1. Introduction
Sexuality, Gender and the Civilising Mission
Exploring the British Case
Mapping the Study of Humanitarian Intervention
2. Queering Humanitarian Intervention as Colonial Violence
A Brief History of Humanitarian Intervention.
Shifting Norms of Humanitarian Intervention
Critical Readings of Humanitarian Intervention
Queer IR and the Study of Humanitarian Intervention
The ‘Homonormative Turn’ in Queer IR
Heteronormativity, Racism and World Politics
Conclusion
3. The Brutal Dictator: Targeting Families, Forming Evil Alliances
Graphic and Heteronormative Discourses of Violence
Discourses of Pathology and Perversion
The Dictator’s Evil Alliances
Resisting Self/Other Dichotomies
Conclusion
4. The ISIL Terrorist: Islamophobia and the Battle for Survival
‘The Islamic Terrorist’ versus ‘The West’
Securitising the Terrorist Threat
Apportioning Responsibility to ‘The Muslim World’
Saving Women, Children and Gays
Resisting the Use of Force and the Category of ‘Terrorist’
Conclusion
5. The British Self: Colonial Masculinity and the (Non)Use of Force
British Values and the Fight for Freedom
Masculinist Logics of IR
Humanitarian and Diplomatic Aims
Resisting Depictions of British Benevolence
Conclusion
6. The Universal Path to Democracy
Democracy as the Telos of Civilisation
The ‘Right’ Side of History
Spatial Representations of Colonial Time
The British Street versus The Arab Street
The State of Nature
Conclusion
7. Conclusion
Brutal Britannia: The Ongoing Coloniality of the British State
Cultural Figures of Normality and/or Perversion (Weber, 2016)
Closing Reflections
Biography
Patrick J. Vernon is a Lecturer in Gender and War Studies in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, UK. Their research studies the role of gendered, sexual and racialised representations in discourses and practices of security. They are particularly interested in the study of political violence from the micro to the global level, having researched topics including online abuse, hostile media representations of minoritised groups, genocide and humanitarian intervention. Patrick has published in journals including Millennium, International Studies Review, International Political Sociology and The British Journal of Politics and International Relations.
“This book tells a vivid story about humanitarian intervention that is rooted in decolonial, queer and feminist commitments. The analysis shows how ongoing colonial projects are explicitly concerned with and steeped in logics of sexual, racial and civilizational (under)development. It is essential reading for academics and students who are using queer theory, and it serves as a clear guide on how to centre queer questions of race and coloniality in our research. Vernon’s conceptualization of the homonormative turn makes a compelling contribution to queer International Relations. The book demonstrates the importance of turning away from the western LGBTQ rights-bearing subject to study the ways that racialized bodies are queered through civilizational and developmental logics.”
Georgia Peters, University of Sydney, Australia in International Affairs, Volume 100, Issue 6, November 2024, Pp. 2680–2682
