Professor Roland Bleiker
Professor

Roland Bleiker

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 336 51068

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

Government and politics of Asia and the Pacific Human Society International relations Language, Communication and Culture Political science

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Arts, University of Toronto
  • Masters (Coursework), The University of British Columbia
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Australian National University

Research interests

  • International Relations: Visual Politics and Emotions

    Theories of International Relations. How images and emotions shape political phenomena, including security, diplomacy and humanitarian crises.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Search Professor Roland Bleiker’s works on UQ eSpace

195 works between 1993 and 2025
All (195) Journal Article (100) Book Chapter (79) Conference Publication (3) Book (8) Other Outputs (2) Edited Outputs (3)

161 - 180 of 195 works

2002

Journal Article

Keeping the edge: Managing defense for the future

Bleiker, R (2002). Keeping the edge: Managing defense for the future. Political Studies, 50 (1), 197-198.

Keeping the edge: Managing defense for the future

2002

Book Chapter

Living with rupture: Postmodern perspectives on international events

Bleiker, Roland (2002). Living with rupture: Postmodern perspectives on international events. International relations and the "third debate" : Postmodernism and its critics. (pp. 15-42) edited by Darryl S. L. Jarvis. Westport, CO, U.S.A.: Praeger.

Living with rupture: Postmodern perspectives on international events

2001

Journal Article

Editor's introduction: The politics of visual art

Bleiker, Roland (2001). Editor's introduction: The politics of visual art. Social Alternatives, 20 (4), 3-9.

Editor's introduction: The politics of visual art

2001

Journal Article

Anna Akhmatova's search for political light

Bleiker, Roland (2001). Anna Akhmatova's search for political light. Peace Review, 13 (2), 181-186. doi: 10.1080/10402650120060346

Anna Akhmatova's search for political light

2001

Journal Article

Peacebuilding in East Timor

Candio, Patrick and Bleiker, Roland (2001). Peacebuilding in East Timor. The Pacific Review, 14 (1), 63-84. doi: 10.1080/09512740010018561

Peacebuilding in East Timor

2001

Journal Article

Identity and security in Korea

Bleiker, Roland (2001). Identity and security in Korea. Pacific Review, 14 (1), 121-148. doi: 10.1080/09512740121622

Identity and security in Korea

2001

Journal Article

Identity and security in Korea

Bleiker, Roland (2001). Identity and security in Korea. Pacific Review, 14 (1), 121-148. doi: 10.1080/09512740010018589

Identity and security in Korea

2001

Other Outputs

The ethics of speed: Global activism after Seattle

Bleiker, R. (2001). The ethics of speed: Global activism after Seattle. Working Papers - General Series. 344.

The ethics of speed: Global activism after Seattle

2001

Journal Article

Timor-Oriential: Le combat pour la paix et pour la reconciliation

Bleiker, Roland and McGibbon, Rodd (2001). Timor-Oriential: Le combat pour la paix et pour la reconciliation. Cultures et Conflits. Pacifications, Reconciliations (2) (41), 15-46.

Timor-Oriential: Le combat pour la paix et pour la reconciliation

2001

Book Chapter

Forget IR theory

Bleiker, R. (2001). Forget IR theory. The Zen of International Relations: IR Theory from East to West. (pp. 37-66) edited by S. Chan, P. Mandaville and R. Bleiker. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave.

Forget IR theory

2001

Journal Article

Ethics, economics and international relations: Transparent sovereignty in the commonwealth of life

Bleiker, R (2001). Ethics, economics and international relations: Transparent sovereignty in the commonwealth of life. Australian Journal of Political Science, 36 (2), 403-404.

Ethics, economics and international relations: Transparent sovereignty in the commonwealth of life

2001

Journal Article

Abstracting the political: David Rankin interviewed by Roland Bleiker

Bleiker, R. (2001). Abstracting the political: David Rankin interviewed by Roland Bleiker. Social Alternatives, 20 (4), 16-21.

Abstracting the political: David Rankin interviewed by Roland Bleiker

2001

Edited Outputs

Rethinking humanitarianism conference proceedings

B. Evans-Kent and R. Bleiker eds. (2001). Rethinking humanitarianism conference proceedings. Rethinking Humanistarianism Conference, UQ, St Lucia, 24-26 September, 2001. Brisbane: The UQ Printery.

