Dr Sarah Perret is Research Associate at the Department of War Studies, working on the transformation of knowledge within International Politics, with a focus on security policy-making, and the use of digital technologies in the practices of border management professionals. Since joining King’s College, she has been contributing to the European Research Council Project led by Professor Claudia Aradau: ‘SECURITY FLOWS: Enacting border security in the digital age: Political lives of data forms, flows and frictions’, which examines the epistemic, practical, political and ethical implications of the datafication of border security. Sarah Perret contributes to Security flows project by carrying out theoretical, methodological and empirical research on datafication at the EU’s borders, especially in France, Germany and Greece.

Before joining King’s College, she has conducted postdoctoral research at the ENS in Paris focused on the re-conceptualisation of ‘risk’ and the sharing knowledge on societal security. She has received her PhD in Political science and International relations from University of Paris-Saclay (in November 2015), in which she compared the security implementation (‘securitization’) of legislative changes on naturalisation in Germany, the United States, and France.

Sarah Perret has been a visiting researcher at Georgetown University's BMW Centre for German and European Studies during her doctoral studies, has taught at University of Paris-Saclay, Paris 2 Assas University, Paris 8 Vincennes Saint-Denis University, Georgetown University, Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, Sciences Po and University of Trento.

She also is ‘chercheuse associée’ at the Ecole Normale Supérieure (Chair in Geopolitics of Risk) and at the LabToP-CRESPPA/CNRS in Paris, and a founded Member of the multidisciplinary network on Terrorism Studies called OCTAV.

In parallel of her academic curriculum, she has been parliamentary advisor at the French ‘Assemblée nationale’ (2010-2013), and consultant at the World Bank on Governance and Public policies in West Africa (2015-2016). She also has been ministerial advisor on equality and social diversity for the former French Minister of National Education, Higher Education and Research (2016-2017).

Research interests

• Critical security and border studies
• International political sociology
• Critical methods in international relations
• Citizenship and naturalization policies
• Datafication and digital technologies
• (Non-)knowledge and governance

Sarah Perret adopts an interdisciplinary approach that lies at the intersection of International Political Sociology, Critical Security studies, Border and Migration studies, and Science and Technology studies (STS), with a focus on security, identity and technology policies.

Her work contributes to 3 main areas:

- The securitization studies on migration and citizenship, by examining in particular the role of national laws in the political construction of the question of risk alongside that of 'threat'.

- Debates on technology and materiality in international security, looking at the actors and devices involved in EU border management.

- The emerging field of ignorance studies, studying the effects of non-knowledge on border datafication processes and the power relations at stake. 

Teaching

MA supervision

Recent publications

Book

• Perret S. & Burgess J. P. (2022), Géopolitique du risque: De la possibilité du danger à l’incertitude de la menace[Geopolitics of Risk: From the possibility of danger to the uncertainty of threat], Paris, Editions Le Cavalier Bleu.

Book chapters

• Perret S. (2021), ‘L’action législative: un outil de gestion du risque terroriste?’ [The legislative act: a tool for managing terrorist risk?], in A. Bencherif & F. Mérand (Ed.), L’analyse du risque politique, Presses Universitaires de Montréal, p. 203-217.
• Perret S. & Root D. (2019), ‘Citoyenneté/Nationalité’ [Citizenship/Nationality], in A. Macleod & P. Bonditti (Ed.), Relations internaltionales. Théories et Concepts, Québec, Athéna Éditions, 4th Edition.

Research Articles

• Valdivia A., Aradau C., Blanke T. and Perret S. (2022, forthcoming), ‘Neither opaque nor transparent: a transdisciplinary investigation of the EU’s border datafication,’ Big Data and Society.
• Aradau C. & Perret S. (2022), ‘The politics of (non)knowledge at Europe’s Border: Errors, fakes and subjectivity’, Review of International Studies, 48(3), 405-424.
• Beauvallet W., Fragnon J. & Perret S. (2022), ‘Voit-on mieux de plus près? Être chercheur.e au Parlement,’ [Do we see better from closer? Being a researcher in Parliament] Politix, n°136(4), 5-26.
• Martin-Mazé M. & Perret S. (2021), ‘Designs of Borders: Security, Critique and the Machines,’ European Journal of International Security, 6(3).
• Perret S. (2018), ‘L’écrit comme pratique de sécuritisation: analyse des évolutions législatives sur la nationalité française [Writing as securitization practice: analysis of legislative changes on French citizenship],’ Études Internationales, 49(1).
• S. Perret, D. Root (2019) ‘Nationalité/citoyenneté,’ in Alex Macleod et Philippe Bonditti (eds.), Relations Internationales. Théories et concepts, Editions Athéna, Montréal.

Policy papers

• Ragazzi F., Davidshofer S., Perret S. & Tawfik A. (2019), ‘The effects of counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation on Muslim populations in France,’ Centre d’études sur les conflits
• Perret S., Burgess J. P., Herrera F. J., Kreissl R. & Müller L. (2018), ‘Guidebook for sharing knowledge on societal security,’ SOURCE Societal Security Network of Excellence, Deliverable 2.7 (Final iteration)

Media Articles

• Perret S. (2021), ‘The depoliticization of technology cannot solve the EU’s border security problem,’ International Affairs Blog.
• Ragazzi F., Perret S., Davidshofer S. & Tawfik A. (2020), ‘«Séparatisme »: et si la politique antiterroriste faisait fausse route?,’ [”Separatism”: what if counter-terrorism policy is on the wrong track?], The Conversation.
• Burgess J. P. & Perret S. (2018), ‘The fight against terrorism: the rule of uncertainty?’, The Conversation.
• Perret S. (2017), ‘Le décret anti-réfugiés de Trump, un test démocratique pour les États-Unis,’ [Trump’s anti-refugee Executive Order, a democratic test], The Conversation.

Further information

See Sarah's research profile