Dr. Federica Caso1
1La Trobe University, Australia
Biography:
Federica Caso is a lecturer in International Relations at La Trobe University. Her research examines how the inclusion of gender and racial diversity in the military shapes defence and society and her main project investigates Indigenous military inclusion, settler politics, and reconciliation. She received multiple early career research awards, and her book Settler Military Politics was published in 2024 by Edinburgh University Press. She is also co-chair of the Women Caucus of the Australian Political Studies Association.
Abstract:
This panel brings together scholars interested in exploring the different ways in which settler colonial logics permeate contemporary international studies with particular attention to military practices, identity, and security. Contributions to the panel focus on an analysis of military-Indigenous relations in relation to historical and contemporary manifestations across different contexts such as Fiji and Aotearoa/New Zealand, critical reflection on the specific politics of settler national identities through digital mediation in Israel and Palestine and critical examination of state-oriented cybersecurity policies based on Indigenous elision and dispossession on Turtle Island. Thus, this panel seeks to examine broader questions of military-Indigenous relations, the politics of representation as well as the tensions and contradictions that arise from security practices across both specific localised settler colonial contexts as well as broader transnational regimes.