David Eichert

I am a Departmental Lecturer in International Relations at the DPIR, in association with University College. I earned my PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics and a JD (juris doctorate) in Law from Cornell University. Prior to joining the DPIR, I taught at Sciences Po in France and was a visiting scholar with the Center for International Criminal Justice at VU Amsterdam. I use any pronouns.

I study the politics of sexual violence. I am an interdisciplinary scholar with a dual background in IR and critical legal theory, and my work draws from feminist, queer, poststructural, decolonial, and anarchist approaches to law and politics. My current research agenda focuses on the following two themes:

• The day-to-day work of international lawyers, diplomats, and courts, including efforts to identify and prosecute conflict-related sexual violence; and

• The politics of sexual violence and technology, especially the legal regulation of generative artificial intelligence and Internet-based sex work. 

   

Teaching

At the undergraduate level, I convene "International Security and Conflict" and lecture for "International Relations." For postgraduate students, I convene "Approaches to Qualitative Methods" and teach on "Research Design and Methods." While my own work is heavily inspired by interpretivist and post-positivist approaches, I teach from a pluralist perspective and am happy to help students working within any methodological approach.

I welcome emails from current & potential students, and especially those who are interested in war & peace, the politics of law, identity politics, feminism & LGBT+ issues, decolonial & anti-racist IR, generative AI, and other related topics. While I cannot answer every message, I try my best to respond to students from under-represented or historically marginalised backgrounds.