Kathleen M. Jennings

About

My academic work has focused primarily on the institutional, operational, conceptual, gendered, and political-economic aspects of UN peace operations in conflict-affected countries. It is characterized by a focus on how organizational rules, regulations, policy, and practice intersect with and impact the everyday, lived realities of people in and affected by conflict. My work is cross-disciplinary, encompassing political science and International Relations, critical peace and security studies, gender studies, and political economy, and uses empirical qualitative methods including interviews, focus groups, discourse and documentary analysis, and process tracing. I have fieldwork experience from Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and Haiti.

In addition to conducting research, I have also worked in an administrative leadership capacity as head of the section for Research and Development at the Faculty of Social Sciences, OsloMet -- Oslo Metropolitan University. I hold a PhD (political science) from the University of Oslo, an M.Phil (politics) from Oxford University, and a BA (political science, honors) from Stanford University.

In the period 2022-2023, I served as elected representative for temporary staff to the Faculty Board, the Faculty Research Committee, and the Faculty Hiring Committee.

In January 2023, I joined the leadership group at ISS as Deputy Head of Organization and Development.

Current research

My current postdoctoral project, conducted at the Department of Sociology and Political Science (ISS), NTNU, examines the discourses related to equality, diversity, and effectiveness within the Norwegian military. I am interested in the interplay between these discourses and evolving notions of citizenship and the national interest, and how these diffuse notions concretely translate into organizational initiatives, internal resource distribution, and (claims of) operational effectiveness.

Previous research projects and themes

Previous research projects have focused on gendered peacekeeping economies, primarily in Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in peacekeeping operations; disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants; and women's participation in peacekeeping operations. I have also written on the ethical, practical, and methodological dimensions of conducting fieldwork among vulnerable populations in conflict-affected countries. My PhD project, entitled "Blue Helmet Havens: Gendered Peacekeeping Economies in Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo", was funded by the Research Council of Norway. I have also led or co-led projects with funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the US Institute of Peace, the Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution, and the Atlas Alliance.

Research Interests:

militaries and security studies
international organizations
gender
international interventions, peacekeeping, peacebuilding
qualitative methods
political economies/ peacekeeping economies

Teaching

POL 3801: Rebuilding after war (MA course) (2024, 2025)
POL 2900: BA thesis (supervision and examinations) (2023-2025)
POL 3502: Causes of War (MA course), guest lecturer (2023, 2024)
POL 1000: Introduction to Political Science -- International Relations and Comparative Politics (2023)

Professional experience (select):

Head of Section for Research and Development, Faculty of Social Sciences, OsloMet -- Oslo Metropolitan University (2018-2022)
Senior Researcher, Fafo Research Foundation (2009-2017)
Acting Deputy Director, Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre (NOREF) (2008-2009)
Junior Researcher, Fafo Research Foundation (2005-2009)

Research

My academic work has focused primarily on the institutional, operational, conceptual, gendered, and political-economic aspects of UN peace operations in conflict-affected countries. It is characterized by a focus on how organizational rules, regulations, policy, and practice intersect with and impact the everyday, lived realities of people in and affected by conflict. My work is cross-disciplinary, encompassing political science and International Relations, gender studies, critical peace and security studies, and political economy, and uses empirical qualitative methods including interviews, focus groups, discourse and documentary analysis, and process tracing. I have fieldwork experience from Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and Haiti.

Citizenship, diversity, equality, and inclusion in the Norwegian military

My current project examines the discourses related to equality and diversity within the Norwegian military, in particular the interplay between these discourses and evolving notions of equality, citizenship, masculinity, and the national interest.

Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in UN Peacekeeping

In Nov 2023, I gave evidence at the high-level Prevention and Response to Sexual Misconduct Stakeholder Review Conference organized by WHO--based on over a decade of research into sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) by UN peacekeepers (pub forthcoming).

