Papers by Brandy Cochrane
Men and Masculinities, 2024
This paper examines a local manifestation of extreme right political mobilisation in Australia fr... more This paper examines a local manifestation of extreme right political mobilisation in Australia from the standpoint of Connell and Messerschmidt's (2005) global hegemonic masculinity. Using Messerschmidt and Rohde's (2018) methods for analysing violent extremists' public statements, we examine public blog posts by "The Lads [sic] Society" to scrutinise the relationship between local advocacy for a white ethno-state in Australia and global hegemonic masculinities. The analysis finds that localised white nationalism is both a response to, and constituted by, the tensions of global hegemonic masculinity and is, in part, an attempt to reclaim localised white hegemonic masculinity in the face of a multitude of perceived global societal failures. Through the analysis, this paper contributes to Messerschmidt and Rohde's (2018) claim that various global hegemonic masculinities simultaneously coexist and compete, while pointing to how discursive processes continue to redefine masculinities at the local level. The paper also responds to a broader invitation to incorporate gender analysis into the study of extreme political movements, enabling a more critical understandings of the motivations and experiences of those that participate in them.
Queer Death Studies Reader, 2024
Encyclopedia of Queer Studies, 2024
The key insights from this entry are that far right violence against the LGBTIQA+ community is on... more The key insights from this entry are that far right violence against the LGBTIQA+ community is on the rise and directly correlated to actions of right-wing politicians throughout the world. Far right violent extremist movements have latched on to the rhetoric of politicians to legitimize itself and to recruit new members. A queer studies lens must be brought to the discussion as mainstream work may fail to the see the rise in far-right extremist violence, but also that the focus of the violence is on trans people, an already vulnerable community.
, Rainbow Captives: 2SLGBTQ+ Experiences Within and Beyond Incarceration, 2024
Harms that result from state-sanctioned refugee imprisonment or detention, an integral part of th... more Harms that result from state-sanctioned refugee imprisonment or detention, an integral part of the global border security regime, are exemplified by direct and structural harms. Research is often particularly attentive to experiences clearly defined as detention and imprisonment such as those that take place in spaces that are gated, locked, fenced or have guards where one cannot leave due to physical barriers.
However, the insidious nature of detention for refugees means that it spreads beyond those physical barriers of the border or the fence around refugee camps and instead spreads throughout the daily lives of individuals. In this article, we work together to intertwine lived experience and academic work to truly reflect the nuanced experience of imprisonment for trans and intersex refugees. We will examine extraordinary detention and everyday detention and conclude with an argument for abolishing detention but also adding some recommendations for “improving” refugee detention for trans and intersex refugees as the state’s obsession with detaining marginalised citizens and non-citizens means that abolition is out of immediate reach.
Inhabiting two worlds at once: Survey report on the experiences of LGBTIQ+ settlement in Australia, 2023
FDPN launched the first Australia-wide survey to comprehensively capture the experiences of displ... more FDPN launched the first Australia-wide survey to comprehensively capture the experiences of displacement and settlement of LGBTIQ+ forcibly displaced people.
The aim of this survey is to collect information about the experiences and barriers of LGBTIQA+ forcibly displaced people in Australia so we can advocate for more welcoming and inclusive support.
Queer legibility and the refugee status determination process, 2023
It is well documented that LGBTIQ+ applicants face a multitude of stereotypes and biases from dec... more It is well documented that LGBTIQ+ applicants face a multitude of stereotypes and biases from decision-makers worldwide. We build on literature that argues that there is an unspoken component of credibilityto what extent the applicant is legible to the decision-maker. Based on interviews with legal representatives of LGBTIQ+ people seeking asylum in Australia, we observe that if the applicant's narrative and label of their lived experience is familiar to the decision-maker, they are more likely to be understood by the decision-maker. Those whose experiences fall outside Western, and specifically Australian, conceptualisations of sexuality and gender identity categories are less legible to the decision-maker, than those who present a dominant, definitive, and stable identity narrative that is 'out and proud'. Importantly, this paper also found that legal representatives shepherd applicants towards a clear label to perform an identity that is understood, or knowable to decision-makers.
Harms at the Crossroads of Carework and Irregular Migration, 2018
Refugee and asylum-seeking mothers perform the duties of carework during and after the complex ci... more Refugee and asylum-seeking mothers perform the duties of carework during and after the complex circumstances associated with irregular journeys and settlement in host countries. Utilizing motherhood as a central frame, the article links policies of border securitization with the tangible gendered consequences they produce in the daily carework of mothers. Past literature has explored gendered implications of border crossings and settlement, but rarely have authors examined these themes in tandem and never in the context of mothers and their carework. Based on narrative interviews with refugee and asylum-seeking mothers, I analyse how mothers' everyday lives and, more specifically, their performance of carework are disrupted during migration, by boat journeys and detention, and after migration, by limited governmental assistance and restricted family reunification in host countries.
