Staff

Short biography

Bina D’Costa has worked on the nexus between development, human rights and security in South Asia. She has a PhD in International Relations from the ANU, an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Notre Dame, US and an MA in International Relations from Dhaka University. She was previously the Convener of the Bachelor Program in Security Analysis with the ANU. She has worked as a post-doctoral fellow on ‘poverty, inequality and development in post-conflict Africa’, at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand and as a John Vincent Fellow in the Department of International Relations of the Research School of Asian and Pacific Studies at the ANU.

She has contributed to various CSO (civil society organisations)-led projects in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India and worked as a consultant for the UNRISD (United Nations Research in Social Development), and DfID (Department for International Development, UK).

Professional activities

Bina’s research interests and specialisations are in peacebuilding, justice and reconciliation processes; human security and borders; gender and conflict; children and war; and the role of NGOS in social movements.

War Crimes and Justice: Bina’s current project is on war crimes, transitional justice and peacebuilding in Asia. She is investigating various ‘justice seeking’ processes in Sri Lanka, East Timor, Cambodia and Bangladesh. She is also revising her manuscript titled ‘Burden’ of the State: Engendering War Crimes and National Identity Politics in South Asia.

Human Security and Borders: Bina has been involved in various policy oriented projects on borders, identity and human security, focusing on Rohingya and Muslim refugees from Burma and the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Children and War: Bina has conducted extensive field research on ‘war babies’ with special attention to the War of Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. This project has developed largely out of Bina’s activist work. She is currently involved in building a children and conflict network with Dr Katrina Lee Koo, International Relations, ANU.

Selected publications

Books

2010 Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia, London: Routledge

2009 Gender and Global Politics in the Asia-Pacific. Co-edited with Katrina Lee Koo. New York: Palgrave McMillan.

Articles and Book Chapters:

2009 ‘Critical Feminist International Relations in the Asia-Pacific’ co-authored with Katrina Lee Koo in Gender and Global Politics in the Asia-Pacific. Co-edited with Katrina Lee Koo. New York: Palgrave McMillan. pp. 1-18.

2009 'Terminology Matters: Peacebuilding, Statebuilding and Nationbuilding', co-authored with Jo Ford, forthcoming

2008 'Victory's Silence: War Babies in Bangladesh', Himal Southasian, December, pp. 56- 59.

2008 ‘Who Belongs? War Rape, unwanted child and post-conflict identity politics in the Indian Subcontinent’ (under review for journal publication)

2008 ‘Strangers within our Borders: Human In(security) in South Asia’, issues paper, CIGJ (also under review for journal publication)

2008 ‘Transnational Feminism and Women’s Rights: Successes and Challenges of a Political Strategy’ in Governing Women, Ed Anne-Marie Goetz. New York: Routledge Publishers, pp. 63-84.

2007 ‘Faith based NGOs and the Politics of Secularism in Bangladesh’ in Civil Society, Religion and Global Governance, Ed Helen James. Routledge Publishers.

2006 ‘Marginalized Identity: New Frontiers of Research for IR?’ in Feminist Methodologies for International Relations, Eds, Brooke A. Ackerly, Maria Stern and Jacqui True. New York: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 129-152.

2005 ‘Gender Inequality and Rights of Women’ in Human Rights in Bangladesh. Ed. Hameeda Hossain. Dhaka: The University Press Ltd.

2005 ‘Coming to terms with the past: forming feminist alliance across borders’ in Women, Power and Justice: Global Feminist Perspectives , Volume I: Politics and Activism: Ensuring the Protection of Women’s Fundamental Human Rights . Eds, Luciana Ricciutelli, Angela Miles and Margaret McFadden. London: Zed Publishers. pp 227-247.

2005 ‘ Transnational Feminism: Political Strategies and Theoretical Resources’, IR Working Paper Series, No.1. Canberra: International Relations, The Australian National University.

2004 Co-authored with Brooke Ackerly. ‘Transnational Feminism and the Human Rights Framework’. Background paper, Policy Report on Gender and Development: An UNRISD Contribution to Beijing + 10.

2001 ‘Health Rights: 2000’, in Human Rights in Bangladesh, 2000. Eds. Ain-O-Shalish Kendro (ASK). Dhaka: The University Press Limited.

2000 ‘Women’s Rights to Equality and Nondiscrimination’ in Human Rights in Bangladesh, 1999. Eds. Ain-O-Shalish Kendro (ASK). Dhaka: The University Press Limited.

1998 Obstacles in Creating an Asian Human Rights Commission’ in Journal of International and Comparative Law: International Practitioner’s Notebook. Nova Southeastern University: Shepard Broad Law Center. Volume 4, Number 2, winter 1998.

Book Reviews:

2009 Globalization and Feminist Activism by Mary E. Hawkesworth. International Feminist Journal of Politics, Vol. 11, No. 1.

2008 Contested Coastlines: Fisherfolk, Nations and Borders in South Asia by Charu Gupta and Mukul Sharma. Himal South Asian