academic work is [a] conversational yet authoritative tone coupled with attention-getting titles, compelling openings, anecdotes and illustrations”[1]. We agree.

Our editorial team is committed to presenting and visualizing research data to boost dissemination and to reaching wider (including non-academic) audiences. We use different forms of communication to present research findings such as infographics and data animations. Some of our authors have also contributed to our excellent podcast series. But this time we would like to invite PSR authors to take part in our research-based interview project.

We believe that interviews are also a prominent form of research communication. It gives a space to discuss a research topic, article or research ideas in a less formal format.

To illustrate this idea, we have prepared some excellent examples:

If you’d decide to take part in this, here’s how it works. We will provide you with around 5 questions based on your article, research aims or ideas. You can answer them in writing, or by recording your answers and add any visual/graphical material you want to use to explain your point. The idea is that answers should be relatively brief, and provide readers or listeners with a flavour of your research. As with all our activity, we will promote this through social media for maximum exposure.

The idea is that answers should be relatively brief, and provide readers or listeners with a flavour of your research.

The outcome will be informative and accessible (published at psr.brunel.ac.uk) and will encourage readers to engage further with your article and wider research.

[1] Feature Essay: The road to academic success is paved with stylish academic writing, LSE Impact Blog, 20.05.2020, https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2012/05/20/the-road-to-academic-success-is-paved-with-stylish-academic-writing/

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“Against the background of a sense of crisis in the European Union and in international politics, European Union Member States have since 2016 increased their cooperation within the Common Security and Defence Policy, for example, establishing the European Defence Fund. Scholars have long pointed out that the European Union lacks the necessary ‘hard’ military power to influence international politics, subscribing to and constituting an image of the European Union as not masculine enough. We are critical of these accounts and develop a different argument” – says Dr Marijn Hoijtink. This podcast episode is based on a PSR article he co-authored with Dr Hanna L. Muehlenhoff: “The European Union as a Masculine Military Power: European Union Security and Defence Policy in ‘Times of Crisis’“

Dr Marijn Hoijtink is Assistant Professor in International Relations and International Security. Her research covers International Relations, critical security studies, and Science and Technology Studies, and focuses on the design, development, and global circulation of (new) security technologies and weapons.

Dr Hanna L. Muehlenhoff is Assistant Professor of European Studies with a focus on ‘Europe in the World’ at the Department of European Studies at the University of Amsterdam. Her research studies the European Union’s external relations from a feminist perspective, focusing on the EU’s women’s and LGBTQ rights promotion in Turkey and the EU’s security and defence policy.

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Podcast #8: Imagining the European Union: Gender and Digital Diplomacy in European External Relations – Katharine A. M. Wright

“The EU’s normative credentials were significantly shaken as a result of the 2007 financial crisis, this impact of which has been wide-reaching, cutting across the full spectrum of EU policy action and competence. As a result, the EU and its member states have been struggling to move from a reactive to a strategic mode of policy-making, turning what started as a financial crisis into a deep existential crisis about the very identity of the organisation. ” – listen to a podcast by Dr Katharine Wright based on a PSR article he co-authored with Prof. Roberta Guerrina: Imagining the European Union: Gender and Digital Diplomacy in European External Relations.

Dr Katharine A. M. Wright is Senior Lecturer in International Politics at Newcastle University. Her research and teaching focus on gender and security, including at NATO and in EU foreign and security policy.

Prof. Roberta Guerrina (Univeristy of Bristol) is an expert in EU gender politics and policies. She is interested in understanding the impact of gender (hierarchies) on key policy areas traditionally seen as gender neutral, such as Brexit, Security and Defence. 

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The whole issue 3/2020 can be found here.

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Did the digital divide get worse?

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Read a recent post by Ryan Shandler published in The Monkey Cage blog (The Washington Post).

The publication is based on a PSR article, that can be found under this link.


Podcast #6: Decolonising the Curriculum – Rima Saini and Neema Begum

“White, middle-class forms of knowledge are disproportionately valued over others. Working-class, female and academics of colour often find themselves struggling to ‘fit into’ the predominantly White, middle-class, heteronormative academic environment.” – Dr Neema Begum (University of Manchester) and Dr Rima Saini (Middlesex University London) speak about the need for the decolonisation of academia and political science, described in their article: Decolonising the Curriculum.

You can also read the PSA’s response by PSA former Chair, Prof. Angelia Wilson. Moreover, PSA Chair Prof. Roger Awan-Scully and Vice-Chair Prof. Claire Dunlop have recently published their statement on #BLM events in the US.

Dr Rima Saini is a Lecturer in Sociology ar Middlesex University London. She completed an MSc in Research Methods at City, the University of London in 2014 following a BA in Politics (SOAS), and an MA in Legal and Political Theory (UCL School of Public Policy). She completed a 3-year post as a City University of London Q-Step Ph.D. Teaching Fellow in the Department of Sociology in September 2017.

Dr Neema Begum is a political scientist researching ethnic minority voting, political participation and representation. Neema is a Research Associate at the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) working on Politics, Representation and Ethnic Minorities. 

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Podcast #4: Donald Trump and right-wing populism – Daniel Béland

“Since he entered the race for the White House in June 2015, the politics of insecurity has also become a central aspect of Donald J. Trump’s populist discourse about how to ‘Make America Great Again’. Key to this discourse is the idea of building a wall on the US–Mexico border to protect the country against irregular migrants, who are described as a criminological and national security threat”- the fourth episode of our PSR 140-sec short podcast series by Professor Daniel Béland. The author speaks about his article: Right-Wing Populism and the Politics of Insecurity: How President Trump Frames Migrants as Collective Threats.

Daniel Béland – James McGill Professor; Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC) .

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