Studying the Agency of Being Governed ─ Methodological Reflections

This edited volume is about how we can approach methodologically the agency of being governed. The work emanates from a lack of explicit methodological discussions about how scholars approach and conduct empirical studies from governmentality/biopolitics perspectives. It aims to critically reflect on existing research and explore how we can use these perspectives as tools to understand the effects of practises of governance strategies on people’s lives. The book explores power and its effects, placing an emphasis on studying its inability to fully dominate the governed subject. It thus pays close attention to the problem of how to study ‘a sense of agency’.

Including contributions by both junior and senior scholars who grapple with the rewards and difficulties of conducting grounded research about the agency of being governed from a governmentality/biopolitics perspective, this work will be of great interest to students and scholars of international relations, global governance and research methods.

Stina Hansson is a PhD student of Peace and Development Research in the School of Global Studies, Gothenburg University, Sweden

Sofie Hellberg is a PhD student of Peace and Development Research in the School of Global Studies, Gothenburg University, Sweden

Maria Stern is Associate Professor of Peace and Development Research in the School of Global Studies, Gothenburg University, Sweden