Dr. Theresa O'Keefe

Professional Career to Date

I was awarded a PhD in Political Studies from Queen’s University and subsequently held a Postdoctoral research position in UCD on the Identity, Diversity and Citizenship Programme. I was a lecturer at the Equality Studies Centre, UCD prior to joining the Department of Sociology, NUIM in 2008.

Research Interests

My research is concerned with women and conflict, gender and state violence, gender and social movements, bodies and protest, feminist praxis, sexualities, women and social activism. I am currently finalizing a manuscript on feminist organizing and armed conflict. This research looks at the ways in which feminist identities are developed through participation in armed nationalist projects, and situates women's politicisation in the context of gendered state violence. I am also working on a manuscript on the subject of gender and global inequality.

Teaching and Other Activities

I'm delighted to be a member of the development and teaching team for our MA in Community Education, Equality and Social Activism. I also teach undergraduate modules on research methods, gender, feminism and women's political activism.

I have supervised postgraduate research in a number of areas including: women and revolution, gender and homelessness, fatherhood and masculinities, gender and post-conflict societies, and social movement praxis.

Publications

Articles:

Book review “The Revolution Will Not Be Funded” by Incite! Interface Volume 2(1). November 2009.

 “Does Being Protestant Matter?” with J. Todd and N. Rougier, and L. Cañás Bottos  National Identities, Special Edition on Protestant Minorities. 11(1) March 2009. 
“Menstrual Blood as a Weapon of Resistance: Armagh Women and the Dirty Protest.” International Feminist Journal of Politics Volume 8, Number 4 / (December 2006).
 ‘Fluid or frozen? Choice and change in ethno-national identification in contemporary Ireland’, with J. Todd, N. Rougier and L. Canas Bottos  Nationalism and Ethnic PoliticsVolume 12, Number 3-4 / Autumn-Winter 2006
“Trading Aprons for Arms: Republican Feminist Resistance in the North of Ireland” Resources for Feminist Research, Special Issue on Women, War & Militarization, Spring/Summer 2004, vol. 30, no. 3/4.

Book Chapters:
“’Sometimes it would be nice to be a man’: gender identity in Northern Ireland after the Good Friday Agreement.” in McGrattan and Meehan (eds.) Everyday Life after the Conflict: The Impact of Devolution and North-South Cooperation. London: Palgrave( In Press).
“‘Fluid or frozen?’ Choice and change in ethno-national identification in contemporary Ireland” with J. Todd, N. Rougier,  and L. Cañás Bottos in  Todd, Cañás Bottos, Rougier (eds). Political Transformations and Ethno-national Identity Change. (London: Routledge, 2008).

Select Presentations:

“Flaunting our way to Freedom? SlutWalks, Gendered Protest and Feminist Futures.” Presented at New Agendas in Social Movement Studies Conference. Maynooth: 26, November 2011.
“Prison struggles and development of feminist identities” Contemporary women’s activism and conflict on the island of Ireland. Roundtable. John Hume Global Irish Institute, UCD: 23 May 2009.

“Sometimes it would be nice to be a man: gender identity in Northern Ireland after the Good Friday Agreement.” Presented at Conference on The Impact of Devolution on Everyday Life: 1999-2009. Dublin: 6th February 2009

“Local Belonging, Identities and Sense of Place in Contemporary Ireland” with Tom Inglis. Presented at the Sociological Association of Ireland’s Annual Conference. Limerick, May 2007.

“A Global Perspective on Women and Armed Conflict.” (Invited talk) Presented to Women’s Education and Research Resource Centre, UCD as part of an International Women’s Day panel on Women and Conflict. March 8, 2007.

“Researching Contemporary Irish Identities: Lessons from the Field.” (Invited talk) Presented in the Department of Sociology, Trinity College Dublin. Dublin: October 24, 2006.

“National identity in Northern Ireland and the Republic: looking beyond ‘British’ and ‘Irish’”. Working paper presented at Ethno-National Identity and Group Boundaries in a Changing Society Conference. Organised by Intergenerational Transmission and Ethno-national Identity in the Border Area research project, UCD. Dublin: November 12, 2005.

“A Methodological Exploration of Gender Identity in a Changing Ireland.” Paper Presented at Mapping Identity Change in Contemporary Ireland Conference. Institute for the Study of Social Change, UCD. Dublin: October 6, 2004.

“Identities in Conflict or Concert? Feminist Activism in the North of Ireland.” Paper presented at Women’s Studies Association (UK and Ireland) 17th Annual Conference. Dublin: July 10, 2004.

“Revolution versus Reformation: A Comparison of Feminist Agendas in the North of Ireland.” Paper presented to Department of Political Science, York University. Toronto: February 2, 2004.

In addition, I referee for a number of journals and am a member of the regional editorial collective for Interface journal for social movement studies.