![Professor Roland Bleiker](/sites/default/files/profiles/617.jpeg)
Overview
Background
Roland is Professor of International Relations and Coordinator of the Visual Politics Research Program. His research explores how images and emotions shape political phenomena, including humanitarianism, security, peacebuilding, protest movements and the conflict in Korea. Books include Visual Global Politics (Routledge, 2018); Aesthetics and World Politics (Palgrave, 2009/2012); Divided Korea: Toward a Culture of Reconciliation (University of Minnesota Press, 2005/2008) and Popular Dissent, Human Agency and Global Politics (CUP, 2000).
Roland’s main current research project is an interdisciplinary ARC Linkage collaboration (2022-2026) on The Politics and Ethics of Visualising Humanitarian Crises. The project involves eight researchers and the World Press Photo Foundation, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Australian Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières.
Roland grew up in Zürich, Switzerland, where he was educated and worked as a lawyer. He studied international relations in Paris, Seoul, Toronto, Vancouver and Canberra. Roland also worked for two years in a Swiss diplomatic mission in the Korean DMZ and held visiting affiliations at Harvard, Cambridge, Humboldt, Tampere, Yonsei and Pusan National University as well as the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. He is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.
Further informatin can be found on Roland''s personal website:
For an in-person or zoom appointment book here: https://calendly.com/bleiker
Selection of Recent Publications
“Decolonising Affect" Cooperation and Conflict (2024)
“Un-Disciplining the International” Alternatives: Local, Global, Political (2023)
"Visualizing International Relations” Journal of Visual Political Communication, 10,(2023
"Visual Violence" Interview with Brad Evans, Los Angeles Review of Books, 3 Jan 2022.
Availability
- Professor Roland Bleiker is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Arts, University of Toronto
- Masters (Coursework), The University of British Columbia
- Doctor of Philosophy, Australian National University
Research interests
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International Relations: Visual Politics and Emotions
Theories of International Relations. How images and emotions shape political phenomena, including security, diplomacy and humanitarian crises.
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Peace and Conflict Studies
Conflict resolution in societies divided by trauma. Transnational social movements and the conceptualisation of political change. Art and literature as sources of political transformation.
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Politics and Security in Korea
Security and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula, including policy-relevant debates.
Research impacts
Much of my work has revolved around combining theory and practice. I embark on conceptual inquires to rethink entrenched political dillemas. At the moment my main practice-oriented reserach is a four year collaborative project on The Politics and Ethics of Visualising Humanitarian Crises. Funded through an ARC Linkage Grant (2022-2025) this project aims to draw on the power of images to transform practices and policies of aid. In particular, the project develops – and tests - alternative visual strategies that depict humanitarian crises in ways that encourage compassion for victims without entrenching problematic stereotypes. We work with four prominent Partner Organisations that are at the forefront of humanitarian and photojournalistic work: The World Press Photo Foundation, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Australian Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières. The project team consists of myself and five other Chief Investigators: A/Prof Emma Hutchison, from the School of Political Science and International Studies; Prof Matthew Hornsey and Dr Cassandra Chapman from the UQ Business School, as well as A/Prof Sana Nakata from the University of Melbourne and Prof Bina D’Costa from the Australian National University. Involved as well are two Partner Investigators: Prof Fiona Terry, Head of Research at the ICRC, and Prof David Campbell, formerly Director of Communication at World Press Photo and now with The VII Foundation.
Works
Search Professor Roland Bleiker’s works on UQ eSpace
2013
Book Chapter
Reconciliation
Bleiker, Roland and Hutchison, Emma (2013). Reconciliation. The Routledge handbook of peacebuilding. (pp. 81-90) edited by Roger Mac Ginty. Abington, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge.
2013
Book Chapter
Betrayed by Democracy: Verbatim Theater as Prefigurative Politics
Chou, Mark and Bleiker, Roland (2013). Betrayed by Democracy: Verbatim Theater as Prefigurative Politics. Doing Democracy: Activist Art and Cultural Politics. (pp. 231-256) edited by Nancy Sue Love and Mark Mattern. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press (SUNY).
