People

Dr Kelly Staples

Associate Professor of International Politics

School/Department: History Politics and International Relations, School of

Telephone: +44 (0)116 252 3003

Email: [email protected]

Profile

I have worked at the University since 2009 as a teacher and researcher of international politics. I am best known for my work on statelessness and on human rights, listed on my publications page. More recently, I have become interested in the broader meanings of humanity, personhood, and in cosmopolitan imaginaries, which continues to be inspired by discussions with students in my final year and postgraduate seminars. 

Research

I have recently been involved in several projects which connect to my wider interests in humanity, personhood and belonging. These include collaborative inter-disciplinary projects funded by the Leicester Institute for Advanced Study on citizenship and peacemaking in Leicester, and on children's practices of home-making and world-building and children's everyday security.  

Publications

Books
(2012) Re-theorising Statelessness: a Background Theory of Membership in World Politics (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press). In paperback - June 2026.

Book chapters
(2021) "The Ethics of Statelessness" in Birgit Schippers (ed.) Rethinking Ethics in International Relations. Abingdon: Routledge.(2017) "The Uncertainties of Protection" in Aidan Hehir and Robert Murray (eds.) Protecting Human Rights in the 21st Century. Abingdon: Routledge.
(2017) "Recognition, nationality, and statelessness: State-based challenges for UNHCR's plan to end statelessness" in Tendayi Bloom, Katherine Tonkiss, and Phillip Cole (eds.) Understanding Statelessness. Abingdon: Routledge.

Journal articles
(2024) "'Stay safe, stay home'? Majority world children, the COVID-19 pandemic, and (everyday) security politics," British Journal of Politics and International Relations.
(2019) "'The problem with refugees': International protection and the limits to solidarity," International Politics.
(2012) ‘Statelessness and the politics of misrecognition’, Res Publica.
(2011) ‘Statelessness, sentimentality and human rights: A critique of Rorty’s liberal human rights culture’, Philosophy and Social Criticism.

Supervision

I am interested in supervising research with a strong theoretical dimension, particularly in connection to questions of humanity and human rights and personhood in world politics.

I am also interested in supervising research into issues including citizenship and noncitizenship, refugees, statehood and statelessness.

Current research students

  • Bee Damara, 'Defining Freedoms: Survivor Activists’ Perspectives on the Relationship Between Human Trafficking and Colonialism in South Africa'
  • Rabih Fayad, 'The significance of humanitarian negotiation in enabling durable humanitarian programming in conflict and post-conflict settings'
  • Tim Jones, 'Normative political theory and or versus migrant activism: challenging migration management failure'
  • Anastasia Nkhalamba, 'Africa-EU Migration, Mobility and Employment Partnership (MMEP)’s impact on migration and mobility in the African continent'
  • Martin Nthakomwa, '(Re)casting the notion ‘Home’: Refugee hosting spaces in East Africa and Leicester'
 

 

Teaching

  • PL1022 Key Concepts in International Relations
  • PL2011 Political Ideas
  • PL3118 Global Justice and Human Rights
  • PL7089 The Politics of Human Rights
  • PL7095 Global Ethics in Practice

Press and media

Recent media
(2026) 'Statelessness and the organisation of humanity,' Critical Statelessness Studies Blog.
(2026) 'Is world citizenship the solution to statelessness?' Edinburgh University Press Blog.

Media coverage


Qualifications

  • PhD Politics (2008), University of Manchester
  • BA (Hons) Politics and Spanish (2002), University of Leeds
  • Diploma Hispanic Studies (2001), Centro de Lenguas Modernas, Granada
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