Upcoming Presentations and Public Lectures
'A "Nuclear Bomb" of Sexual Assaults: A Fanonian Analysis of the Phallus in Contemporary British Anti-Immigration Discourse', with Haro Karkour, British International Studies Association Conference, Brighton Centre, Brighton, UK (3 June 2026)
This paper draws on a comparatively underexplored concept in Franz Fanon’s work, specifically how the coloniser’s ‘guilt complex’ manifests in bodily ways, to analyse the role of the phallus in current British anti-immigration discourses. The paper argues that this concept is useful to understand both the fear and the popularity of the phallus as a discursively constructed threat to whiteness. After outlining the Fanonian theoretical framework, the paper offers a broader historical contextualisation of the centrality of the phallus as a symbolic threat to whiteness within the (post-)colonial imaginary. The paper then situates the UK Reform Party’s discursive construction of (non-white) male immigrants as posing a sexual danger to (white) British women in this context. The contribution is twofold: first, the paper contributes to postcolonial IR by highlighting the contemporary relevance of this neglected concept in Fanon’s body of work. Second, the paper contributes to poststructural critiques of popular/populist discourses on immigration and border-crossing by situating (post-)colonial racism against idealised/fantasised bodies representing the nation/Self/female and the foreigner/Other/male.
This paper draws on a comparatively underexplored concept in Franz Fanon’s work, specifically how the coloniser’s ‘guilt complex’ manifests in bodily ways, to analyse the role of the phallus in current British anti-immigration discourses. The paper argues that this concept is useful to understand both the fear and the popularity of the phallus as a discursively constructed threat to whiteness. After outlining the Fanonian theoretical framework, the paper offers a broader historical contextualisation of the centrality of the phallus as a symbolic threat to whiteness within the (post-)colonial imaginary. The paper then situates the UK Reform Party’s discursive construction of (non-white) male immigrants as posing a sexual danger to (white) British women in this context. The contribution is twofold: first, the paper contributes to postcolonial IR by highlighting the contemporary relevance of this neglected concept in Fanon’s body of work. Second, the paper contributes to poststructural critiques of popular/populist discourses on immigration and border-crossing by situating (post-)colonial racism against idealised/fantasised bodies representing the nation/Self/female and the foreigner/Other/male.
'Irish (Americans) and the Narrative Politics of the Great Famine', with Michael Toomey, British International Studies Association Conference, Brighton Centre, Brighton, UK (5 June 2026)
Among the myriad ethnic identities that present in the multicultural American polity, Irish Americans (Gael-Mheiriceánaigh) often claim the strongest fellow-feeling with their ancestral nation. This includes a profound connection to the island of Ireland, collective memories of the past, and a sense of kinship with other ‘Irish’ regardless of their country of residence. Such group consciousness is not necessarily shared by the Irish of Éire, with social media rife with satirical portrayals of the artificiality of ‘Irishness’ of their American cousins, alongside widespread disavowal of the political leanings of Irish Americans, therein reflecting meaningful temporal, spatial, and societal divergences between the two groups. Recognising this disconnect, the paper interrogates the socio-political narration of national trauma associated with the Great Famine/an Gorta Mór (1845-1852) from the competing perspectives of the Irish and Irish Americans. Focusing on the dark trinity of starvation, dispossession, and emigration through the lenses of the popular arts (music, plays, films/TV, and literature), memorials, and geographies of tourism, we examine how divergent narrations of this shared trauma index and contribute to a stark and growing political and cultural divide between these two communities, and the implications of this rift in shaping ‘Irishness’ in the twenty-first century.
Among the myriad ethnic identities that present in the multicultural American polity, Irish Americans (Gael-Mheiriceánaigh) often claim the strongest fellow-feeling with their ancestral nation. This includes a profound connection to the island of Ireland, collective memories of the past, and a sense of kinship with other ‘Irish’ regardless of their country of residence. Such group consciousness is not necessarily shared by the Irish of Éire, with social media rife with satirical portrayals of the artificiality of ‘Irishness’ of their American cousins, alongside widespread disavowal of the political leanings of Irish Americans, therein reflecting meaningful temporal, spatial, and societal divergences between the two groups. Recognising this disconnect, the paper interrogates the socio-political narration of national trauma associated with the Great Famine/an Gorta Mór (1845-1852) from the competing perspectives of the Irish and Irish Americans. Focusing on the dark trinity of starvation, dispossession, and emigration through the lenses of the popular arts (music, plays, films/TV, and literature), memorials, and geographies of tourism, we examine how divergent narrations of this shared trauma index and contribute to a stark and growing political and cultural divide between these two communities, and the implications of this rift in shaping ‘Irishness’ in the twenty-first century.