Publications

2025

Westendorf, Jasmine-Kim; Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2025) Elusive accountability: Governing sexual exploitation and abuse under the grip of sexual violence in war. International Affairs
Academic article

2024

Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2024) Power, Consent and Peacekeeping Economies. Bristol University Press
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Westendorf, Jasmine-Kim; Bian, Junru; Daigle, Megan; Potts, Alina; Jennings, Kathleen Marie; Reddick, Moira. (2024) Sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment in humanitarian contexts. Bulletin of the World Health Organization
Academic article

2023

Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2023) Peacekeeping Economies. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies
Article in business/trade/industry journal

2022

Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2022) Seksuell utnyttelse i Sør-Sudan – et kjent mønster i det norske forsvaret. Forsvarets forum
Feature article

2021

Jennings, Kathleen. (2021) Gendered Challenges to Fieldwork in Confict-Affected Areas. Palgrave Macmillan
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper

2020

Jennings, Kathleen. (2020) Sex workers and sugar babies: empathetic engagement with vulnerable sources. Bristol University Press
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper

2019

Jennings, Kathleen. (2019) Conditional Protection? Sex, Gender, and Discourse in UN Peacekeeping. International Studies Quarterly
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen. (2019) WPS and Peacekeeping Economies. Oxford University Press
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Jennings, Kathleen. (2019) Peacekeeping as Enterprise: Transaction, Consumption, and the Political Economy of Peace and Peacekeeping. Routledge
Chapter

2018

Jennings, Kathleen. (2018) Peacekeeping as Enterprise: Transaction, Consumption, and the Political Economy of Peace and Peacekeeping. Civil Wars
Academic article

2017

Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2017) Intro to SEA.
Digital learning tools
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2017) Tracking Inclusion in Norwegian Development Support to Global Education. Fafo Fafo
Report
Jennings, Kathleen. (2017) The Immunity Dilemma: Peacekeepers' Crimes and the UN's Response. e-International relations
Popular scientific article

2011

Bøås, Morten; Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2011) Luttes armees, rebelles et seigneurs de la guerre: le spectre du patrimonialisme. Les Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Bøås, Morten; Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2011) Rebellion and warlordism: the spectre of neopatrimonalisme. Routledge
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2011) Women’s participation in UN peacekeeping operations: agents of change or stranded symbols?. NOREF
Report

2010

Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2010) Unintended Consequences of Intimacy: Political Economies of Peacekeeping and Sex Tourism. International Peacekeeping
Academic article
Bjørkhaug, Ingunn; Jennings, Kathleen Marie; Bøås, Morten. (2010) Mapping and assessment of national, bilateral and multilateral actors’ support to work against sexual based violence in the Great Lakes region in Africa. NORAD
Report

2009

Jennings, Kathleen Marie; Nikolić-Ristanović, Vesna. (2009) UN peacekeeping economies and local sex industries: connections and implications. University of Sussex
Report
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2009) The political economy of DDR in Liberia: a gendered critique. Conflict, Security and Development
Academic article

2008

Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2008) Securitizing the Economy of Reintegration in Liberia. Palgrave Macmillan
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2008) Unclear ends, unclear means: Reintegration in postwar societies – The Case of Liberia. Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen Marie; Kaspersen, Anja. (2008) Conclusion: Integration Going Forward. International Peacekeeping
Academic article
Bøås, Morten; Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2008) War in the Great Lakes Region and Ugandan Conflict Zones: Micro-regionalisms and Meta-narratives. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Jennings, Kathleen Marie; Kaspersen, Anja. (2008) Introduction: Integration Revisited. International Peacekeeping
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2008) Seeing DDR from below: Challenges and dilemmas raised by the experiences of ex-combatants in Liberia. Fafo Fafo
Report
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2008) Protecting Whom?: Approaches to sexual exploitation and abuse in UN peacekeeping operations. Fafo Fafo
Report

2007

Bjørkhaug, Ingunn; Bøås, Morten; Hatløy, Anne; Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2007) Returning to uncertainty? Addressing vulnerabilities in Northern Uganda. United Nations Develoment Program
Report
Bøås, Morten; Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2007) 'Failed States' and 'State Failure': Threats or Opportunities?. Globalizations
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2007) The Struggle to Satisfy: DDR Through the Eyes of Ex-Combatants in Liberia. International Peacekeeping
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2007) The War Zone as Social Space: Social Research in Conflict Zones. Fafo Fafo
Report

2006

Bøås, Morten; Jennings, Kathleen Marie; Shaw, Timothy M.. (2006) Dealing with Conflicts and Emergency Situations. Sage Publications
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2006) Armed Services: Regulating the Private Military Industry. Fafo Fafo
Report

