Josh Walmsley is a PhD researcher in International Relations in the Department of War Studies. His thesis interrogates how the relationship between security, law, and social welfare is contested and reconfigured under the rubric of a fight against radicalisation. Intervening into debates in international political sociology and critical security studies, the research explores issues of data politics ­– that is, how struggles over the collection, classification, quantification, exchange, and disclosure of social administrative data about “radicalisation” is reshaping governmental relations at the intersection of these three fields.

In recent years, Josh has contributed to reports on counter-terrorism for the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, and has participated in expert panels for a number of organisations including the Academy of European Law and the International Commission of Jurists. He holds an MSc in Conflict Resolution and Governance from the University of Amsterdam.

Josh teaches on courses including Global Politics, Contemporary Security Issues, and The Long View: International Relations Through History. He previously taught at Leiden University in the Netherlands. 

Josh's research has been supported by the London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership.

Research Interests

• International Political Sociology
• Critical Security Studies
• Data politics 
• Intelligence
• Social Welfare

Publications

• "Who should be involved in counter-radicalisation policy and practice?", with Ragazzi, F., in Busher, J., Malkki, L., Marsden, S. (2024) The Routledge Handbook of Radiclalisation and Counter-Radicalisation (1st ed.) Routledge. 

• "Counter-radicalisation in the classroom: insights from eight grassroots projects in Council of Europe Member States" (2021), Council of Europe, Strasbourg, with Ragazzi F.

• "The European Union and 'Foreign Terrorist Fighters': Disciplining irreformable radicals?", with Ragazzi F., in Bigo, D., Diez, T., Fanoulis, E., Rosamond, B., & Stivachtis, Y.A. (Eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Critical European Studies (1st ed.). Routledge. 
• "The Return of Foreign Fighters to EU Soil" (2018), with Ragazzi F., European Parliamentary Research Service, Brussels.

 Supervisors

Professor Didier Bigo (primary)

Dr Peter Busch (secondary)