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About the Critical Humanities and International Politics Research Group

Based in the School of Humanities, the Critical Humanities and International Politics Research Group (CHIP) seeks to bring together, promote and develop critical research in the intersection of different disciplines engaging with international affairs. Our approach reflects the need to analyse diversified, dynamic and cross-cutting issues which increasingly permeate all areas of international political life. From a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives, our members research how pressing world-wide challenges shape the manner in which we think and enact new forms of politics in the 21st century.

Our work

Our work includes ‘classical’ topics of Politics and International Relations research such as political theory, war, justice, peace-building, local politics and energy policy, among others, but we also seek to break through and go beyond the established range of concerns and narratives in the humanities. Hence, CHIP adopts a broad and open perspective within International Relations by investigating pressing contemporary challenges, such as the problematic entanglement between human and non-human ecologies in modernity. Emerging debates such as war and peace beyond the human, environmental humanities, the Anthropocene and new materialisms are also within our field of interest. Doing so, we aim to shed light on cutting-edged topics faced by 21st century forms of knowledge production as well as practices that can enable liveable future worlds.

Our aims

  • To contribute to a more nuanced understanding of social reality through critical research, with emphasis on international relations issues as well as the broader humanities.
  • To research cutting-edge topics that address most innovative scholarly debates seeking to make sense of the increasing complexity of international relations.
  • To foster interdisciplinary research across the University of Hertfordshire and beyond through the connection to aligned research centres in the UK and the broader international landscape.
  • To engage with communities beyond the academic sphere in order to establish mutually beneficial partnerships.
  • To provide students with opportunities and capacities to engage with our own research as well as with further work environments within and without the academia.

Research themes

Our research is broad-ranging, interdisciplinary and deliberately unfixed in a determined theoretical or methodological framework. Our research topics can be grouped into three core themes:

  • International security, conflicts, strategy, peacebuilding.
  • The Anthropocene, International Political Economy, technology, energy policy.
  • Political theory, justice, governance, local politics.

Members