ISRF Early Career Fellow 2018
ISRF Early Career Fellow 2018
Catherine Chiniara Charrett is a lecturer of International Politics at Queen Mary University of London. Catherine completed her PhD at Aberystwyth University, where they researched EU-Hamas relations following the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections. Catherine’s has conducted extensive fieldwork in Palestine and Brussels, and they explore how ritualised practices are performative of diplomatic relations. Her work uses interdisciplinary methodologies informed by gender politics and performance studies and Catherine produced a performance piece entitled “Politics in Drag: Sipping Toffee with Hamas in Brussels.” Catherine completed her MSc from the London School of Economics and her BA from the University of British Columbia.
Catherine’s ISRF project investigates the networks that form around state security technologies in the European Union’s engagement with Israel and Palestine. Using a gendered based critique it observes how the circulation and joint development of different technologies are performative of different orders of masculinity and sovereignty. Catherine will conduct on-site empirical research and will develop a performance piece based on her findings. The performance piece will be shown in academic, theatre, policy and community spaces, allowing audiences to observe and engage with transformed uses of security technologies through the strategic practices of drag performance.
This research aims to explore the networks that form around state security technologies in the European Union’s engagement with Israel and Palestine, and it uses performance art to critique these relationships. The project uses a feminist methodology to observe how different technologies produce political relationships, which I argue impact on how the EU regards Israeli versus Palestinian sovereignty. In the project I will conduct fieldwork to map EU-Israeli and EU-Palestinian cooperation and joint ventures in the development of different security technologies. This project addresses how masculinity performed through techno-scientific practices constitutes Israel a strong sovereign actor, and how the EU’s state building assistance to Palestinian actors shapes ideas of Palestinian sovereignty. A gendered focus prevents taking these diplomatic relations for granted, and it encourages a critique of how the reproduction of certain masculinities maintains the status quo.
This project engages in cross-disciplinary activities between politics and performance to address the complexity of EU relations with Israel and Palestine. In this project I will construct and deliver a performance piece on the differing technological networks. The performance piece, I argue offers a critical perspective on EU policy in an inviting way, encouraging action rather than antagonising or excluding key players. Furthermore, in translating academic research into performance art I am able to disseminate my research to a wider audience, within and beyond academia. This offers the public the opportunity to view research on state diplomatic practices in a way that is straightforward and inclusive.
This project is dedicated to disseminating this research to varied audiences in academic, community and governmental circles. As such, the performance fosters bonds between the public and government over a topic that is central to international security concerns. The performance invokes an emotional response from its viewers, which I argue encourages active participation in politics.
If you would like to contact any of our Fellows to discuss their ISRF-funded work, please contact Dr Lars Cornelissen (Academic Editor) in the first instance, at [email protected].