Jef Huysmans

Jef Huysmans is Professor of International Politics at Queen Mary University of London's School of Politics and International Relations. Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Social Sciences from the University of Lapland in 2024.

Education: PhD (University of Leuven), MA (University of Hull), BA (University of Leuven).

Research examines the politics of insecurity, securitization of migration, and critical methodologies in security studies. Current projects investigate: 1) Conceptual primacy of movement in security/migration studies 2) Limits of critique in catastrophic times 3) Transversalizing international theory.

Convenes the MA in International Political Sociology and co-leads the Research Group on International Political Sociology. Secured British Academy funding for writing workshops advancing transversal scholarship.

Recent publications analyze differential politics, security governmentality, and mobility in pandemic contexts. Supervises PhD students on border securitization, urban-international entanglements, and security outsourcing.