Jan Bachmann

Gothenburg Centre of Globalization and Development and School of Global Studies

Postdoctoral Researcher

About

I have been working as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Global Studies since September 2010.

I gained a PhD in Politics from the University of Bristol, UK in 2010. My thesis was a theory-driven study on international counterterrorism engagement in Kenya building upon Foucault’s perspective of governs mentality. I also hold a M.A. in political science from the University of Leipzig, Germany.

Areas of interest

From a perspective of critical security studies I am examining discourses and practices of the security-development nexus. I am interested in liberal interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa and, in a more general sense, in international relations with a focus on the postcolonial world. A second but related area of interest is the current reconfiguration of Western militaries and the contested boundary between civilian and military responsibilities in relation to the debate on counterinsurgency and stabilization missions.

Current research

My current project analyzes discourses and practices of contemporary Western “whole-of-government” and “comprehensive” approaches towards problematized social spaces in the global South. Of particular interest are questions of how Western militaries expand their mandate into issues of civilian governance such as development and conflict prevention and how civil-military tools, applied in war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan, are now increasingly ‘tested’ in non-war contexts in Eastern Africa. I am going to study the activities of the US Africa Command in Eastern Africa as well as the perceptions of the communities towards these projects.

Teaching and tutoring

I teach on issues related to security, sovereignty, counterterrorism, govern mentality, the security-development nexus and African politics in the undergraduate courses “Security and Conflicts in a Changing World”, “Political Relations, Conflicts and Conflict Management in Africa” and within the Masters programs “Theories and Perspectives of Global Studies” and “Global Democracy and Security”. Additionally, I am co-coordinator of the Master course “Global Democracy and Security”.