Dr Xavier Mathieu (he/him)

School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations

Lecturer in International Relations

A headshot of Xavier Mathieu
Profile picture of A headshot of Xavier Mathieu
xavier.mathieu@sheffield.ac.uk
Elmfield Building

Full contact details

Dr Xavier Mathieu
School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations
Elmfield Building
Northumberland Road
Sheffield
S10 2TU
Profile

Dr Xavier Mathieu joined the department in May 2023 as a Lecturer in International Relations. Prior to joining Sheffield, Xavier was Lecturer at the University of Liverpool, Teaching Associate at Aston University, and Post-doctoral Fellow at the Centre for Global Cooperation Research (Germany). He holds a PhD from the 爆料TV and an MA in International Relations from the University of Bordeaux (Sciences Po). Xavier鈥檚 research looks at violence and French coloniality (in particular terrorism and anti-terrorism in colonial and post-colonial contexts), as well as the concept of sovereignty and interventions. His research is inspired by post-colonial and post-structuralist approaches.

Research interests

My current project is funded by a Leverhulme Research Fellowship grant. It examines the colonial legacies influencing contemporary French counter-terrorism. In this project, I explore how counter-terrorism was forged and normalised during the colonial era and how it has then travelled from past to present. In doing so, this project will connect a variety of archival material in a novel way, thus helping to uncover the legacies of the colonial period on current practices of counter-terrorism.

Publications

Books

  • Mathieu X (2021) Sovereignty and the Denial of International Equality: Writing Civilisational Difference in Early Modern International Relations. Routledge.
  • Mathieu X () . Routledge.

Edited books

  • Mathieu X & Bargu茅s-Pedreny P (Ed.) () . Routledge.

Journal articles

  • Mathieu X (2026) The politics of 鈥減olitical violence鈥: terrorism, violence and the political. Critical Studies on Terrorism.
  • Holland J & Mathieu X (2023) . International Studies Quarterly, 67(4).
  • Mathieu X (2022) . Cooperation and Conflict, 57(3), 311-328.
  • Docherty B, Mathieu X & Ralph J (2020) . Global Responsibility to Protect, 12(3), 246-270.
  • Mathieu X (2020) . Journal of International Political Theory, 16(3), 339-360.
  • Mathieu X (2019) . Third World Quarterly, 40(1), 36-52.
  • Bargu茅s-Pedreny P & Mathieu X (2018) . Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 12(3), 283-299.
  • Mathieu X (2018) . International Relations, 32(4), 468-487.
  • Lemay-H茅bert N & Mathieu X (2014) . Third World Quarterly, 35(2), 232-251.

Book chapters

  • Lemay-H茅bert N & Mathieu X (2016) The OECD's discourse on fragile states: Expertise and the normalisation of knowledge production, Political Invention of Fragile States the Power of Ideas (pp. 36-55).
Research group

International Relations

Supervision Expertise

I welcome PhD candidates in my areas of research, in particular:

  • Violence and (counter)terrorism in colonial and post-colonial contexts;
  • Sovereignty, Interventions and peacebuilding;
  • Colonialism and its legacies (especially for French international relations and security practices).
  • Critical and post-colonial approaches to security
  • Historical approaches in global politics (colonial history and the legacies of colonialism).