Past Events
"Seeing through the Anthropocene: Popular Culture, Geopolitics, and the Disciplining Power of the Gaze," Centre for Arts, Media and Culture, Edinburgh Napier University (2 December 2025)
'"What Kind of American Are You?" Plotting Civil War within the PWCP Continuum', Popular Culture and World Politics v16, Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal (21 November 2025)
“"A Bullet for the Cause?" The Irish Language, Identity Politics, and Intergenerational Trauma in Kneecap (2024)' with Cahir O’Doherty, British International Studies Association Conference, Europa Hotel, Belfast, Northern Ireland (20 June 2025)
'England’s First and Last Colony: A Postcolonial Wales?' with Haro Karkour, British International Studies Association Conference, Europa Hotel, Belfast, Northern Ireland (20 June 2025)
'Navigating Trump 2.0: A Pop-Culture Guide to the Rise of American Fascism from Sinclair Lewis to the Late-Night Deathwatch', British International Studies Association Conference, Europa Hotel, Belfast, Northern Ireland (19 June 2025)
'Roundtable: Geographies of Media and Popular Culture in the New Age of Anxiety' - Organiser and Chair, American Association of Geographers annual meeting, Detroit, Michigan (25 March 2025)
'A Marvel to Behold or For-Profit Pandering? Disney’s Embrace of Indigenous Recognition, Resistance, and Survivance', 15th Popular Culture and World Politics Conference (PCWP v15), Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (22 November 2024)
'"Do You See What I See?" Visions of the Anthropocene in Serial TV Drama', European Workshops in International Studies (EWIS), WS31: Popular Culture and the End of the World: Imagining Dystopia and Utopia in the Anthropocene Epoch at Kadir Has University, Istanbul, Türkiye (5 July 2024)
'Terra Nullius No More! Finland in Geopolitical Imagination after NATO', hosted by the Global Politics and Practice Research Group at Central European University, Vienna, Austria (21 November 2023)
'Geographical Imagination, Genealogy, and Geopolitics in Who Do You Think You Are? ' at the (Em)placing the Popular in Cultural Geography workshop at Coventry University, UK (12 January 2022)
'A Critical Analysis of the Political Geographies of Black Panther', invited keynote at Headington College and Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability workshop, University of Oklahoma (March 26, 2019)
'Extending the Katechon: Religio-Civilizational Vectors in Russia’s Intervention in the Levant', Striking from the Margins Conference: State, Disintegration and Devolution of Authority in the Arab Middle East , American University of Beirut, Lebanon (January 17, 2019)
'Who Gets to Imagine the Community in Cyberspace? A Reflection on the Past(s), Present, and Future(s) of Digital Nationalism' at the Nations in Cyberspace conference, hosted by the Nationalism Studies Program, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary (June 28, 2018)
'#Geopolitics: Diplomacy in the Age of Twitter', School of International Relations at Saint Petersburg State University, Russia (April 27, 2018)
'"What Kind of American Are You?" Plotting Civil War within the PWCP Continuum', Popular Culture and World Politics v16, Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal (21 November 2025)
“"A Bullet for the Cause?" The Irish Language, Identity Politics, and Intergenerational Trauma in Kneecap (2024)' with Cahir O’Doherty, British International Studies Association Conference, Europa Hotel, Belfast, Northern Ireland (20 June 2025)
'England’s First and Last Colony: A Postcolonial Wales?' with Haro Karkour, British International Studies Association Conference, Europa Hotel, Belfast, Northern Ireland (20 June 2025)
'Navigating Trump 2.0: A Pop-Culture Guide to the Rise of American Fascism from Sinclair Lewis to the Late-Night Deathwatch', British International Studies Association Conference, Europa Hotel, Belfast, Northern Ireland (19 June 2025)
'Roundtable: Geographies of Media and Popular Culture in the New Age of Anxiety' - Organiser and Chair, American Association of Geographers annual meeting, Detroit, Michigan (25 March 2025)
'A Marvel to Behold or For-Profit Pandering? Disney’s Embrace of Indigenous Recognition, Resistance, and Survivance', 15th Popular Culture and World Politics Conference (PCWP v15), Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (22 November 2024)
'"Do You See What I See?" Visions of the Anthropocene in Serial TV Drama', European Workshops in International Studies (EWIS), WS31: Popular Culture and the End of the World: Imagining Dystopia and Utopia in the Anthropocene Epoch at Kadir Has University, Istanbul, Türkiye (5 July 2024)
'Terra Nullius No More! Finland in Geopolitical Imagination after NATO', hosted by the Global Politics and Practice Research Group at Central European University, Vienna, Austria (21 November 2023)
'Geographical Imagination, Genealogy, and Geopolitics in Who Do You Think You Are? ' at the (Em)placing the Popular in Cultural Geography workshop at Coventry University, UK (12 January 2022)
'A Critical Analysis of the Political Geographies of Black Panther', invited keynote at Headington College and Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability workshop, University of Oklahoma (March 26, 2019)
'Extending the Katechon: Religio-Civilizational Vectors in Russia’s Intervention in the Levant', Striking from the Margins Conference: State, Disintegration and Devolution of Authority in the Arab Middle East , American University of Beirut, Lebanon (January 17, 2019)
'Who Gets to Imagine the Community in Cyberspace? A Reflection on the Past(s), Present, and Future(s) of Digital Nationalism' at the Nations in Cyberspace conference, hosted by the Nationalism Studies Program, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary (June 28, 2018)
'#Geopolitics: Diplomacy in the Age of Twitter', School of International Relations at Saint Petersburg State University, Russia (April 27, 2018)