Amna Kaleem

University of Sheffield, SCJ

Department of Politics and International Relations, 2nd year PhD student

Thesis title: Securitised Citizenship: Prevent Strategy and the making of Counter-terror Citizens

I am a second-year PhD student in the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Sheffield. My research, which is funded by the

ESRC 1+3 Doctoral Studentship, focuses on the British government’s Prevent Strategy and its impact on citizenship and civic duty. Through this project, I aim to study how this counter-terrorism policy is securitising citizenship by reshaping the norms of civic behaviour and altering the parameters of citizenship practice. I am interested in taking a critical approach to the study of terrorism particularly countering non-violent extremism, the construction of rhetoric around threat of terrorism, and the expansion of the counter-terrorism regime within different avenues of civic life.

Prior to starting my PhD, I completed an MA in Social Research and an MA in Global Security at the University of Sheffield. I also hold a BA (Hons) and MA in International Relations from the University of Karachi, Pakistan.

Through my work as the SCJ forum member, I want to work towards developing a research cluster of doctoral students and academics who work on security issues particularly counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism. The aim is to provide an informal space where researchers can have a productive dialogue and collaborate. Along with my role as an SCJ representative, I am also working as a co-convenor of the International Relations Group at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Sheffield and I am on the editorial team of an upcoming peer-reviewed student journal Global Policy: Next Generation.

Following advice that one should pick up a hobby when they start a PhD to ensure an adequate work-life balance, I have been taking piano lessons for a year now. I am hopeful that by the end of my PhD, I’ll have as much knowledge of music theory as I will of counter-terrorism work.