Since the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan in August 2021, there have been growing calls by many Afghans, along with the international community, to protect the rights of women and girls. Questions remain about how Afghans want to see women’s rights protected. A...
Mentoring starts with how we ourselves act and move through our shared academic world. The more that each of us, particularly those in positions of relative power, can be honest and open about our own diverse identities, the more space we create for others to do the same.
This is a guest post by Philipp Schulz, who is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Institute for Intercultural and International Studies (InIIS) at the University of Bremen. Philipp’s research focuses...
Ah, the sweet time your baby becomes a toddler and maybe lets you sleep for more than 5 hours a night. Your teaching is sort of kind of on track, your scant article submissions get a steady number...
This World Politics in a Time of Populist Nationalism (WPTPN) guest post is written by Malliga Och and Jennifer M. Piscopo. Dr. Och (on Twitter @malligao) is an Assistant Professor in the Global Studies and Languages Department at Idaho State University. Her research focus on women’s political representation in conservative parties and she is the co-editor with Shauna Shames of The Right Women. Republican Activists, Candidates, and Legislators (forthcoming Praeger Press, 2017). Dr. Piscopo (on Twitter@Jennpiscopo) is Assistant Professor of Politics at Occidental College and a 2016-2017...
Pizzagate, the conspiracy theory started by alt-right Twitter which alleged that John Podesta's emails exposed some members of the Democratic party as being part of a DC pizzeria-based child-sex ring, has made its way into Russian social networks. Now some people are convinced of the existence of pedophile lobby that ‘rules’ the US, and believe that both ‘lamestream’ media and elites are trying to hush it up. As one Russian LiveJournal user puts it: its’ ‘American internet community versus pedophiles in politics’. Why do people believe that debunked conspiracy theory? Two reasons: the blood...
Rousseau once remarked that “It is, therefore, very certain that compassion is a natural sentiment, which, by moderating the activity of self-esteem in each individual, contributes to the mutual preservation of the whole species” (Discourses on Inequality). Indeed, it is compassion, and not “reason” that keeps this frail species progressing. Yet, this ability to be compassionate, which is by its very nature an other-regarding ability, is (ironically) the different side to the same coin: comparison. Comparison, or perhaps "reflection on certain relations" (e.g. small/big; hard/soft;...
I’ve been wanting to write a Duck post about the experience of a woman with visible minority status in IR for quite some time now. I was waiting for the right moment. So thanks to the American Political Science Association (APSA), the professional association for US-trained political scientists, the moment has come. Yesterday morning, an email came from a friend with a screenshot. The screenshot showed an attractive Asian woman in a frilly top who looks like she’s having a good time looking into the camera. I was confused. Then I read the blurb next to it: this was a promotion from...
Like most Canadian citizens, I was delighted to see the back end of our former Prime Minister Harper as he conceded defeat to the Liberal Party's Justin Trudeau. Although I've felt slightly disconnected watching both the campaign and the reaction to Trudeau's win from my home in Sydney, Australia, I've been fascinated by what arguably became one of the main campaign foci: Trudeau's hair. 'Hair' clearly stood in for much larger hang ups about Trudeau's appearance, masculinity, sexuality, and life choices. Both the gleeful memes celebrating Canada's 'hot' new Prime Minister (the National Post...
Over the past week, in reaction to the reports about the gender-integrated Marine study, I have seen plenty of pushback mostly against women who tweet but also some male tweeps that basically say: "civ? Of course." Which basically says that if you are civilian, you will have dumb opinions about the military. Kind of like today's NYPD message to the media that they cannot understand policing because they are not police. This is so wrong in so many ways. I will focus on the military side of things, but the problem is the same for police and other folks who think that only members of the...
It was with a distinct sinking feeling yesterday that I learnt that conference rooms for the EISA's upcoming 9th Pan-European Conference on International Relations have been renamed after eminent theorists of European origin and that there is not a single woman amongst those selected to be honored. A close reading of the conference program brought together the following list of names, which was posted on the Congrats, you have an all-male panel Tumblr: To add insult to injury, some conference rooms have retained their usual Italian names, so it's not even as though there wasn't space to...
It looks like the Obama administration has secured 42 votes for the Iran deal in the Senate, enough to filibuster even a vote, and despite today's machinations in the House, the Iran Deal will likely go through. Indeed, when Republicans agreed back in May to a review process that would require a super-majority in both chambers to overturn the deal, the die was already somewhat cast. Still, I'm thrilled that supporters have been able to hold the line in the face of a multi-million dollar campaign against the agreement. In the final days, we're seeing a surge in efforts to get views on the...