Michael Lister

This is an important point. In addition to the odiousness of the suggestion, if you wanted to flambé the UK economy I can’t think of a better way.

Sure. I completely agree-it’s hideous and horrendous. And it needs all the pushback it deserves, moral and practical

They should also be asking basic questions about costs & economic impact. Aside from the hideous morality, this stuff is fairytale (nightmare) politics. If someone of the left proposed free laptops for all, they’d be immediately asked where the money comes from. This stuff should be no different

New publication from PAIS' Akinyemi Oyawale!

Akin, with Prof. Lee Jarvis (University of Adelaide) and Prof. Michael Lister (Oxford Brookes), examines vernacular security in Security Dialogue.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

New article just published in the Journal of Global Security Studies on different critical strategies within vernacular discourse on security. The article's open access and free to read here academic.oup.com/jogss/articl...

So pleased to see the introduction to our special issue on #vernacularsecurity published in Security Dialogue! Coauthored with @michaellister.bsky.social & Akin Oyawale, the issue pushes vernacular security research into exciting new directions. Free to read here journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

* I guess if we’re being technical, Farage massively exacerbated the economic malaise, which dates back (at least) to the financial crisis. But the fundamental point is that no Brexit equals a relatively better economy

Completely agree Alex. But there’s also something weird and twisted that the reason so many people are up for the fascism thing that Farage is selling, is the economic malaise that Farage himself has caused via Brexit.

Thrilled to have a chapter in this new book, now published with @manchesterup.bsky.social. My chapter with @michaellister.bsky.social looks at UK security policies and priorities, including in relation to COVID, terrorism, and austerity.

Great, balanced @politicalquarterly.bsky.social essay on the unhappy rise of laws named after victims onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

New article in @politicalquarterly.bsky.social w/ @michaellister.bsky.social & @apowelllaw.bsky.social on the naming of laws after exemplary victims of injustice. While opening space for addressing harm, such laws also, we argue, pose political & legal risks: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Great working with @apowelllaw.bsky.social and @leejarvis.bsky.social on this piece about the increasing prevalence of naming laws after specific people. Open Access at the link 👇

Trial and terror: What actually happens when a group is 'proscribed'? Podcast Episode · The Bunker – News without the nonsense · 03/07/2025 · 18m

Really pleased to talk about #proscription with @gavinesler.bsky.social on @bunkerpod.bsky.social: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

After that Government (Partygate! Truss!!!) and that campaign, (D-Day????) you could even say winning under 34% of the vote is not exactly god-like genius…

Proscribing Palestine Action: Questions and Issues for the UK The freedom of association is a fundamental tenet of liberalism, and interfering with it can evoke authoritarianism.

New piece with @timlegrand.bsky.social on the proposed proscription of Palestine Action: www.e-ir.info/2025/06/27/p...

Really enjoyed working with @leejarvis.bsky.social and @apowelllaw.bsky.social on this. Full article in @politicalquarterly.bsky.social soon!

🎯

Just out in @secdialogue.bsky.social

My new article, "From individual to collective: Vernacular security and #Ukrainian civil society in wartime" - part of the special issue on the 20th anniversary of #VernacularSecurity

doi.org/10.1177/0967...

1/3. We're excited to announce the publication of our latest article: "Security Professionals and Public Opinion: Legitimacy, Publicity, and Brand Identity", by Michael Lister!
@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social
@sagepub.com

Public Opinion and Counter-Terrorism: Security and Politics in the UK This book examines the ways in which the views of the public inhabit the counter-terrorism policy space, with a focus on the UK case. Drawing insights from Critical Terrorism Studies, Critical Securi...

Based on interviews with UK counterterrorism security professionals it argues that public opinion does matter for such “securocrats”, albeit in different ways for public and private actors. It draws from a wider project covered in my recent book:
www.routledge.com/Public-Opini... (2/2)

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

My new article is out in @journalpolitics.bsky.social. “Security professionals and public opinion: legitimacy, publicity and brand identity”. It looks at the ways in which non elected security professionals, think about public opinion. Open access (1/2)

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

In our latest issue, Chris Hesketh elucidates on the concept of ‘coloniality of space’ in the context of Latin America. It's #OpenAccess and free to read!

📄 👉 buff.ly/UcyGmZk

Reflecting on Terrorism’s Temporalities After the Southport Attacks The question over what ‘terrorism’ means has divided and confounded researchers, as well as policymakers and citizens, since the term’s emergence.

Groups like Al Qaeda used to be the antithesis of older terrorisms like the IRA. Now they're often seen as equivalent. What's going on with our temporal imaginaries of terrorism? And why does it matter? New
E-IR piece w/ Andrew Whiting & @michaellister.bsky.social: www.e-ir.info/2025/01/29/r...

You can see this in the different ways in UK & US debates which periodise contemporary terrorism differently-as new in the UK but as connected to older violences in the US-to mobilise support for different counterterrorism agendas. (end)

So what’s going on here? We argue that attempts to periodise terrorism-as old, or new-represent political attempts to mobilise terrorism’s pasts and presents in order to support particular projects, causes and goals. (4/n)

For scholars of terrorism this forces a double take. In the early 2000s Al-Qaeda were seen as representatives of a new kind of terrorism, but one that was underpinned by *non*-political aims and *fragmented* organisation-the very opposite of the characteristics imputed by Starmer. (3/n)

Last week Starmer gave a speech about the Southport murders. In it he claimed Britain faces a new kind of terrorism, contrasting the ideologically diverse kind of violence that Axel Rudakubana represents, with “highly organised groups with clear political intent… like Al-Qaeda” (2/n)

Reflecting on Terrorism’s Temporalities After the Southport Attacks The question over what ‘terrorism’ means has divided and confounded researchers, as well as policymakers and citizens, since the term’s emergence.

New blog post about how we think about terrorism and time, with @leejarvis.bsky.social and Andy Whiting. Short thread: (1/n)

www.e-ir.info/2025/01/29/r...

Fascinating new open access article from @leejarvis.bsky.social and @michaellister.bsky.social. They argue, in short, that we critical security/terrorism scholars told you so, but that converging with the mainstream raises questions for the critical project.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

The special issue's final piece, by @michaellister.bsky.social & me, asks what happens to critical security thinking when its ideas and arguments achieve (or appear to achieve) wider currency: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... (Thread, 11/12)