I am currently writing a book manuscript, The Gendered Work of War: Military Humanitarianism and the Production of the New American Soldier. This book investigates the US military's enlistment of development and humanitarianism as counterinsurgency weapons in the post-9/11 era. The Gendered Work of War traces key turning points up to the present conjuncture of military humanitarianism, showing how present-day military trainings rely on particular understandings of the colonial and Cold War past. The project shows how military uses of development and humanitarianism produced sweeping changes in military gender relations over the past decade. I am currently conducting research on the US military's establishment of all-female counterinsurgent teams in the years leading up to the recent reversal of policies that technically banned women from direct assignment to ground combat units. You can read about some of these ideas in a recent article on "military femininity" in Gender, Place and Culture.
I recently published a series of articles that examine different facets of the post-9/11 militarization of development. A forthcoming piece in Development and Change looks at how militarized development has accelerated the trend of for-profit development contracting. I am particularly interested in how colonial and Cold War histories are used in military instructional settings. In relation to this question, I have conducted primary archival research in Haiti, a site of continual US intervention whose history is used in present-day military instruction. A recent article in Critical Military Studies examines Haiti's role in US military knowledge production.
I recently published a series of articles that examine different facets of the post-9/11 militarization of development. A forthcoming piece in Development and Change looks at how militarized development has accelerated the trend of for-profit development contracting. I am particularly interested in how colonial and Cold War histories are used in military instructional settings. In relation to this question, I have conducted primary archival research in Haiti, a site of continual US intervention whose history is used in present-day military instruction. A recent article in Critical Military Studies examines Haiti's role in US military knowledge production.
In a more historical dimension to my scholarship, an article in the Journal of Historical Geography examines how an education project in early 20th century US-occupied Haiti provoked a strike so large it precipitated the marines' withdrawal. I have also published an article on peacekeeping in Haiti in the Journal of Haitian Studies, focusing on the ways in which emerging powers represent themselves on the global stage of the United Nations. My second book project builds on this historical and Haiti-based scholarship. My next book project, "Genealogies of Humanitarian Violence," is a history of the present entanglement of militarism and humanitarianism in Haiti.
Before becoming interested in the militarization of development and humanitarianism, I completed two short ethnographic research projects in South Africa, the first focusing on trade liberalization in Cape Town's garment industry, and the second focusing on post-apartheid migration into South African cities. My research in Africa was closely intertwined with my experience working in the non-governmental and grant-making sectors before entering graduate school.
Before becoming interested in the militarization of development and humanitarianism, I completed two short ethnographic research projects in South Africa, the first focusing on trade liberalization in Cape Town's garment industry, and the second focusing on post-apartheid migration into South African cities. My research in Africa was closely intertwined with my experience working in the non-governmental and grant-making sectors before entering graduate school.