Women, Crime and Justice in Context Contemporary Perspectives in Feminist Criminology from Australia and New Zealand, 2022
In the contemporary era of the securitization of risk, control of migration is becoming an increa... more In the contemporary era of the securitization of risk, control of migration is becoming an increasingly important task for contemporary policing and criminal justice agencies, particularly in the Australian context. This chapter explores border control from a criminological perspective and introduces the reading to key concepts around 'crimmigration' and theoretical perspectives on the criminalisation of migration. This chapter will pay particular attention to the gendered impacts of border-hardening in Australia, and the lived experiences of women, and in particular mothers, attempting to cross borders in these circumstances.
This study aims to measure what changes the disciplines of criminology and criminal justice have ... more This study aims to measure what changes the disciplines of criminology and criminal justice have undergone over the past decade with respect to white collar crime representation in the criminological literature. It is well documented in the white collar crime literature that white collar offending causes a greater number of fatalities, injuries, and illnesses as well as greater economic losses than all street crimes combined. Nevertheless, our analysis of the contents of 15 leading criminology and criminal justice journals from 2001-2010, 13 best-selling introductory CCJ textbooks, and all U.S. Ph.D. granting criminology and criminal justice programs indicates that white collar crime continues to be underrepresented in the criminological literature relative to all street crimes, similar to the findings in Lynch et al.'s 2004 study. Since then, the U.S. has experienced two unprecedented corporate crime waves, in the early part of the 2000s and in the latter part of the decade. Im...
Journal of Human Security, 2021
This paper explores the everyday security of refugee and asylum-seeking mothers before, during an... more This paper explores the everyday security of refugee and asylum-seeking mothers before, during and after irregular migration. Based on narrative interviews with mothers residing in Melbourne, we analyse how their needs both do and do not fall into Nussbaum’s capabilities list. We argue that Nussbaum’s framework is not sufficient to capture the gendered aspects of everyday security related to carework. Based on this analysis, we suggest a new framework to understand carework and everyday security in the context of refugee and asylum-seeking women. Centring carework in the discussion of the everyday security of people seeking asylum is a significant step away from traditional security literature and allows mothers’ voices to be highlighted in a unique way.
Academia Letters, 2021
The presence of women in terrorism and political violence movements throughout history has been w... more The presence of women in terrorism and political violence movements throughout history has been well established, including their presence within the anarchist movement in the 1800s, left-wing group's active in the 1970s, through to nationalist terrorist groups such as the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). Women are also active in contemporary manifestations of violent extremist movements such as violent Islamist movements and right wing extremist movements (Corcoran-Nantes 2011; Faber et. al 2021; Sjoberg and Gentry 2008; Sternadori 2007). The practice of recruiting women by extremist groups has arguably been increasing in recent years (Cunningham, 2003; Grossman et al, 2018). The targeted recruitment of women may be increasing due to their ability to better circumvent detection by authorities. Cunningham (2003) describes how female violent extremists have enhanced operational capacity as a result of their (perceived) diminished credibility by men. The ways in which women engage with violent extremism, and how violent extremism engages women in turn, must therefore be considered through a gendered lens. This is critical in helping to rebalance the over-emphasis on ungendered research inquiry and commentary, which has meant that "the role of women in promulgating and countering violent extremism is an understudied but critical contemporary security issue" (Nusseibeh and Verveer, 2016). Women's motivations to join violent extremist movements Prevailing narratives of women within violent extremism range from victims to mothers to monsters to pawns (Corcoran-Nantes 2011; Sjoberg and Gentry 2008; Sternadori 2007). The narratives around their involvement has tended to neglect notions of agency and autonomous decision making (
Academia Letters, 2021
* Written with assistance from Emily Singh, Human Rights Solicitor
* Linked version available on... more * Written with assistance from Emily Singh, Human Rights Solicitor
* Linked version available on request
A review that examines extant literature on family violence and migrant women, focusing specifica... more A review that examines extant literature on family violence and migrant women, focusing specifically on refugee and asylum-seeking women. This summary and review bring together current knowledge on this topic, in order to address the significant gaps in our understanding, especially in relation to the geographical context of Australia.
Evidence and recommendations to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee from o... more Evidence and recommendations to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee from our research projects regarding gender, caring and familial responsibilities as well as age considerations for women on a pathway towards citizenship, all of which we believe hinder access to English language and education opportunities for migrant women in Australia.
We have made the following two recommendations to the Committee:
Do not increase the competency of the English language proficiency test under the proposed amendments to The Australian Citizenship Act as it will have a particularly negative impact on asylum seeking, refugee and non-English speaking or ESL immigrant women in the Australian community.
