Laura J. Shepherd
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drljshepherd.bsky.social
Laura J. Shepherd
@drljshepherd.bsky.social

Researcher, educator, enthusiastic but terrible dancer, writing about gender, governance, security, pop culture. Views mine. She/they.

Political science 55%
Sociology 34%

Thank you! Glad it resonated...

Reposted by Laura J. Shepherd

With @drljshepherd.bsky.social, revisiting our plea to 'forget' Women, Peace and Security in light of the governments currently trying to make it disappear.

theglobalobservatory.org/2025/10/forg...
Forgetting WPS: On Being Careful What You Wish For - IPI Global Observatory
We concluded our recent book, Governing the Feminist Peace, with an exhortation to “forget WPS”—to abandon attempts to force coherence onto an agenda that had become so sprawling and intricate over it...
theglobalobservatory.org

Reposted by Laura J. Shepherd

1/x For no particular reason, a thread of books to remind you that gender matters to international security. #polisky

@oraszekely.bsky.social, Jessica, and I wrote Insurgent Women to highlight the involvement of women in multiple conflicts.

press.georgetown.edu/Book/Insurge...
Insurgent Women
press.georgetown.edu

Delighted to collaborate with the always brilliant @doris-asante.bsky.social on this essay on WPS NAPs as we approach the 25th anniversary of the adoption of UNSCR 1325. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
WPS at 25: National Action Plans as Mechanisms for Implementation of a Diverse Agenda | Politics & Gender | Cambridge Core
WPS at 25: National Action Plans as Mechanisms for Implementation of a Diverse Agenda
www.cambridge.org

Just found out - via an email from a colleague 🙃 - that my 2024 ISA presidential address has finally been published in @isq-jrnl.bsky.social. It brings together many strands of enquiry and reflections spanning nearly two decades of my career. Oh, and it's open access academic.oup.com/isq/article/...
Telling Stories of International Relations
Abstract. This is a lightly edited version of the presidential address I delivered at the sixty-fifth annual convention of the International Studies Associ
academic.oup.com

Incredibly impressed by Kate Scott and Lindsay Day, two brilliant PhD students at USYD who have published this excellent paper on TikTok tradwives and online anti-feminist movements www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10..... Such a pleasure to work with and learn from such smart humans!
TikTok tradwives: femininity, reproduction, and social media
In recent years, social media platforms have seen a growing promotion of the Tradwife’s lifestyle, where cis women embrace patriarchal gender norms and identities such as the stay-at-home mother an...
www.tandfonline.com
Joint Statement by Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK:

"the war in Gaza must end now."
Absolutely dystopian juxtaposition from the Guardian front page. Difficult to understand how anyone of decency and conscience can defend this government at this point. Just sheer moral degeneracy to arm a state that does this and arrest people for objecting. Wtf are we doing as a country?

Reposted by Laura J. Shepherd

Israel kills 45 in latest shooting of Gazans seeking food, say local officials https://on.ft.com/4kMZ2EB
Israel kills 45 in latest shooting of Gazans seeking food, say local officials
Soldiers shot Gazans who were expecting aid trucks, according to the local health ministry
on.ft.com

Reposted by Laura J. Shepherd

“abolish ice
abolish slavery
abolish prisons
abolish borders
abolish colonialism
abolish our addiction to punishing everyone who needs healing”

-adrienne maree brown, abolition spell, fables and spells

Reposted by Laura J. Shepherd

Fellow profs, do you have a plan for how you will protect your students in this climate?

Yes! Will miss you too, and all the great conversations I am sure you will have. Would be lovely to convene elsewhere as well - perhaps through a virtual event, or just a Zoom chat...

