Voices: The EISA Podcast

In this episode, we are joined by Noam Leshem (Durham University) to discuss his new book Edges of Care: Living and Dying in No Man’s Land. Noam Leshem explores the spatial politics of abandonment, highlighting how marginalised communities – like the Israeli Black Panthers fought against systemic discrimination faced by Mizrahi Jews in the 1970s united with marginalised Palestinians - found moments of solidarity in shared struggles against state neglect. Noam Leshem is associate professor of Political Geography at Durham University where he works closely with communities grappling with the impacts of violent conflict, emphasising creative methods and innovative collaborations. He is the current holder of a large grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK looking at the ability of displaced communities to determine the fate of cultural heritage collections when they are denied access to ancestral land that includes collaborations with museums and cultural institutions in the UK and Palestine. This project emerges out of earlier research focused on Arab urban space in Israel after the 1948 War that was the subject of his first book, Life After Ruin: The Struggles over Israel’s Depopulated Arab Spaces published by Cambridge University Press. Tune in to learn more about Noam Leshem’s unique perspective on resilience, radical uncaring, and the possibilities for political imagination in forgotten places.

In this episode, we are joined by Iosif Kovras, winner of the 2024 EISA Best Article in the European Journal of International Relations (EJIR) Award, who explores the transformative role of forensic technologies in reshaping how societies confront their violent pasts. Iosif Kovras, an Associate Professor in the Department of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cyprus, and a leading voice in the fields of comparative transitional justice and human rights, focuses on questions of accountability, transitional justice, and the pursuit of truth in post-conflict settings. His current research explores the logic of the crime of disappearances in repressive and (post)conflict settings and is funded by a European Research Council Consolidator Grant. His extensive research agenda spans policies of accountability in post-conflict societies, the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, and the complexities of enforced disappearances in repressive and conflict-ridden contexts. His forthcoming book, Accountability after Economic Crisis (Oxford University Press), examines how nations tackled the fallout of the 2008 financial meltdown through prosecutions, inquiries, and public apologies. Tune in to learn about groundbreaking insights from Kovras’s research on forensic technologies’ role in transnational justice mechanisms, how these technologies are driving societal reckoning, and the challenges of achieving justice and recognition.

What are the politics of human mobility through the lenses of visibility and invisibility? What does it mean for movement to be seen - or unseen - and who controls that? Joining us in this episode is Anna Finiguerra (King’s College London), whose Phd thesis “Ecologies of Visibility: Assembling the Politics of Mobility through Multiple Practices of Knowledge Production” won this year’s EISA best dissertation award. Anna Finiguerra’s research rethinks traditional frameworks of (in)visibility in studies on migration by examining events like the construction of the Gateway to Europe and migrant self-narration at the same site. Her work challenges traditional perspectives on how knowledge about migration is generated and how it is rendered visible and opaque in fundamentally different ways than if we were only to consider migration in terms of borders, and checkpoints. Anna Finiguerra, now a Postdoctoral Research Associate on the ESRC-funded project "Practice, Assemblage, and Emergence in the Governance of Freight Shipping" at King’s College London, brings a unique perspective informed by her work on mobility, materiality, and knowledge.

Dependency Theory provides a crucial framework for understanding the persistent inequalities shaping our global society which extend beyond borders, influence global conflicts, financial systems, and work at the intersections of gendered and racialised oppression. In this episode, Dr Felipe Antunes de Oliveira (Queen Mary University of London) is in conversation with host Judith Koch (University of Sussex) to discuss Dependency Theory which is rooted in Latin American thought. Felipe's unique dual perspective as a scholar of Latin American Political Economy and International Relations Theory on the one hand, and as a career diplomat on the other hand deeply informs his critical approach to development discourses. Felipe worked at the Department of South American Politics of the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations from 2012 until 2014, he acted as advisor to the Brazilian Executive Director at the IMF from 2019 to 2020, and is currently on a secondment to the Brazilian Ministry of Finance working as Coordinator General of International Economic Cooperation. His latest book, "Dependency and Crisis in Brazil and Argentina: A Critique of Market and State Utopias" (2024, University of Pittsburgh Press) proposes a way to overcome the problematic binary distinction between development and underdevelopment. Join us for a thought-provoking conversation!