2005

Bøås, Morten; Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2005) Insecurity and Development: The rhetoric of the ‘failed’ state. European Journal of Development Research
Academic article
Taylor, Mark Beaumont; Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2005) In Search of Strategy: An Agenda for Applied Research on Transitions from Conflict. Fafo Fafo
Report

Journal publications

Westendorf, Jasmine-Kim; Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2025) Elusive accountability: Governing sexual exploitation and abuse under the grip of sexual violence in war. International Affairs
Academic article
Westendorf, Jasmine-Kim; Bian, Junru; Daigle, Megan; Potts, Alina; Jennings, Kathleen Marie; Reddick, Moira. (2024) Sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment in humanitarian contexts. Bulletin of the World Health Organization
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2023) Peacekeeping Economies. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies
Article in business/trade/industry journal
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2022) Seksuell utnyttelse i Sør-Sudan – et kjent mønster i det norske forsvaret. Forsvarets forum
Feature article
Jennings, Kathleen. (2019) Conditional Protection? Sex, Gender, and Discourse in UN Peacekeeping. International Studies Quarterly
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen. (2018) Peacekeeping as Enterprise: Transaction, Consumption, and the Political Economy of Peace and Peacekeeping. Civil Wars
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen. (2017) The Immunity Dilemma: Peacekeepers' Crimes and the UN's Response. e-International relations
Popular scientific article
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2016) Blue Helmet Havens: Peacekeeping as Bypassing in Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. International Peacekeeping
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2015) Life in a ‘peace-kept’ city: encounters with the peacekeeping economy. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen Marie; Bøås, Morten. (2015) Transactions and Interactions: Everyday Life in the Peacekeeping Economy. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2014) Service, sex, and security: Gendered peacekeeping economies in Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Security Dialogue
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2012) Privatizing Peace. International Peacekeeping
Book review
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2012) Governing Disorder: UN Peace Operations, International Security, and Democratization in the Post-Cold War Era. International Peacekeeping
Book review
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2010) Unintended Consequences of Intimacy: Political Economies of Peacekeeping and Sex Tourism. International Peacekeeping
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2009) The political economy of DDR in Liberia: a gendered critique. Conflict, Security and Development
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2008) Unclear ends, unclear means: Reintegration in postwar societies – The Case of Liberia. Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen Marie; Kaspersen, Anja. (2008) Conclusion: Integration Going Forward. International Peacekeeping
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen Marie; Kaspersen, Anja. (2008) Introduction: Integration Revisited. International Peacekeeping
Academic article
Bøås, Morten; Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2007) 'Failed States' and 'State Failure': Threats or Opportunities?. Globalizations
Academic article
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2007) The Struggle to Satisfy: DDR Through the Eyes of Ex-Combatants in Liberia. International Peacekeeping
Academic article
Bøås, Morten; Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2005) Insecurity and Development: The rhetoric of the ‘failed’ state. European Journal of Development Research
Academic article

Part of book/report

Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2024) Power, Consent and Peacekeeping Economies. Bristol University Press
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Jennings, Kathleen. (2021) Gendered Challenges to Fieldwork in Confict-Affected Areas. Palgrave Macmillan
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Jennings, Kathleen. (2020) Sex workers and sugar babies: empathetic engagement with vulnerable sources. Bristol University Press
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Jennings, Kathleen. (2019) WPS and Peacekeeping Economies. Oxford University Press
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Jennings, Kathleen. (2019) Peacekeeping as Enterprise: Transaction, Consumption, and the Political Economy of Peace and Peacekeeping. Routledge
Chapter
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2015) United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). Oxford University Press
Chapter
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2015) United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL). Oxford University Press
Chapter
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2012) Women’s participation in UN Peace Operations. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Bøås, Morten; Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2011) Luttes armees, rebelles et seigneurs de la guerre: le spectre du patrimonialisme. Les Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Bøås, Morten; Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2011) Rebellion and warlordism: the spectre of neopatrimonalisme. Routledge
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2008) Securitizing the Economy of Reintegration in Liberia. Palgrave Macmillan
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Bøås, Morten; Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2008) War in the Great Lakes Region and Ugandan Conflict Zones: Micro-regionalisms and Meta-narratives. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Bøås, Morten; Jennings, Kathleen Marie; Shaw, Timothy M.. (2006) Dealing with Conflicts and Emergency Situations. Sage Publications
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper

