Harriet Gray

Mackenzie Book Prize 2025-26 Shortlist Announced - Political Studies Association Thank you to all who nominated a book for this esteemed prize which celebrates the distinctive contribution these works have made to advancing Political Studies. From an impressive number of entries, ...

It is such an honour to have our book shortlisted for this amazing prize:

www.psa.ac.uk/news/mackenz...

Former British soldier accused of murdering Kenyan woman appears in court Robert Purkiss faces extradition to Kenya to face charges after Agnes Wanjiru killed near army base in 2012 A man has appeared in court as extradition proceedings began in the case of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan woman who was killed near a British army base in 2012. Robert Purkiss, 38, who is originally from Greater Manchester, appeared before Westminster magistrates court on Friday , and told the court he intended to contest the extradition. It is understood that he was arrested on Thursday night. Continue reading...

Former British soldier accused of murdering Kenyan woman appears in court

The official response of @DefenceHQ @BritishArmy to the Jaysley Beck case appears to be “we will put more women on court martial boards”. This has absolutely no relevance to that case and just gives the impression they are desperately scrambling for something to say

Army officer admits sexual assault of teenager Jaysley Beck before she took her own life Beck’s family say failures within justice system led to her death after Michael Webber pleaded guilty to crime A former senior noncommissioned army officer has admitted sexually assaulting the teenage soldier Jaysley Beck, who later killed herself. WO Michael Webber pleaded guilty to assaulting Gunner Beck during a training exercise and will be sentenced at the military court in Bulford, Wiltshire on 31 October. Continue reading...

Army officer admits sexual assault of teenager Jaysley Beck before she took her own life

Family of Kenyan woman allegedly murdered by UK soldiers criticise defence secretary Niece of Agnes Wanjiru says she thinks John Healey is ‘taking us for a ride’ The niece of a Kenyan woman who was murdered more than a decade ago, allegedly by British soldiers, has said her family now believe the defence secretary “just made a promise for his political gain” when he met them in April. John Healey told the family of Agnes Wanjiru of his “determination to see a resolution” in the case of her murder, pledging the UK’s full support for the investigation. Continue reading...

Family of Kenyan woman allegedly murdered by UK soldiers criticise defence secretary

The problem is far bigger than Jeffrey Epstein | Rebecca Solnit Treating the scandal as an aberration misunderstands the global epidemic of violence against women

"One of the reasons the epidemic of violence against women is so unacknowledged is because cases like these are talked about individually, and often treated as though they are shocking aberrations rather than part of a pervasive pattern that operates at all levels of society."

Palestinian statehood is not a bargaining chip.

It is not a threat.

It is an inalienable right of the Palestinian people.

Our demands on this shameful government remain the same: end all arms sales to Israel, impose widespread sanctions, and stop the genocide, now.

All famines are man-made, all famines are political. Historians of empire and humanitarianism have known this forever. Gaza is not starving, Gaza is being starved, by Israel, and this starvation is enabled by our government and by every other government that does not step in to force food and aid.

How is this happening simultaneously, I feel like I’m going more insane every day

If you are not concerned by the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation because you think it doesn’t impact you, you are wrong.

This is an authoritarian abuse of power by the government & it curtails all of our civil liberties #r4today

Greta Thunberg being interviewed

Reporter: How did the Israelis treat you, we saw them giving sandwiches? Greta Thunberg: They probably have posted lots of PR stunts, they did an illegal act by kidnapping us in international waters but that's not the real story here. The real story is the genocide in Gaza and systematic starvation. Reporter: Are you worried about the others? Greta: Yes...l'm calling for everyone who can to mobilize to demand their immediate release and, of course, to demand not only humanitarian aid being let into Gaza but also a ceasefire and most importantly an end to the occupation, an end to the systemic oppression and violence that Palestinians are facing on an everyday basis. Reporter: "Why do you think so many countries and governments around the world are just ignoring what's happening in Gaza?" Greta Thunberg: "Because of racism."

This enables us to approach the quilt not only as a product but as a collaborative project that aims to enable people to reinvent their communities; as such, we suggest, it has much to teach us about how feminist and antiracist political movements might usefully mobilize mnemonic resources.

In the paper, we argue that because of its form, the Quilt opens space for narrative complexity, community building, and an approach to temporality that foregrounds the chronicity of gender-based violence.

The Monument Quilt was a large-scale, collaborative, textile-based craftivist project based in Baltimore and Mexico City that brought together 3,000 red fabric squares made by survivors of GBV and their allies.

“You Are Not Alone”: Feminist Memorialization and the Present Tense of Gender-Based Violence in the Monument Quilt | Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society: Vol 50, No 4 Abstract In recent years a new tide of memorials dedicated to victim-survivors of gender-based violence has started to rise across the world. In this article, we analyze a significant example of this ...

