Dr Jonathan Mendel

Research Interests

My research is broadly in the areas of political and social geography, focusing in particular on:

  • Virtual war: the geopolitical implications of the US-led development and deployment of virtual technologies and techniques in military operations and related violence. My research takes the past two decades of conflict in Iraq as an example of how such techniques can function.
  • Networked conflict: the development of networked ways of fighting that have allowed resistance to US-led and UK forces to persist, despite the technological advantages of these forces. My research analyses the long history of insurgency in Afghanistan as an example of the efficacy of such networked structures.
  • Online networks: the implications of various uses of ICTs for organisation and activism. I am beginning to analyse how such networks can contribute to the communication of research and the opportunities they offer for political activism.
  • Theory: the contribution of poststructuralist, (post)marxist and military theory to our understanding of conflict, networks and geopolitics.

Recent Research Grants

YearAmount/Description
2005 ESRC Overseas Institutional Visit: funding for a three-month research visit to The Watson Institute, Brown University.
2003-6 Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) PhD Studentship: funding to cover the costs of my PhD studies.

Academic Background

YearDegree/University
2004-7 PhD thesis, Geography Department, Durham University.
Thesis title: "Virtual Wars: A Comparative Analysis of the 1991 Gulf War and the 'War on Terror'."
2003-4 1st year of PhD studies, Politics, Newcastle University.
Thesis title: "Virtual Wars: A Comparative Analysis of the 1991 Gulf War and the 'War on Terror'."
2002-3 MA Politics Research, Newcastle University.
1999-2002 BA Philosophy and Politics, Warwick University.

Appointments

YearTitle/University
January 2012 - present Lecturer (Teaching & Research) in Human Geography at Dundee University.
September 2009 - 2011 Lecturer (Teaching & Scholarship) in Human Geography at Dundee University.
2008 - 2009 Teaching at Newcastle University - module leader of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism module.
March 2008 -
March 2009		 Research Associate, Data Wars project - at Durham University Geography Department.
October 2007 -
August 2008		 Research work for the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.
November 2004 -
February 2007		 Casual teacher and demonstrator at Durham University Geography Department.
September-
December 2005		 Visiting Fellow at the Watson Institute, Brown University.
  • Hall, A. and J. Mendel (forthcoming) 'Digital traces and the ‘print’ of threat: targeting populations in the war on terror' in P. Harvey, E. Casella, G. Evans, H. Knox, C. McLean, E. Silva, N. Thoburn and K. Woodward (Eds.) Objects and Materials. A Routledge Companion (London: Routledge).
  • Hall, A. and J. Mendel (2012) "Threatprints, Threads and Triggers: Imaginaries of Risk in the 'War on Terror'" in Journal of Cultural Economy.
  • Mendel, J (2010) "Afghanistan, Networks and Connectivity" in Geopolitics (15:4), 726-751.
  • Mendel, J. (2009) "Letter" Journal of Research in Nursing 14 (3), 281-2.
  • Mendel, J. (2008) "A Hard Landing for Virtual War: Iraq, Land and Insurgency". Research paper written for the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.
  • Mendel, J. (2003) "Power Trouble: Gendered Analyses of E. H. Carr's Concept of Power in The Twenty Years' Crisis," In-spire 1 (1).
Contact:
j.m.mendel@dundee.ac.uk
Tel:+44 (0)1382 385083
Fax:+44 (0)1382 388588
Postal Address:
Geography
School of the Environment
University of Dundee
Perth Rd
Dundee
DD1 4HN
Jonathan Mendel
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