Marianna Karakoulaki

Violent Borders and the Necropolitics of Fortress EuropeMarianna Karakoulaki

Marianna’s research focuses on border violence, death and forced migration at Europe’s East Mediterranean migratory route. Using ethnographic methods which include documentary photography, observation, and unstructured interviews Marianna employs a necropolitical theoretical framework to examine the experiences of people on the move in relation to the shifting nature of the violent border in Europe; their connection to death and the liminal spaces of mortality; and EUrope’s border security practices.

Supervisors: Dr Nicola Smith, Dr Sotirios Zartaloudis

Qualifications

BA Mediterranean Studies (International Relations and Organisations), University of the Aegean (2006-2011)

MA International Relations (Security), University of Birmingham (2011-2012)

Biography

Marianna joined the University of Birmingham in 2019 to study a PhD in International Relations (part-time). Her research is placed within the wider field of Critical Border Studies and examines violent borders, forced migration and death. She has been a PGR Rep for POLSIS and a Senior Rep for the School of Government since 2019; in 2020 she was awarded the Outstanding PGR Rep Award for the College of Social Sciences. 

In addition, Marianna works as a journalist and photojournalist. Before moving to the UK, she worked as a foreign correspondent in Greece and the wider region. She has won several awards for her work including the Royal Television Society Award and the Foreign Press Association award for her work as a producer with Channel 4 News/ITN, and the third prize of the Migration Media Awards for her work with Deutsche Welle (DW News). She holds an MA from the University of Birmingham, UK and a BA from the University of the Aegean, Greece.

Teaching responsibilities

Graduate Teaching Associate, University of Birmingham

Understanding International Relations (2021, 2022, 2024)

Understanding Politics (2023)

Understanding Political Economy (2020) 

Adjunct Online Instructor, University of the People, California, USA

Globalisation (2023-2024)

Online Teaching Methods (2023-2024) 

Tutor, Oxford Summer Courses, Cambridge

International Relations and Politics (2023)

Media Studies (2023)

Professional memberships

BISA

IAFSM

NUJ

Conference papers

28-30 April 2022

Presentation Title: A Political Thanatos: Migratory Deaths in the Greek Borderlands

Thanatic Ethics, International Conference

‘Bodies on the Edge: Life and Death in Migration in Maison Française of Oxford, Oxford, UK’ 

May 2021

Presentation Title: Journalism and Vulnerable Communities: Lessons from Reporting Refugees’ Stories

Graduate Centre for Europe: 15th Annual Conference, University of Birmingham

‘Communities in Europe: Between Continuity and Transition’ 

May 2020

Presentation Title: Migrant Solidarities and Resistance in Greece’s Refugee Camps

Graduate Centre for Europe: 14th Annual Conference, University of Birmingham

‘Voices of Change: Presents, Pasts and Futures of Activism and Protest in Europe’ 

July 2018

Presentation Title: No Borders against Border Violence

International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM), Thessaloniki, Greece 

5-6 March 2018

Presentation Title: Journalism and the Far Right: Covering the Refugee

Crisis in Greece

European Federation of Journalists, Media against Hate Conference, Brussels, Belgium 

24-25 October 2016

Keynote Speech Title: Movements, Borders, Rights? Feminist Perspectives on Global Issues in Europe

WIDE+ & European Women’s Lobby International Conference, Brussels, Belgium

Publications

Books

Karakoulaki, M., Southgate L. and Steiner J. (eds) (2018), Critical Perspectives on Migration in the 21st Century, E-IR Publishing.

 

Book Chapters

 

Karakoulaki, M. (2020), Abortion and the Law, in F. Bernat and K. Frailing (eds), Encyclopaedia of Women and Crime, Wiley.

 

Karakoulaki, M. (2018) Europe’s Barbwire Fences. Reflections on Reporting the Refugee Crisis in Greece. In M. Karakoulaki, L. Southgate, and J. Steiner, Critical Perspectives on Migration in the 21st Century, E-IR Publishing.

Reports

 

Karakoulaki, M. and Dessi, G. (2021), Antisemitism and Anti-Vax Discourse in Europe. A Report on Conspiracy Ideologies and anti-Jewish hatred on Facebook and Twitter. Media Diversity Institute.

 

Karakoulaki, M. (2019), Cyprus: Towards an Asylum Crisis, PRIO Cyprus Centre, Policy Brief 1. Nicosia: PRIO Cyprus Centre.