Dr Emma Foster

Emma Foster

Department of Political Science and International Studies
Associate Professor in International Politics

Contact details

Email
e.a.foster@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
Department of Political Science and International Studies
School of Government
Muirhead Tower
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston, Birmingham,
B15 2TT, United Kingdom

Dr Emma A. Foster is an Associate Professor in international politics. Emma’s research interests include gender and sexuality studies, (de)politicisation and anti-politics, international sustainable development policy and development studies more broadly.

Emma co-convenes the Gender and Feminist Theory Group, a vibrant research group hosted in POLSIS and bringing together academics and students across the institution interested in gender and feminist theory. She is also a part of the Birmingham Plastics Network, an interdisciplinary team of more than 40 academics working together to shape the fate and sustainable future of plastics. This unique team brings together chemists, environmental scientists, engineers, philosophers, linguists, economists, artists, writers, lawyers, and experts in many other fields, to holistically address the global plastics problem.

Qualifications

  • PhD Political Science (Birmingham)
  • BA Political Science (Queen Mary, University of London)

Biography

Awarded a PhD from Birmingham in 2008, Emma has continued to work at the University. From 2008 until 2012 she worked as a teaching fellow in the Departments of Sociology (2008-2010) and Political Science and International Studies (2010-2012). In 2012, Emma was appointed as a Lecturer in International Politics in the Department of Political Science and International Studies. During her career, Emma has championed student enhancement, development and employability, and as of 2021 became a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). 

Teaching

Emma co-convenes the first year undergraduate module Understanding Politics and the third year undergraduate module Environment and Climate Politics.  In addition, Emma contributes to the Sexuality and Gender Studies MRes delivered by the College of Arts and Law.

Emma supervises undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations, as well as MRes  and doctoral students.

Postgraduate supervision

Emma supervises PhD students working across a range of areas. These include, but are not limited to: 

  • Environmental Politics and Governance
  • Gender/Sexuality and International Development/Relations
  • Gender, Representation and Participation
  • Queer Theory as it relates to IR, Development and Ecology

Research

Emma is currently researching ‘progressive’ social movements, notably the often uneasy relationship between gender (equality), queer, animal ethics and environmental activist groups and organisations.  Emma’s research to date has focussed on feminist and queer ecology, investigated the gender(ed) dynamics of (development) policy and explored the links between depoliticisation and Foucault’s conception of governmentality in relation to international and British politics.  Emma has been, and continues to be, involved in a variety of projects which seek to contribute to learning and teaching (best) practice. She has published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including Globalizations, Feminist Theory, British Politics, Gender, Place and Culture and the BJPIR, and contributed to several edited collections. 

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Foster, E & Kerr, P 2024, 'Queer/Green collaboration as a radical response to climate crises: Foregrounding the Green Stripe', Global Political Economy, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 73-91. https://doi.org/10.1332/26352257Y2024D000000013

Foster, E 2021, 'Ecofeminism revisited: critical insights on contemporary environmental governance', Feminist Theory, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 190-205. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464700120988639

Costa Vieira, TD & Foster, EA 2021, 'The elimination of political demands: Ordoliberalism, the big society and the depoliticization of co-operatives', Competition and Change. https://doi.org/10.1177/10245294211003292

Kerr, P, Foster, E, Oaten, A & Begum, N 2018, 'Getting back in the DeLorean: modernisation vs anti-modernisation in contemporary British politics', Policy Studies, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 292 - 309. https://doi.org/10.1080/01442872.2018.1478407

Lee, D, Foster, E & Snaith, H 2014, 'Implementing the Employability Agenda: A Critical Review of Curriculum Developments in Political Science and International Relations in English Universities: Implementing The Employability Agenda', Politics, pp. n/a-n/a. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9256.12061

Foster, EA 2014, 'International sustainable development policy : (re)producing sexual norms through eco-discipline', Gender Place and Culture A Journal of Feminist Geography, pp. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2013.810593

Foster, EA, Kerr, P & Byrne, C 2014, 'Rolling back to roll forward: depoliticisation and the extension of government', Policy and politics, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 225-241. https://doi.org/10.1332/030557312X655945

Byrne, C, Kerr, P & Foster, E 2014, 'What Kind of ‘Big Government’ is the Big Society? A Reply to Bulley and Sokhi-Bulley: A Response to Bulley and Sokhi-Bulley', British Journal of Politics and International Relations, pp. n/a-n/a. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-856X.12046

Kerr, P, Foster, E, Byrne, C, Hopkins, A & Ahall, L 2013, 'The Personal is Not Political: At Least in the UK's Top Politics and IR Departments', British Journal of Politics and International Relations. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1467-856X.2011.00500.x

Nunan, F, Campbell, A & Foster, E 2012, 'Environmental mainstreaming: the organisational challenges of policy integration', Public Administration and Development, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 262-277. https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.1624

Foster, E 2011, 'Sustainable Development: Problematising Normative Constructions of Gender within Global Environmental Governmentality', Globalizations, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 135-149. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2010.493013

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Byrne, C, Foster, E & Kerr, P 2012, Understanding Conservative Modernisation. in T Heppell & D Seawright (eds), Cameron and the Conservatives: The Transition to Coalition Government. 1 edn, Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp. 16-31. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230367487_2

Foster, E 2011, Gender and International Relations. in J Haynes, P Hough, S Malik & L Pettiford (eds), World Politics: International Relations and Globalisation in the 21st Century. 1 edn, Routledge, London. <https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315833804>

Chapter

Foster, E & Kerr, P 2025, The Queer Eco-Social Movement and the Radical Potential of Queer Ecology. in K Bell, E Foster & S Satheesh (eds), The SAGE Handbook of Eco-Social Policy and Politics. SAGE Publications.

Foster, E, Kerr, P & Byrne, C 2015, Rolling Back to Roll Forward: Depoliticisation and the Extension of Government. in M Flinders & M Wood (eds), Tracing the Political: Depoliticisation, Governance and the State. New Perspectives in Policy and Politics, Policy Press, pp. 117-138.

View all publications in research portal