Rethinking humanitarianism conference proceedings

2001

Edited Outputs

Social Alternatives

Social Alternatives. (2001). 20 (4)

Social Alternatives

2001

Book

The Zen of international relations: IR theory from East to West

S. Chan, P. Mandaville and R. Bleiker eds. (2001). The Zen of international relations: IR theory from East to West. Basingstoke, U.K.: Palgrave.

The Zen of international relations: IR theory from East to West

2001

Book Chapter

East-west stories of war and peace: Neorealist claims in light of ancient Chinese philosophy

Bleiker, R. (2001). East-west stories of war and peace: Neorealist claims in light of ancient Chinese philosophy. The Zen of international relations: IR theory from East to West. (pp. 177-201) edited by S. Chan, P. Mandaville and R. Bleiker. Basingstoke, U.K.: Palgrave.

East-west stories of war and peace: Neorealist claims in light of ancient Chinese philosophy

2001

Journal Article

The aesthetic turn in international political theory

Bleiker, Roland (2001). The aesthetic turn in international political theory. Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 30 (2), 509-533. doi: 10.1177/03058298010300031001

The aesthetic turn in international political theory

2001

Journal Article

Busted flat in Baton Rouge or how I became a word addict

Bleiker, R. (2001). Busted flat in Baton Rouge or how I became a word addict. Social Alternatives, 20 (2), 7-10.

Busted flat in Baton Rouge or how I became a word addict

2000

Journal Article

Special issue - Poetic world politics - Editor's introduction

Bleiker, R. (2000). Special issue - Poetic world politics - Editor's introduction. Alternatives-social Transformation And Humane Governance, 25 (3), 269-284.

Special issue - Poetic world politics - Editor's introduction

2000

Edited Outputs

Alternatives: Social Transformation and Humane Governance

Alternatives: Social Transformation and Humane Governance. (2000). 25 (3)

Alternatives: Social Transformation and Humane Governance

Current funding

  • 2022 - 2026
    Visualising humanitarian crises: transforming images and aid policy
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2028
    Developing UQ as a central hub for nurturing the next generation of Korean Studies education, research and regional cooperation for Queensland and Northern Territory, Australia
    The Academy of Korean Studies
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2011 - 2014
    How Images Shape Responses to Humanitarian Crises
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2011
    UQ Travel Awards Category 1 - Dr James Brassett
    UQ Travel Grants Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2011
    UQ Travel Awards Category 1 - Prof Iver B Neumann
    UQ Travel Grants Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2010
    UQ Travel Awards Category 1, David Campbell
    UQ Travel Grants Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2006 - 2007
    Mediating Across Difference: Asian and Oceanic Approaches to Security and Conflict
    The Japan Foundation, Sydney
    Open grant
  • 2005
    Towards an Aesthetics of Peace at at Time of War: Alternative Understandings and Responses to Global Terrorism
    University of Queensland Research Development Grants Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2001 - 2002
    From Confrontation to Cooperation in Korea: The Role of Identity in the Formation of Security Policy
    United States Institute of Peace
    Open grant
  • 1999
    Rethinking security and ethics in divided nations.
    UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
    Open grant

Availability

Professor Roland Bleiker is:
Available for supervision

Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.

Available projects

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Picturing climate migration: critiquing the visual discourse

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Karen McNamara

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Feeling Nation-States: Emotions and Belonging in the Making of Postcolonial Nation-States

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Heloise Weber

  • Doctor Philosophy

    The Political Power of Cinema: Historical Trauma and Transitional Justice in East and Southeast Asia

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Picturing climate migration: critiquing the visual discourse

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Karen McNamara

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Visualising Sri Lanka's Humanitarian Crises

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Climate Change and Security in France

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Matt McDonald

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Climate Change and Security in France

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Matt McDonald

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Climate Change and Security in France

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Matt McDonald

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Intractable Conflict and Self-Sacrifice in Interpersonal Mediation

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Morgan Brigg

  • Master Philosophy

    Self-Sacrifice and Intractable Conflict

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Morgan Brigg

Completed supervision

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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