2013
Book Chapter
Between consensus and deconstruction A feminist reading of dialogue
Leet, Martin and Bleiker, Roland (2013). Between consensus and deconstruction A feminist reading of dialogue. Dialogue, politics and gender. (pp. 120-145) edited by Jude Browne. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9781139855938.006
2012
Journal Article
The politics of illegalised migration
Bleiker, Roland (2012). The politics of illegalised migration. Australian Journal of Political Science, 47 (2), 311-316. doi: 10.1080/10361146.2012.677395
2012
Journal Article
Review of Defacing power: The aesthetics of insecurity in global politics by Brent J. Steele
Bleiker, Roland (2012). Review of Defacing power: The aesthetics of insecurity in global politics by Brent J. Steele. Perspectives On Politics, 10 (2), 552-553. doi: 10.1017/S1537592712000412
2012
Book Chapter
Conclusion - everyday struggles for a hybrid peace
Bleiker, Roland (2012). Conclusion - everyday struggles for a hybrid peace. Hybrid forms of peace: From everyday agency to post- liberalism. (pp. 293-309) edited by Oliver P. Richmond and Audra Mitchell. Hampshire, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan.
2012
Book Chapter
Ungendering the links between emotions and violence: towards a political appreciation of empathy and compassion
Hutchison, Emma and Bleiker, Roland (2012). Ungendering the links between emotions and violence: towards a political appreciation of empathy and compassion. Gender, agency and political violence. (pp. 151-168) edited by Linda Åhall and Laura J. Shepherd. Houndmills, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan.
2012
Book Chapter
Postmodernism
Bleiker, Roland (2012). Postmodernism. An introduction to international relations. (pp. 91-102) edited by Richard Devetak, Anthony Burke and Jim George. Port Melbourne Vic., Australia: Cambridge University Press.
2011
Book Chapter
Korean sources of conflict resolution: An inquiry into the concept of Han
Bleiker, Roland and Young-ju, Hoang (2011). Korean sources of conflict resolution: An inquiry into the concept of Han. Mediating across difference: Oceanic and Asian approaches to conflict resolution. (pp. 248-269) edited by Roland Bleiker and Moragn Brigg. Honolulu, HI, United States: University of Hawai'i Press.
2011
Book Chapter
Introduction
Brigg, Morgan and Bleiker, Roland (2011). Introduction. Mediating across difference: Oceanic and Asian approaches to conflict resolution. (pp. 1-15) edited by Morgan Brigg and Roland Bleiker. Honolulu, HI, U.S.A.: University of Hawaii Press.
2011
Book Chapter
Representing HIV/AIDS in Africa: Pluralist photography and local empowerment
Bleiker, Roland and Kay, Amy (2011). Representing HIV/AIDS in Africa: Pluralist photography and local empowerment. The culture of AIDS in Africa: Hope and healing in music and the arts. (pp. 404-426) edited by Gregory Barz and Judah Cohen. New York, NY, U.S.A.: Oxford University Press.
2011
Book Chapter
Post-colonial conflict resolution
Brigg, Morgan and Bleiker, Roland (2011). Post-colonial conflict resolution. Mediating across difference: Oceanic and Asian approaches to conflict resolution. (pp. 19-37) edited by Morgan Brigg and Roland Bleiker. Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press. doi: 10.21313/hawaii/9780824834593.003.0002
2010
Journal Article
Dramatizing war: George Packer and the democratic potential of verbatim theater
Chou, Mark and Bleiker, Roland (2010). Dramatizing war: George Packer and the democratic potential of verbatim theater. New Political Science, 32 (4), 561-574. doi: 10.1080/07393148.2010.520441
2010
Journal Article
Negotiating with Nuclear North Korea / Negocier avec la Coree du Nord? Question nucleaire et relations intercoreennes
Bleiker, Roland (2010). Negotiating with Nuclear North Korea / Negocier avec la Coree du Nord? Question nucleaire et relations intercoreennes. Critique Internationale, 49 (4), 21-36. doi: 10.3917/crii.049.0021
2010
Journal Article
Introduction: Forum on autoethnography and International Relations II
Bleiker, Roland and Brigg, Morgan (2010). Introduction: Forum on autoethnography and International Relations II. Review of International Studies, 36 (4) doi: 10.1017/S0260210510001178
2010
Journal Article
Introduction to the RIS Forum on autoethnography and International Relations
Bleiker, Roland and Brigg, Morgan (2010). Introduction to the RIS Forum on autoethnography and International Relations. Review of International Studies, 36 (3), 777-778. doi: 10.1017/S0260210510000677
2010
Journal Article
Ko Un and the poetics of postcolonial identity
Roland Bleiker and David Hundt (2010). Ko Un and the poetics of postcolonial identity. Global Society, 24 (3), 331-349. doi: 10.1080/13600826.2010.485557
2010
Journal Article
Autoethnographic international relations: Exploring the self as a source of knowledge
Brigg, Morgan and Bleiker, Roland (2010). Autoethnographic international relations: Exploring the self as a source of knowledge. Review of International Studies, 36 (3), 779-798. doi: 10.1017/S0260210510000689
2010
Book Chapter
Towards a sustainable diplomacy in divided Korea
Bleiker, Roland (2010). Towards a sustainable diplomacy in divided Korea. Sustainable Diplomacies. (pp. 235-255) edited by Costas M. Constantinou and James Der Derian. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/9780230297159_12
2010
Book Chapter
Nietzsche's style: On language, knowledge and power in international relations
Bleiker, Roland and Chou, Mark (2010). Nietzsche's style: On language, knowledge and power in international relations. International relations theory and philosophy: Interpretive dialogues. (pp. 8-19) edited by Cerwyn Moore and Chris Farrands. London, U.K. ; New York, U.S.A: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203865903
Funding
Current funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Roland Bleiker is:
- Available for supervision
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Available projects
