Join us for an interactive discussion on two books that interrogate counterterrorism.About this Event
Join us for an interactive discussion on two books that interrogate counterterrorism as a site where histories of colonialism, identity, and state power intersect, raising important questions for our understanding of security and international relations.
This event brings together Dr Alice Finden and Dr. Kodili Chukwuma to discuss their new books on counterterrorism and postcolonial state power. Dr Chukwuma’s Nigeria’s Counter-Terrorism Strategy: Constructions of Threat, Response and Identity (Edinburgh University Press 2025) examines how Nigeria’s federal government’s counter-terrorism practice articulates state identity, constructing a us versus them boundary among specific terrorist groups. Dr Finden’s Counterterrorism and Colonialism: Everyday Violence in Britain and Egypt (Routledge 2025) uncovers how forms of violence are discursively legitimised and normalised. By comparing Britain’s counter-terrorism practice with Egypt, Dr Finden’s research highlights a colonial hierarchy of humanity.
The discussion will be chaired by Dr Sophie Haspeslagh of the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, author of Proscribing Peace: How listing armed groups as terrorists hurts negotiations (Manchester University Press 2021). Join us for this special edition event, followed by a Q&A and a drinks reception.
RCIR Speaker Series:
The RCIR Speaker Series is an initiative from the Research Centre in International Relations in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. The RCIR conducts research on practices of security and conflict, their transformation, and their social and political implications.
This event will take place in: Bush House Lecture Theatre 3 BH(NE) 0.01. A member of our team will be stationed at the Bush House Building reception to register you and direct you to the room.
About the speakers:
Dr Alice Finden is an Assistant Professor of International Politics. She completed her PhD at SOAS, University of London where she carried out a feminist and postcolonial inquiry into the justification and normalisation of state violence within counter terrorism law and policy in Britain and Egypt. Her work examines the colonial histories and presents of counter terrorism in order to interrogate the colonial production of ‘extremist’ communities. She examines how the colonial subjugation of gendered, racialised and classed communities as ‘vulnerable’ to ‘extremism’ is central to the development of counter terrorism as we know it today. Her work has engaged decolonial feminist methods such as counter-mapping as a means to engage participants in affective ways that present alternative histories and futures. Alice is interested in investigating methods and methodologies as a means to tell us new stories about global geopolitics. Alice enjoys developing new decolonial pedagogical methods and is currently involved in a project that engages students with archival spaces.
Dr Kodili Henry Chukwuma is an Assistant Professor of International Security. Kodili's PhD was awarded by the University of East Anglia in 2022, following which he joined the School of Government and International Affairs in Durham University. Kodili's research focuses on the politics of security, terrorism and counter-terrorism. Kodili's research also has a regional focus on Africa, as well as interests in (the politics of) time and space of (in)security. His research has been published in leading journals such as Security Dialogue, International Political Sociology, Critical Studies on Terrorism, and African Security. He has won a number of awards, including UEA's Arts and Humanities 'Research Community Award' 2021, UEA's Arts and Humanities 'Best Graduate Article Award' 2020, the University of Ilorin's 'Prestigious Scholar Award' from 2012-2015, the University of Ilorin, department of History and International Studies 'Best Graduating Student Award' (Valedictorian 2015), the 'Research in World History Award' 201
Event Venue
Bush House Lecture Theatre 3 BH(NE) 0.01, North East Wing, London, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00