If competency of the English language proficiency test is increased, then appropriate support services should accompany this. These should be targeted to key groups, such as mothers, recognising the significant and specific barriers they face in accessing education.
In a global era of increased securitization of migration between the developed and developing wor... more In a global era of increased securitization of migration between the developed and developing world this article undertakes a gendered analysis of the ways women die irregularly crossing borders. Through an examination of datasets in Europe, the USA and Australia it finds women are more likely to die crossing borders at the harsh physical frontiers of nation-states rather than at increasingly policed ‘internal border’ sites. The reasons why women are dying are not clearly discernible from the data, yet based on the extant literature it is reasonable to conclude that gendered social practices within families, and within countries of origin and transit, as well as the practices of smuggling markets, are key contributing factors.
This study aims to measure what changes the disciplines of criminology and criminal justice have ... more This study aims to measure what changes the disciplines of criminology and criminal justice have undergone over the past decade with respect to white collar crime representation in the criminological literature. It is well documented in the white collar crime literature that white collar offending causes a greater number of fatalities, injuries, and illnesses as well as greater economic losses than all street crimes combined. Nevertheless, our analysis of the contents of 15 leading criminology and criminal justice journals from 2001-2010, 13 best-selling introductory CCJ textbooks, and all U.S. Ph.D. granting criminology and criminal justice programs indicates that white collar crime continues to be underrepresented in the criminological literature relative to all street crimes, similar to the findings in Lynch et al.’s 2004 study. Since then, the U.S. has experienced two unprecedented corporate crime waves, in the early part of the 2000s and in the latter part of the decade. Implications for white collar crime representation findings are discussed within the context of harm and crime seriousness relative to street crimes.
Books by Brandy Cochrane
Tackling fieldwork as a nascent qualitative researcher is associated with multiple challenges and... more Tackling fieldwork as a nascent qualitative researcher is associated with multiple challenges and rewards. Methods literature around qualitative research often attempts to universalise or minimise the issues that arise in research (Edwards, 1998; Griffin, 2015; Smith, 2015). This chapter focuses on the challenges that are a part of the process of fieldwork, specifically with marginalised, mobilised women. These challenges and the experiences of conducting research in an era of mass mobility is essential in expanding our methodological understanding of enquiry with mobile women, and refugee and asylum-seeking women more specifically.
Drawing on my experiences with refugee and asylum-seeking mothers, I have organised the chapter into methodological tools I engaged within three phases of my qualitative research project: Access and Recruitment; Participants and Interviews; and Interpreters. Based on these expectations and realities of fieldwork and incorporating a framework of reflexivity, it is clear that researchers must be flexible to navigate complex circumstances and shifting situations. While seemingly obvious to experienced researchers, it is essential to provide detailed accounts of challenges and how they are overcome to guide nascent researchers in their fieldwork with marginalised populations.
Book Reviews by Brandy Cochrane
Surveillance and Society, 2021
Asylum is suffering a physical, ontological, and political death according to Alison Mountz in he... more Asylum is suffering a physical, ontological, and political death according to Alison Mountz in her book The Death of Asylum: The Hidden Geographies of the Enforcement Archipelago. Drawing on, among others, Judith Butler and Giorgio Agamben, Mountz substantiates her argument by examining each type of death, with a focus on the theoretical explanations, based on geographic case studies in the enforcement archipelago, including the United States, the European Union, Australia, and Canada. The physical death of asylum connotes the deaths that are experienced by asylum seekers who are caught in the enforcement archipelago, and ontological death is the "impossibility of becoming an asylum seeker" due to the border regimes of the Global North (xxii). Lastly, Mountz argues that political death is citizens' complacency in government border practices that lead to and obscure the violence and deaths of asylum seekers.
Carefully surveying the facets of the current political and humanitarian discussions about refuge... more Carefully surveying the facets of the current political and humanitarian discussions about refugees, Gendering the International Asylum and Refugee Debate aims to bring a gendered analysis to discussions around illegalized mobilities. The book examines " the ensemble of actors and processes " and considers the " gendered relations of power which underlie these processes " (p. 15). Freedman, professor of political science at Université de Paris, contends that despite diversity in experience, women's portrayals by political systems in the global north are bifurcated into either " vulnerable " or " threatening ". The duality of the construction, she suggests, serves not only to enforce the difference between men and women, but also to establish difference between female migrants from the global south and " Western " women. The book contains eight chapters that focus on predominant areas of concern regarding refugee issues.
