In Conversation with Dr Kandida Purnell

Dr Kandida Purnell, Assistant Professor of International Relations at Richmond, has shared details of her research and life as an academic in an interview published recently by Defence Research Network.

Dr Purnell’s research builds on contemporary critical, gender, and postcolonial theory to centre the global politics of bodies. Through cases such as the COVID-19 pandemic, military and other mass casualty repatriation, commemoration, and resistance practices, she investigates contemporary patterns and logics of violence and (re/dis)embodiment. Her book ‘Rethinking the Body in Global Politics‘ was published earlier this year.

In the interview with Defence Research Network, Dr Purnell explains her current research focus and route to academic success, outlining her path from being a student of International Relations to working the international development and think tank sectors before returning to academia to do a PhD and the long road to becoming an Assistant Professor that followed.