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)

181 - 195 of 195 works

2000

Edited Outputs

Alternatives: Social Transformation and Humane Governance

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

Alternatives: Social Transformation and Humane Governance

2000

Journal Article

Editor's Introduction

Bleiker, Roland (2000). Editor's Introduction. Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, 25 (3), 269-284. doi: 10.1177/030437540002500301

Editor's Introduction

2000

Journal Article

The changing space and speed of dissident politics

Bleiker, R. (2000). The changing space and speed of dissident politics. Social Alternatives, 19 (1), 9-15.

The changing space and speed of dissident politics

2000

Journal Article

'We don't need another hero': Women and the collapse of the Berlin wall

Bleiker, R. (2000). 'We don't need another hero': Women and the collapse of the Berlin wall. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 2 (1), 30-57. doi: 10.1080/146167400407000

'We don't need another hero': Women and the collapse of the Berlin wall

2000

Journal Article

Stroll through the wall: Everyday poetics of cold war politics

Bleiker, R. (2000). Stroll through the wall: Everyday poetics of cold war politics. Alternatives: Social Transformation and Humane Governance, 25 (3), 391-408. doi: 10.1177/030437540002500313

Stroll through the wall: Everyday poetics of cold war politics

2000

Book Chapter

The 'end of modernity'?

Bleiker, R. (2000). The 'end of modernity'?. Contending images of world politics. (pp. 227-241) edited by G. Fry and J. O'Hagan. Basingstoke, U.K.: Macmillan Press.

The 'end of modernity'?

1999

Journal Article

The politics and ethics of relocated art

Bleiker, R. (1999). The politics and ethics of relocated art. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 53 (3), 311-326. doi: 10.1080/00049919993881

The politics and ethics of relocated art

1999

Journal Article

Pablo Neruda and the struggle for political memory

Bleiker, R (1999). Pablo Neruda and the struggle for political memory. Third World Quarterly, 20 (6), 1129-1142. doi: 10.1080/01436599913325

Pablo Neruda and the struggle for political memory

1999

Journal Article

Korea and its futures: Unification and the unfinished war

Bleiker, R (1999). Korea and its futures: Unification and the unfinished war. Millennium-journal of International Studies, 28 (3), 771-774. doi: 10.1177/03058298990280030431

Korea and its futures: Unification and the unfinished war

1999

Journal Article

'Give it the shade': Paul Celan and the politics of apolitical poetry

Bleiker, R (1999). 'Give it the shade': Paul Celan and the politics of apolitical poetry. Political Studies, 47 (4), 661-676. doi: 10.1111/1467-9248.00223

'Give it the shade': Paul Celan and the politics of apolitical poetry

1999

Journal Article

Disarming strangers: Nuclear diplomacy with North Korea

Bleiker, R (1999). Disarming strangers: Nuclear diplomacy with North Korea. Millennium-journal of International Studies, 28 (3), 771-774. doi: 10.1177/03058298990280030431

Disarming strangers: Nuclear diplomacy with North Korea

1998

Journal Article

Retracing and redrawing the boundaries of events: Postmodern interferences with international theory

Bleiker, Roland (1998). Retracing and redrawing the boundaries of events: Postmodern interferences with international theory. Alternatives, 23 (4), 471-497. doi: 10.1177/030437549802300403

Retracing and redrawing the boundaries of events: Postmodern interferences with international theory

1997

Journal Article

Forget IR theory

Bleiker, R (1997). Forget IR theory. Alternatives-social Transformation And Humane Governance, 22 (1), 57-85. doi: 10.1177/030437549702200103

Forget IR theory

1994

Journal Article

The role and dynamics of nongovernmental actors in contemporary Korea

Bleiker, R., Bond, D. and Myung-Soo Lee, (1994). The role and dynamics of nongovernmental actors in contemporary Korea. Korean Studies, 18, 103-122.

The role and dynamics of nongovernmental actors in contemporary Korea

1993

Journal Article

Neorealist Claims in Light of Ancient Chinese Philosophy: The Cultural Dimension of International Theory

Bleiker, Roland (1993). Neorealist Claims in Light of Ancient Chinese Philosophy: The Cultural Dimension of International Theory. Millennium - Journal of International Studies, 22 (3), 401-421. doi: 10.1177/03058298930220030801

Neorealist Claims in Light of Ancient Chinese Philosophy: The Cultural Dimension of International Theory

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

    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

    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

    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

  • 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

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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