Since South Africa brought the case of applying the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 29 December 2023, the topic of genocide has re-entered both popular and scholarly debates. How is genocide comprehended - or rather, misunderstood - within International Relations, and as a legal concept? In this episode Jo Bluen, educator, writer, and PhD researcher (University of Cape town & London School of Economics) is in conversation with Polly Pallister-Wilkins (University of Amsterdam). Jo Bluen explores the multifaceted interpretations and political ramifications of genocide, highlighting the inherent inadequacies of legal structures in fully grasping the complexity of genocidal violence. Arguing for a critical reassessment of our perception of genocide as a systemic issue, Jo Bluen challenges the traditional paradigms of International Relations rooted in colonial modernity, a history deeply intertwined with acts of genocide. The episode further delves into the nuances of intentionality, practices, and complicity behind genocidal acts, and offers a curated selection of essential readings. Tune in to this timely episode for a compelling exploration of one of the most pressing issues of our time.

This episode delves into the dynamics of institutional power and explores the implications when power in transnational orders, such as the EU, undergoes de-institutionalisation. Professor Jonathan White´s (LSE) article “The De-institutionalisation of Power beyond the State” which has been awarded the EISA`s Best Article in EJIR 2023, introduces a groundbreaking perspective on the normative consequences of informality in global politics. In conversation with Host Polly Pallister-Wilkins, Prof. Jonathan White explains how recent crisis politics has shifted the balance, with individuals and their networks reshaping institutions. He argues that informal diplomacy, such as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen´s “WhatsApp diplomacy” during the Covid-19 pandemic undermines accountability in power dynamics, shedding light on its broader implications for governance and, notably, sovereignty. Rather than acclaimed as flexible problem-solving, the step back from institutions should be viewed as a challenge to accountable rule. Tune in to this compelling first episode of the new year!

This episode introduces the new EISA "Voices in International Relations" book series, published with Oxford University Press (OUP). Professor Debbie Lisle (Queen's University Belfast), and series editor of the EISA/OUP book series talks us through EISA´s new initiative that seeks to further the contours of IR by going beyond the conventional boundaries of the field. In conversation with our new host, Polly Pallister-Wilkins (University of Amsterdam), Debbie Lisle elucidates the new book series´ mission to foster innovative scholarship that not only broadens discussions on key IR debates but also reimagines and challenges the discipline itself. Bridging gaps with sociology, history, anthropology, geography, economics, political theory, and law, "Voices in International Relations" is also committed to furthering diversity and inclusion in terms of authorship, location, topics and approaches from both inside and outside Europe. But there's more: Debbie Lisle shares the hidden gems of academic book publishing. Uncovering the academic book publishing process - from crafting a compelling book proposal to writing an original introduction - this episode uncovers the key elements that make academic book proposals truly stand out amid tough competition. Join us in this episode on the importance of thinking beyond the ordinary in academic book publishing.

The Covid 19 Pandemic highlighted, once again, the importance of sharing scientific knowledge about deceases internationally. What are the hurdles to sharing information about the nature of a deadly virus in a timely manner, and how can they be overcome? How does knowledge gathered in medical laboratories become a matter of global politics? In this episode, Professor Stefan Elbe (University of Sussex) addresses these questions through his article “Bioinformational Diplomacy: Global Health Emergencies, Data Sharing and Sequential Life”, which won the EISA’s Best Article in the European Journal of International Relations (EJIR) Award in 2022. We discuss Professor Elbe’s cross-disciplinary research linking IR and the life sciences, the political value of laboratory practices of sequencing life at molecular scale and how it relates to issues of sovereignty, power, and security in international relations, and the need for what he calls ‘bioinformational diplomacy’. Tune in for a stimulating conversation about the potential of IR to complement the technical gaze of the life sciences.