I have a new article out today in Signs, co-authored with Phoebe Martin, titled ‘You Are Not Alone: Feminist Memorialisation and the Present Tense of Gender-Based Violence in the Monument Quilt.’ www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Curating conflict-related sexual violence: gender, politics and memory at war museums Women’s rights activists have described museums and other heritage sites as tools of advocacy to fight the scourge of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). Museums can sensitize the public to se...

The second article in a planned special issue that I am co-editing on gender and memorialisation is out! Audrey Reeves and Hannah Gignoux explore how museums in the US and UK curate the memory of conflict-related sexual violence.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

OPEN LETTER: 100+ UK Academics & Writers to Keir Starmer New anti-immigrant rules are bad policy & will only validate the far-right

I recently co-authored & circulated (with @polphilpod.bsky.social ) an open letter against Starmer’s anti-immigrant rules & rhetoric.

Over 100 of my UK-based colleagues signed it. Read the whole thing here:

www.politicalphilosophypodcast.com/starmer

Keir Starmer's net favourability rating has dropped 12pts in a month to -46, his lowest level ever, including a 34pt drop among Labour voters

All Britons: -46 net rating (down 12 from 13-14 Apr)

By 2024 vote
Labour: -5 (down 34)
Lib Dem: -13 (down 12)
Conservative: -76 (up 1)
Reform: -94 (down 5)

CFP: Join us for The Art of Politics - a workshop on the aesthetics of repression, resistance & reparation, co-convened by Melissa Chacón, @sara-de-jong.bsky.social, @drharrietgray.bsky.social & me for the inaugural BISA/ISA workshop.

All details below 👇

www.isanet.org/Conferences/...

I’m so privileged to be at a conference on ‘Remembering comfort women’ at SOAS today, learning about the politics of remembering wartime sexual violence from some fascinating scholars and discussions.

Towards a transformative memory of wartime sexualized violence? The ‘violence and gender’ exhibition at Dresden’s military history museum of the army This article asks how museums can mobilize memories of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) for progressive social ends. My case study is the ‘Violence and Gender’ exhibition, which ran at the M...

specifically in Germany. It is well worth a read: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

I’m late to this, but I’ve just realised that the first article from a brilliant SI I’m editing in the Journal of Gender Studies has been published! Katie Stone’s compelling work on how museums can mobilize memories of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) for progressive social ends,

Wapo headline: how Palestinian first responders ended up in a mass grave

Ended. Up.

Ended.

Up.

endedup

Female defence workers say sexual harassment not addressed after MoD allegations Exclusive: Union calls for inquiry more than a year after whistleblowers wrote to department about alleged abuse Female defence workers feel little has been done to address sexual harassment more than a year after whistleblowers sounded the alarm about serious problems at the Ministry of Defence, a leading trade union has said. A survey of female members of the Prospect union working in defence showed a falling level of confidence in action to deter sexual harassment, from 47% in January 2024 to 39% in February 2025. Continue reading...

Female defence workers say sexual harassment not addressed after MoD allegations

The Temporal Politics of Inevitability: Mass Death during the COVID-19 Pandemic Abstract. Many international phenomena, from complex, interconnected processes to specific catastrophes, have been deemed “inevitable” by elites, policymak

New article, "Temporal Politics of Inevitability: Mass Death During the COVID-19 Pandemic", with @mjbayly.bsky.social and @dryunahan.bsky.social, out today in ISQ : academic.oup.com/isq/article/...

If not now, when? Jaysley Beck's case shows the urgent need for reform of serious complaints handling for soldiers - Centre for Military Justice Jaysley Beck, a bright, energetic and kind teenager, had plenty to complain about during her final few months in the Army. A senior NCO who was more than twice her age, the Royal Artillery Battery Sgt...

centreformilitaryjustice.org.uk/if-not-now-w...

‘This is not a problem of the past’: Jaysley Beck’s death shows toxic misogyny persists in the armed forces Failings in handling of 19-year-old’s sexual assault complaints have left family hoping her inquest can finally effect real change

‘This is not a problem of the past’: Jaysley Beck’s death shows toxic misogyny persists in the armed forces

Army sexual harassment: ‘People wouldn’t join if they knew the truth’ Speaking for the first time after the death of Jaysley Beck, 19, a fellow recruit says harassment of women is widespread and hard to report as the men close ranks

Speaking for the first time after the death of Jaysley Beck, 19, a fellow recruit says harassment of women is widespread and hard to report as the men close ranks

Wiltshire soldier complained of 'psychotic' boss before suicide An inquest hears Jaysley Beck, 19, was sent 3,600 messages by a senior colleague in one month.

Our thoughts are with all those who loved Jaysley Beck

We run specialist independent support for service men, women & their families who are experiencing domestic or sexual violence- regardless of where you are based #EnoughIsEnough #ArmedServices

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

‘A piece of meat in a tank of sharks': Friend of Jaysley Beck describes misogyny in Army

www.itv.com/news/2025-02...