Report

Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2017) Tracking Inclusion in Norwegian Development Support to Global Education. Fafo Fafo
Report
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2016) Blue Helmet Havens: Gendered Peacekeeping Economies in Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Universitetet i Oslo Universitetet i Oslo
Doctoral dissertation
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2011) Women’s participation in UN peacekeeping operations: agents of change or stranded symbols?. NOREF
Report
Bjørkhaug, Ingunn; Jennings, Kathleen Marie; Bøås, Morten. (2010) Mapping and assessment of national, bilateral and multilateral actors’ support to work against sexual based violence in the Great Lakes region in Africa. NORAD
Report
Jennings, Kathleen Marie; Nikolić-Ristanović, Vesna. (2009) UN peacekeeping economies and local sex industries: connections and implications. University of Sussex
Report
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2008) Seeing DDR from below: Challenges and dilemmas raised by the experiences of ex-combatants in Liberia. Fafo Fafo
Report
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2008) Protecting Whom?: Approaches to sexual exploitation and abuse in UN peacekeeping operations. Fafo Fafo
Report
Bjørkhaug, Ingunn; Bøås, Morten; Hatløy, Anne; Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2007) Returning to uncertainty? Addressing vulnerabilities in Northern Uganda. United Nations Develoment Program
Report
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2007) The War Zone as Social Space: Social Research in Conflict Zones. Fafo Fafo
Report
Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2006) Armed Services: Regulating the Private Military Industry. Fafo Fafo
Report
Taylor, Mark Beaumont; Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2005) In Search of Strategy: An Agenda for Applied Research on Transitions from Conflict. Fafo Fafo
Report

Product

Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2017) Intro to SEA.
Digital learning tools

Outreach

Seksuell utnyttelse i Sør-Sudan – et kjent mønster i det norske forsvaret (Sexual exploitation in South Sudan -- a familiar pattern in the Norwegian military?)

In this opinion piece in Forsvarets Forum, I discuss revelations of sexual misconduct committed by Norwegian military personnel in the UN mission in South Sudan, in the larger context of the UN's policy of zero-tolerance against sexual exploitation.

2024

Academic lecture

Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2024) We defend ourselves against all threats: Toxic gendered cultures of exceptionality and mundanity in the Norwegian armed forces. International Studies Association International Studies Association annual conference , San Francisco 2024-04-03 - 2024-04-06

2023

Academic lecture

Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2023) 'We defend ourselves against all threats’: The Norwegian Armed Forces as an arena of inclusion and exclusion. NEON NEON Annual Conference , Trondheim 2023-11-23 - 2023-11-24
Lecture

Kjelsberg, Ronny; Talmo, Tord Mjøsund; Jennings, Kathleen Marie; Masood, Anum. (2023) Temporary Work in Academia: Toward a labor theory of pedagogy . NTNU/Dept. of Sociology and Political Science Open panel discussion: Temporary Work in Akademia , NTNU Dragvoll 2023-01-13 - 2023-01-13

2019

Lecture

Jennings, Kathleen. (2019) Peacekeeping Economies and Women, Peace and Security. PRIO Book lauch for the Oxford Handbook of Women, Peace and Security , Oslo 2019-06-05 - 2019-06-05

2017

Academic lecture

Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2017) A kinder, gentler military? Norwegian politicians’ discursive representations of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. Universitetet i Oslo Kjønnsforskning NÅ , Oslo 2017-06-08 - 2017-06-09

2015

Academic lecture

Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2015) Bypassing the local in the peacekeeping economies of Liberia and the DRC. UiO Nasjonal fagkonferanse i statsvitenskap , Oslo 2015-01-05 - 2015-01-07
Academic lecture

Jennings, Kathleen Marie. (2015) The peacekeeping economy as a site of local-international interaction. UiT The Arctic University of Norway Local Peace Processes in the Context of Global Governance , Tromsø 2015-01-22 - 2015-01-23

Språkvelger

Kathleen M. Jennings