Dr Matthew Hurley PhD
Senior Lecturer in Politics & International Relations
Summary
My research and teaching are in the field of International Relations with a particular focus on gender, war and security and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
About
My research explores the complex - and contradictory - ways in which gender and sexualities inform the conduct of contemporary international relations. In particular, I am interested in the way understandings of gender and sexualities influence, and are influenced by, international security institutions such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). My most recent book 'NATO, Gender & the Military: Women Organising from Within' (co-authored with Dr Katharine Wright and Jesus Gil-Ruiz) analyses NATO’s historical engagement with gender issues and the Alliance's contemporary efforts to integrate the Women, Peace and Security agenda through the work of NATO women and 'gendermen'. This book was launched at NATO Headquarters in June 2019 as part of the NATO Committee on Gender Perspectives Annual Conference and received an honourable mention in the 2020 British International Studies Association Susan Strange Book Prize, with the judges commenting:
“This is a highly original book based on detailed archival research and extensive interviews, thanks to unprecedented insider access to NATO. The book’s originality lies in the detailed historical account of gender in NATO, drawing on critical feminist theory and methods”
My research has informed workshops, presentations and publications for various NATO bodies such as the NATO Committee on Gender Perspectives, NATO Science and Technology Organisation and NATO Allied Maritime Command and has been published in academic journals such as Critical Military Studies; Global Society; International Feminist Journal of Politics and Millennium: Journal of International Studies.
Teaching
Department of Psychology, Sociology and Politics
College of Social Sciences and Arts
Subject Area
Politics
Courses
- BA Politics
- BA Applied Social Science
- MA International Relations and Global Crises
Modules
- Introduction to International Relations
- Contemporary War & Security Studies
- Sex, Gender & World Politics
- International Relations in Theory & Practice
- Gender & Sexualities in a Global Context
Research
I am currently working on a research project which explores LGBTQ rights, inclusion and (in)visibility within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
Featured Projects
- Link 1 - NATO, Gender & the Military
- Link 2 - NATO, Gender & the Military
Publications
Journal articles
Hurley, M. (2023). Somewhere over the Rainbow (Crossing): Reflections on LGBTQ Allyship at NATO. Critical Military Studies. http://doi.org/10.1080/23337486.2023.2188002
Holmes, G., Wright, K., Basu, S., Hurley, M., Martin de Almagro, M., Guerrina, R., & Cheng, C. (2019). Feminist experiences of ‘studying up’: Encounters with international institutions. Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 47 (2), 210-230. http://doi.org/10.1177/0305829818806429
Holmes, G., Wright, K., Basu, S., Hurley, M., Martin de Almagro, M., Guerrina, R., & Cheng, C. (2019). Feminist experiences of ‘studying up’: Encounters with international institutions. Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 47 (2), 210-230. http://doi.org/10.1177/0305829818806429
Hurley, M. (2018). Watermelons and weddings: Making women, peace and security ‘relevant’ at NATO through (re)telling stories of success. Global Society. http://doi.org/10.1080/13600826.2018.1440195
Hurley, M. (2018). The ‘genderman’: (re)negotiating militarized masculinities when ‘doing gender’ at NATO. Critical Military Studies, 4 (1), 72-91. http://doi.org/10.1080/23337486.2016.1264108
Wright, K.A.M., & Hurley, M. (2017). Navigating gender, power and perceptions when researching NATO: a conversation. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 19 (3), 390-392. http://doi.org/10.1080/14616742.2017.1324096
Book chapters
Raghavan, A., & Hurley, M. (2022). Haunting imposterism. In The Palgrave Handbook of Imposter Syndrome in Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86570-2_36
Hurley, M. (2017). Gender Mainstreaming and Integration in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. In The Palgrave International Handbook of Gender and the Military. Springer
Hurley, M. (2016). Talking Gender, War and Security at NATO. In War & Women Across Continents.
Books
Wright, K.A.M., Hurley, M., & Ruiz, J.I.G. (2019). NATO, Gender and the Military Women Organising from Within. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/NATO-Gender-and-the-Military-Women-Organising-from-Within/Wright-Hurley-Gil-Ruiz/p/book/9780429952074
Theses / Dissertations
Eves, L. (2023). An unfortunate history: Securitization and historical narratives in the Sino-Japanese security paradox. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Hurley, M., & Bromley, S. http://doi.org/10.7190/shu-thesis-00578
Postgraduate supervision
- I am interested in supervising students working on issues of gender, war and security, Feminist IR and international institutions such as NATO.
- Current PhD Supervision:
Lewis Eves - An “Unfortunate History”: Securitization and Historical Narratives within the Sino-Japanese Security Paradox