I saw this on LinkedIn and it feels particularly relevant today, as the question of how to exist in a disabling world (and show up in the workplace) as an autistic woman is uppermost in my mind. I do all of these things and the world (/workplace) is still pretty exhausting a lot of the time

Ah sorry dear one, I won't be at ISA next year... Hope to continue the conversation in any case

Wonderful! Thanks for sharing

Me too... I described the feeling I had after reading it as "empty and joyful at once". It has stayed with me

So delighted to see this important article published! The first of many from Charlotte's excellent research, I am sure. Congratulations @charlottecarney.bsky.social
My first single authored publication is out! This article critiques the carceral logics of the ICC. I offer this critique alongside abolitionist tools to show how we can start to move away from harmful, carceral justice, beginning with the abolition of the ICC.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Abolishing the International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC) was formed through, and remains situated within, oppressive structures. Accordingly, critical legal scholars have questioned the Court’s ability to foster mea...
www.tandfonline.com

Reposted by Laura J. Shepherd

My first single authored publication is out! This article critiques the carceral logics of the ICC. I offer this critique alongside abolitionist tools to show how we can start to move away from harmful, carceral justice, beginning with the abolition of the ICC.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Abolishing the International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC) was formed through, and remains situated within, oppressive structures. Accordingly, critical legal scholars have questioned the Court’s ability to foster mea...
www.tandfonline.com

Reposted by Laura J. Shepherd

"But let’s be clear: this 'burnout' that secure scholars are feeling is phantom pain where their colleagues should be . . . You are suffering from the effects of intentional systemic understaffing."
A Profession, If You Can Keep It
Imagined meritocracies mean little to extractive institutions.
contingentmagazine.org

Woohoo! Many congratulations, you wonderful, clever humans! So delighted to see this article in the world. Well done to you both 🥳

I agree with this advice: articles need to be more assertive, with less hedging and paying homage to the extensive scholarship on XYZ. In a thesis, you've got 80,000 words to make your point and an article usually offers a tenth of that, so you also need to be concise. A tight structure helps too.

Delighted to share the closing post that @paulcinnamon.bsky.social and I wrote to round out the symposium! "Feminist Peace in Question" is our attempt to respond to the reviews we've shared here: thedisorderofthings.com/2025/04/11/f.... Huge thanks again to Meera Sabaratnam for coordinating.
Feminist Peace In Question
Our final piece in the symposium on Governing the Feminist Peace is a reply from our authors to the contributions by Nicole, Mohamed, Helen, and Laura. It is customary to begin such closing essays …
thedisorderofthings.com

Reposted by Laura J. Shepherd

#CalledToTheBar is out! Celebrating the launch of two (!) books @ntinatzouvala.bsky.social talks with @pagingdrpaige.bsky.social and @claerwen.bsky.social about queer theory as a tool for rethinking how law understands power, normativity, and difference.

soundcloud.com/calledtotheb...
37. Queer Encounters and Queer Engagements with International Law
Book event! This week Ntina Tzouvala discusses queer encounters and queer engagements with international law with editors and authors Claerwen O'Hara and regular co-host Tamsin Phillipa Paige. In thi
soundcloud.com

The final essay/ review is up! "Women, Peace, and Security as Argument and Tension" by the brilliant Laura Sjoberg is a thoughtful and generous engagement with the broader contribution of our book: thedisorderofthings.com/2025/04/09/w...
Women, Peace, and Security as Argument and Tension
Today’s piece for our symposium on Governing the Feminist Peace is from Laura Sjoberg. Laura is Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford and Kloppenburg Official Fello…
thedisorderofthings.com

I was going to say this is a vibe but this is a whole way of life honestly

Reposted by Laura J. Shepherd

These gender studies lectures are just writing themselves

Such a beautiful garden it is too. Very happy to have it, and you, in the conversation...

Today's blog post is from my dear friend, colleague, and marvellous co-conspirator @hmberents.bsky.social. Helen writes on "Ecotones And Borderlands Of The Feminist Peace" (@rkrystalli.bsky.social I think you will like this one!): thedisorderofthings.com/2025/04/07/e...
Ecotones And Borderlands Of The Feminist Peace
The next contribution to our symposium on Governing the Feminist Peace comes from Helen Berents. Helen is Senior Lecturer in International Relations in the School of Government and International Re…
thedisorderofthings.com

Next up: "Governing the Feminist Peace to Deflect from Decolonial Peace in Africa" by the brilliant Mohamed Sesay thedisorderofthings.com/2025/04/04/g...
Governing the Feminist Peace to Deflect from Decolonial Peace in Africa
This third contribution to our symposium on Governing the Feminist Peace comes from Mohamed Sesay. Mohamed is Associate Professor and Coordinator of the African Studies Program in the Department of…
thedisorderofthings.com