Biography:

Dr Samah Rafiq is a Lecturer in International Relations Theory in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. Her research explores the international politics of borders and migration, with particular attention to how global south perspectives challenge and enrich dominant frameworks in IR theory. She works at the intersection of international relations theory, critical security studies, international political sociology, and postcolonial approaches to international relations.

Her current research, supported by the British Academy and the British International Studies Association, examines how public and private actors intersect in the control of human mobility and what this reveals about power relations in global mobility regimes. Through case studies in India and the UK, the research explores how bordering practices shape core concepts in international relations such as sovereignty, security and the state.

Dr Rafiq holds a PhD in International Politics from the Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament (CIPOD), School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. She was previously a Fox Fellow at Yale University and has taught at SOAS University of London. She also has experience of working in migration policy in India.

She is currently preparing a monograph based on her doctoral research and teaches undergraduate and postgraduate modules at the Department of War Studies. Her peer-reviewed article in Geopolitics is currently included on reading lists at King’s, SOAS, and the Hertie School. She is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

 

Research interests:

International Relations Theory; Security, Borders; Migration; Postcolonialism; Biopolitics; Governmentality; Non-state actors; Neoliberalism; Technology; Privatisation; Global South; South Asia

 

Teaching:

2024-25:

4SSW1006 International Relations Theory (BA1 core) – Module convenor

7SSWN079 Theories, Concepts and Methods in International Relations (MA core)

 

Publications:

Peer-reviewed journal article:

Rafiq, Samah. 2022. Linear borders, partition and identity in postcolonial South Asia. Geopolitics. 27 (2): 478-500. DOI: 10.1080/14650045.2020.1757652. (Journal Impact Factor, 2022: 2.9)

Blogs/Op-eds:

Rafiq, Samah. South Asia needs a climate migration policy framework. The Wire. Published online on 10 August 2023.

Rafiq, Samah. The colonial roots of linear borders in South Asia. Security in Context. Published online on 6 August 2023.

Rafiq, Samah. 2020. Open borders: scapegoat in COVID-19 response. Yale Global. Published online on 9 April 2020.

Rafiq, Samah. 2018. Crossing international borders: how mobile is the South Asian individual? NewsClick, published online on 23 March 2018.

Book reviews:

Rafiq, Samah. 2016. Networks of rebellion: explaining insurgent cohesion and collapse. Civil Wars. 18(4):538-541. DOI: 10.1080/13698249.2017.1296807.

 

Funding:

Her current research is funded by the British Academy and the British International Studies Association. She has previously received support from the Fox Fellowship programme at Yale University from the University Grants Commission of India.