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Visualising Sri Lanka's Humanitarian Crises
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Hutchison
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Doctor Philosophy
Picturing climate migration: critiquing the visual discourse
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Karen McNamara
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Doctor Philosophy
Feeling Nation-States Examining the role of affect in the formation of Pakistan and its foreign policy
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Hutchison
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Doctor Philosophy
Climate change and security in France
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Matt McDonald
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Master Philosophy
Self-Sacrifice and Intractable Conflict
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Morgan Brigg
Completed supervision
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Photographic Resistance: Protest, the News, and the Viewer
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Hutchison, Associate Professor Sebastian Kaempf
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
Emotions and Political Violence: An (Auto-)ethnographic Account of the People's War in Nepal
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Morgan Brigg, Associate Professor Emma Hutchison
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
Visualising India¿s Nuclear Tests: How Images Shape National Identity
Principal Advisor
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Ontological Security and Migration: Beyond Securitisation and Identity Politics
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Matt McDonald
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
Liberal Militarisation: Visualising the Military Body as a Form of Governance
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Sebastian Kaempf
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
Mediation in international conflicts: the impartial, empowering and pressing mediator
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Andrew Phillips
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2017
Doctor Philosophy
The Use of the Death Penalty for Drug Offences in Southeast Asia: Sovereignty, Deterrence, Retribution and Proportionality
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Melissa Curley
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2015
Doctor Philosophy
Theatre for Peacebuilding: the role of arts in conflict transformation in South Asia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Morgan Brigg
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2013
Doctor Philosophy
Conspiracy Theory and American Foreign Policy
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Martin Weber
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2008
Doctor Philosophy
From Dualism to Wholeness: Understanding Religion and Politics in the West
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Richard Devetak, Associate Professor Jacinta O'Hagan
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2008
Doctor Philosophy
Trauma, Emotion, and the Construction of Community in World Politics
Principal Advisor
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2007
Doctor Philosophy
THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHITENESS IN AUSTRALIA: DISCOURSES OF IMMIGRATION AND NATIONAL IDENTITY FROM THE WHITE AUSTRALIA POLICY TO MULTICULTRALISM
Principal Advisor
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2007
Doctor Philosophy
Between Movements of Crisis and Movements of Affluence: An analysis of the campaign against the Jabiluka uranium mine, 1997-2000.
Principal Advisor
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2005
Doctor Philosophy
ASKING AFTER SELVES: KNOWLEDGE AND SETTLER-INDIGENOUS CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Principal Advisor
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2003
Doctor Philosophy
Transformative peacebuilding in post-conflict reconstruction: The case of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Principal Advisor
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Resurgent Histories of Afghanistan: Political Encounters with Modernity
Associate Advisor
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
Affective Resistance: Feeling through everyday Palestinian struggle
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Hutchison
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
Local ownership, NGOs, and peacebuilding in Africa: A study of conflict-affected zones in Ghana
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Morgan Brigg
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
Politics of Children's Rights: Development and Deprivation in Pakistan
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Heloise Weber
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2015
Doctor Philosophy
Civil Society and Governance in Vietnam's One Party System
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Melissa Curley
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2014
Doctor Philosophy
Representation, recognition and respect: foreign policy and the Iran-US relationship
Associate Advisor
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2005
Doctor Philosophy
LEGITIMISING REJECTION: INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE LAW IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Associate Advisor
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2003
Doctor Philosophy
JAPAN-AUSTRALIA - THE MAKINGS OF A SECURITY COMMUNITY
Associate Advisor
Media
Enquiries
Contact Professor Roland Bleiker directly for media enquiries about:
- Anti-globalisation critique
- International relations and security
- Korea - peace and security
- New social movements
- Peace and conflict issues
- Peace and conflict studies
- Peace and security in Korea
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