Dr Elisabeth Schweiger

Elisabeth is a Lecturer in International Politics. Prior to joining the University of Stirling she worked as a lecturer at the Politics department of the University of York and at the University of Edinburgh. Elisabeth is Convenor of the BISA Working Group for Security Policy and Practice. She is interested in alternative approaches to security and foreign policy and has worked with policy-makers, NGOs, and think tanks.

Elisabeth researches contemporary asymmetrical use of force within the wider context of the colonial continuities of counterinsurgency practices by the Global North. She has particularly focused on the role of silence in military violence, through interlinking modalities such as secrecy, acquiescence, presuppositions, silencing and exclusion and has looked at the intersection of international law and politics.

Elisabeth obtained her PhD from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands where she particularly focused on ‘targeted killing’ practices in international law and politics. She has previously studied at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Aberdeen.

Elisabeth is interested in structural power relations and how they impact on people's insecurities, particularly in regards to military violence. Her work is interdisciplinary, engaging with international politics, international political sociology, international law and history.

Publications include:

• Schweiger, E. and Tomiak, K. 2023 “Researching Silence: A Methodological Inquiry”, Millennium

• Schweiger, E. 2021 “Fighting Silence: Covert Warfare and the Uphill Battle Against the Unsaid”, European Journal of International Relations

• Schweiger, E. 2019 “Targeted Killing and the Lack of Acquiescence”, Leiden Journal of International Law

• Schweiger, E. 2019 “‘The Lure of Novelty: ‘Targeted Killing’ and Its Older Terminological Siblings", International Political Sociology

• Schweiger, E. 2018 “Listen Closely: What Silence Can Tell Us About Legal Knowledge Production”, London Review of International Law

• Schweiger, E. 2015. “The Risks of Remaining Silent: International Law Formation and the EU Silence on Drone Killings”, Global Affairs (2015) 3(1)

Teaching Award for ‘Supporting Student Voices’, University of York Student Union, 2022

Runner-up for University-wide ‘Best Tutor Award’, Edinburgh University Student Association, 2017

Best Tutor in Politics and International Relations Award, University of Edinburgh, 2015