Jenny Edkins

Jenny Edkins is a Professor of Politics at the University of Manchester, specializing in critical international relations, postcolonial politics, and the intersection of performance and politics. She holds a physics degree from the University of Oxford, a social sciences degree from the Open University, and a PhD from Aberystwyth University (1997), supported by a Leverhulme Special Research Fellowship.

Her research explores trauma, humanitarian aid, and political uncertainty through interdisciplinary lenses. Notable works include Change and the Politics of Certainty (2019) and After Grenfell (2019). She co-founded the Performance and Politics international research centre and leads initiatives like the Gregynog Ideas Lab.

Edkins’ collaborative projects bridge academia and activism, addressing famine policy, missing persons, and urban disaster responses. Her creative works include poetry and narrative politics, exemplified by her poem As it turned out (2019).

• Leverhulme Fellowship (1997)

Her advisory roles include contributions to UK government and NGO policies on humanitarian crises. She has authored over twelve books, including foundational texts in poststructuralist IR and narrative politics.