Dr Leonie Jackson

Assistant Professor

School: Humanities and Social Sciences

Leonie joined Northumbria University in May 2020 having previously worked as a senior lecturer at the University of Huddersfield.

She has published widely on the construction of terrorism and counterterrorism and is the author of three monographs, What is Counterterrorism For? (Bristol University Press, 2024), The Monstrous and the Vulnerable: Framing British ‘Jihadi Brides’ (Hurst/Oxford University Press, 2022) and Islamophobia in Britain (Palgrave 2018), and co-editor of 9/11 Twenty Years On (Routledge, 2023). Her work has been featured in leading journals such as Critical Studies on Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence and Cambridge Review of International Affairs, and has informed public debate through media appearances on BBC Radio 4 and international policy forums.

Leonie has held leadership roles in programme development, and her innovative teaching has been recognised by the Political Studies Association’s Sir Bernard Crick Prize for Outstanding Teaching.

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Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Leonie's research explores the intersections of discourse, identity, and political violence, with a particular focus on how racialised and gendered narratives shape understandings of terrorism, counterterrorism, and security. She is especially interested in how the gendered and racialised constructions of identities in Western political and media discourses inform policy, public perception, and lived experience.

Her work contributes to critical terrorism studies, feminist international relations, and critical security studies and she has published extensively on the representation of politically violent women, the securitisation of Muslim communities, and the ideological underpinnings of counterterrorism strategies.

She is an editor of the journal Critical Studies on Terrorism, leads the Critical Security and Foreign Policy Research Cluster at Northumbria University and convenes the North East Critical Security Network.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
The monstrous and the vulnerable: Framing British Jihadi Brides, Jackson, L. Dec 2021
What is Counterterrorism For?, Jackson, L. 26 Nov 2024
9/11 Twenty Years On: Critical Perspectives, Jackson, L., Jarvis, L., Toros, H. 22 May 2023
Islamophobia in Britain: The Making of a Muslim Enemy, Jackson, L. 2018
Instrumentalising Islam: The religious soft power strategies of China, Russia, and the US, Mamedov, I., Jackson, L. 22 Aug 2025, In: Review of International Studies

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Other: Guest on BBC Radio 4's Rethink programme 2025
Invited talk: ‘Implementing intersectional feminist pedagogy to teach political violence while avoiding perpetuating harm 2025
Invited talk: ‘Women and Gender in Islamic State' 2024
Invited talk: ‘Saving 'vulnerable' Muslim girls: Gendered understandings of radicalisation’ 2022
Invited talk: Teaching for the first time: Overcoming challenges and embracing innovative methods 2020
Editorial work: Critical Studies on Terrorism (Journal) 2019
Other: Contribution to BBC Radio Four programme The Turban Bus Dispute 2018
Invited talk: Lessons Learned from Radicalization-Prevention Efforts 2017

PGR Supervision

Joseph Pattison Virtual Battlefields: The Politics of Power and Dissent in Modern Military Videogames Start Date: 01/10/2022 End Date: 26/04/2026
Joseph Pattison Virtual Battlefields: The Politics of Power and Dissent in Modern Military Videogames Start Date: 01/10/2022 End Date: 17/10/2025