Politics
HomePeopleProfile

Profile

Dr Gabriela Patricia Garcia Garcia

Lecturer in Security Studies and International Relations

I am a Lecturer in Security Studies and IR at the University of Exeter since June 2022. My research focusses on the securitisation of (forced) migration. In particular, I analyse governmental-led security practices and discourses, and the lived experiences of security scripts on refugee and migrant populations, including its gendered, racialised and colonial dimensions. More recently, I have begun exploring decolonial understandings of inclusion and ‘diversity’ and participatory and visual methods.

Prior to joining Exeter, I held several Research Fellow/Associate positions at the University of Aberdeen, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Southampton, and University College Dublin. I have also developed an interdisciplinary teaching portfolio covering IR, Politics, Qualitative Methods and Latin American Studies.

I hold a PhD in Politics and International Relations (University of Aberdeen, 2021), an MSc in International Relations (University of Glasgow, 2014), and a BA Hons in Law (Universidad de Especialidades Espiritu Santo, UEES, 2012).

Besides my academic background, I have practised immigration and asylum law in South America and have worked in the development and humanitarian sector. 

Research group links

Research interests

  • Critical security studies
  • Securitisation Theory
  • Migrant and Refugee inclusion and integration
  • Migration and Refugee Governance
  • Regional integration in South America
  • Decoloniality 
  • Arts-based methdologies 
  • Visual IR 
  • Latin American Politics 
  • Migration in the global South

Recent publication: 

  1. García García GP. ‘We opened the door [too] much’: The challenging desecuritisation of Colombian refugees in Ecuador. European Journal of International Security. Published online 2024:1-21. doi:10.1017/eis.2024.7
     
     
  2.  

 

External impact and engagement

I have written blogposts on the topics of the securitisation of Venezuelan displacement and legal mobilisation in backsliding contexts.

Recently, I started documenting my experiential teaching approach in my blog Journeys with(in): Learning and Teaching Securitisation of Migration. In February 2024, we launched our student-led Collage Expo conveying their learning process in our POL3300 Securitisation of Migration module. You can visit the Expo here.

 Edit profile