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Papers by Brandy Cochrane
However, the insidious nature of detention for refugees means that it spreads beyond those physical barriers of the border or the fence around refugee camps and instead spreads throughout the daily lives of individuals. In this article, we work together to intertwine lived experience and academic work to truly reflect the nuanced experience of imprisonment for trans and intersex refugees. We will examine extraordinary detention and everyday detention and conclude with an argument for abolishing detention but also adding some recommendations for “improving” refugee detention for trans and intersex refugees as the state’s obsession with detaining marginalised citizens and non-citizens means that abolition is out of immediate reach.
The aim of this survey is to collect information about the experiences and barriers of LGBTIQA+ forcibly displaced people in Australia so we can advocate for more welcoming and inclusive support.
* Linked version available on request
We have made the following two recommendations to the Committee:
Do not increase the competency of the English language proficiency test under the proposed amendments to The Australian Citizenship Act as it will have a particularly negative impact on asylum seeking, refugee and non-English speaking or ESL immigrant women in the Australian community.
If competency of the English language proficiency test is increased, then appropriate support services should accompany this. These should be targeted to key groups, such as mothers, recognising the significant and specific barriers they face in accessing education.
Books by Brandy Cochrane
Drawing on my experiences with refugee and asylum-seeking mothers, I have organised the chapter into methodological tools I engaged within three phases of my qualitative research project: Access and Recruitment; Participants and Interviews; and Interpreters. Based on these expectations and realities of fieldwork and incorporating a framework of reflexivity, it is clear that researchers must be flexible to navigate complex circumstances and shifting situations. While seemingly obvious to experienced researchers, it is essential to provide detailed accounts of challenges and how they are overcome to guide nascent researchers in their fieldwork with marginalised populations.
Book Reviews by Brandy Cochrane
However, the insidious nature of detention for refugees means that it spreads beyond those physical barriers of the border or the fence around refugee camps and instead spreads throughout the daily lives of individuals. In this article, we work together to intertwine lived experience and academic work to truly reflect the nuanced experience of imprisonment for trans and intersex refugees. We will examine extraordinary detention and everyday detention and conclude with an argument for abolishing detention but also adding some recommendations for “improving” refugee detention for trans and intersex refugees as the state’s obsession with detaining marginalised citizens and non-citizens means that abolition is out of immediate reach.
The aim of this survey is to collect information about the experiences and barriers of LGBTIQA+ forcibly displaced people in Australia so we can advocate for more welcoming and inclusive support.
* Linked version available on request
We have made the following two recommendations to the Committee:
Do not increase the competency of the English language proficiency test under the proposed amendments to The Australian Citizenship Act as it will have a particularly negative impact on asylum seeking, refugee and non-English speaking or ESL immigrant women in the Australian community.
If competency of the English language proficiency test is increased, then appropriate support services should accompany this. These should be targeted to key groups, such as mothers, recognising the significant and specific barriers they face in accessing education.
Drawing on my experiences with refugee and asylum-seeking mothers, I have organised the chapter into methodological tools I engaged within three phases of my qualitative research project: Access and Recruitment; Participants and Interviews; and Interpreters. Based on these expectations and realities of fieldwork and incorporating a framework of reflexivity, it is clear that researchers must be flexible to navigate complex circumstances and shifting situations. While seemingly obvious to experienced researchers, it is essential to provide detailed accounts of challenges and how they are overcome to guide nascent researchers in their fieldwork with marginalised populations.
States of the Global North are increasingly securitising their borders through physical and technological deterrent tactics aimed at the migration of people from the Global South. The tactics of states cause physical and psychological harms that are direct and structural in nature to women, especially mothers, due to their precarious security. Masculine, statist, single point crises frameworks like human security do not encompass mothers’ security needs when encountering border securitisation tactics. In order to determine refugee and asylum-seeking mothers’ security needs, it is essential examine their home country, journey, and settlement experiences.
Security and citizenship are precarious for women, especially mothers, due to structural gendered inequalities. Precarity is increased in certain regions where legal measures either heighten or ignore gender inequality, specifically in the realms of reproductive health and violence against women. The lack of basic security for mothers is further complicated by migratory journeys, in particular journeys which have been illegalised by states.
Examining the interviews, I find the women describe a lack of basic security in their home country and the security becomes more perilous during illegalised journeys. The precarity of security is additionally complicated by mothering within insecure contexts due to structural inequalities and state practices. There are immediate crisis points during migration which are often the focus of refugee experience, but the daily devastations incurred by mothers emerge as focus points for the women themselves. The daily insecurities are a result of structural violence that arises from border security tactics.
Despite the harms from border securitisation and the bigger crises faced, women’s agency is clearly present when navigating the daily challenges of motherhood and carework within insecure spaces. I demonstrate how women exercise their agency and build security through carework. Taking into account factors of temporality, spatiality, and needs of mothers, I centre carework, as identified for mothers, to reconceptualise security for mothers.