Dr Chris Rossdale

My research considers how our understandings of politics shift when we begin from the perspective of social movements and political resistance. This is an approach based on the recognition that we gain unique insights about systems of power by examining attempts to challenge them. My work is always in conversation with some combination of anarchist, abolitionist, queer, feminist, anti-colonial and Black radical movements and theoretical approaches. 

My 2019 book Resisting Militarism: Direct Action and the Politics of Subversion was an ethnography of British anti-militarist politics. I engaged with groups like Campaign Against Arms Trade and Stop The Arms Fair in order to think about the nature of contemporary militarism and security politics, and the possibilities and limits of resistance.

My research at the moment is focused on the politics of policing and abolition, on the criminalisation of dissent, and on the ambiguous status of rebellion in contemporary political life.