Publications

Articles

Zimmerman, Shannon. “Doctor Who and the Responsibility to Protect: Public Perspectives of Atrocity Crimes.” Journal of Popular Culture (6 November 2022). https://doi.org/10.1111/jpcu.13167  

This article engages the BBC televisions series Doctor Who to investigate popular conceptions of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). R2P provides guidelines for how the international community should treat to war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and ethnic cleansing. However, there are disconnects between the rhetoric used in elite forums which discuss R2P and public understandings of the concept. This article finds that Doctor Who reflects popular understandings of R2P, which remain limited but evolving. Atrocity crimes are increasingly seen as anathema but focus still remains on reacting to atrocity crimes rather than preventing them or rebuilding communities afterwards.

Zimmerman, Shannon. “The Ideology of Incels: Misogyny and Victimhood as Justification for Political Violence.” Terrorism and Political Violence (26 October 2022). https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2022.2129014

A new group of socio-political actors has emerged from the depths of the internet. The ‘involuntary celibates’, or Incels, are disaffected men who feel they have been victimized by feminism. These individuals gather and thrive online in the ‘Manosphere’, a groups of misogynist blogs, chatrooms, subreddits, and online platforms that amplify their feelings of male entitlement and rage. Within this online echo chamber, Incels have begun to craft a violent ideology which dehumanises women, calls for the overthrow of the existing ‘feminist’ world order, and advocates for the creation of a sexual Marxist system which guarantees access to women’s bodies. This article seeks to identify and understand the core components of Incel ideology, including its relationship with hegemonic masculinities, evolutionary psychology, and sexual Marxism. The goal of this articles is to begin defining the social and political goals of the amorphous, yet potentially impactful, known as the Incels.

Zimmerman, Shannon. "Parallel Lines in the Sand: The Impact of Parallel French Interventions on UN Stabilization Operations in Mali and the Central African Republic." [In English]. Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations 28, no. 1 (08 Mar. 2022): 58-79. https://doi.org/10.1163/19426720-02801001
Zimmerman, Shannon. "R2P and Counter-Terrorism: Where Sovereignties Collide." Global Responsibility to Protect  (10 Mar. 2022): 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1163/1875-984X-14010018
Zimmerman, Shannon. 2020. “Defining State Authority: UN Peace Operations Efforts to Extend State Authority in Mali and the Central African Republic.” Stability: International Journal of Security & Development, X(X): X, pp. 1–16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/sta.762
Hunt, Charles T. and Shannon Zimmerman, “Twenty years of the Protection of Civilians in UN Peace Operations: Progress, problems and prospects.” The Journal of International Peacekeeping. 1-32. 3 April 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/18754112-20200004
Kuehnast, Kathleen and Shannon Zimmerman, “No Will, No Way: Women, Peace and Security in Peacekeeping Operations,” Peace and Stability Operations Journal Online. Volume 3.1. October 2012. 

Manuals

Bronitt, Simon (lead), Sarah Teitt (lead), Michelle Dunn, David Duriesmith, Behnaz Zarrabi, Lauren Vogel, Luisa Ryan and Shannon Zimmerman, “Training Modules on Gender and Violent Extremism in Asia,” UN Women, 2020

Edited Books

Zimmerman, Shannon (ed), The Responsibility to Protect and Counter-terrorism: Contradictions and Congruences (Brill, 2023). https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/63775 
The Responsibility to Protect and Counter-Terrorism both ‘came of age’ at the turn of the millennium, as the international community was grappling with the challenges emerging from the end of the Cold War. R2P embraced the value of the individual, while counter-terrorism emphasized the importance of the state. Each appeared to represent a distinct way of understanding security. However, as these two concepts have evolved through contestation, application, and reform, surprising points of conflict and congruence have emerged which open up new ways of understanding what it means to protect both civilians and the state.

Book Chapters

Zimmerman, Shannon, "The Future Dynamics Between UN Stabilisation and UN Peace Operations: Management Versus Conflict Resolution" in Multidisciplinary Futures of UN Peace Operations. Ed Alexander Gilder, Georgina Holmes, David Curran and Fiifi Edu-Afful (Palgrave MacMillan, 2023). https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-38596-4_5      
Zimmerman, Shannon, “Dangerous Misogyny of the Digital World” in The Digital Global Condition. Ed. Elizabeth Kath, Julian C.H. Lee, and Aiden Warren (Springer Nature Singapore, 2023). https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-19-9980-2#toc 
The advent of the World Wide Web created new digital worlds consisting of networked blogs, websites, chatrooms and forums for every topic under the sun (or in the shadows). An unintended side effect of such digital communities is that they have enabled individuals with extreme beliefs to find others to validate their grievances and encourage them to action. One of the largest and most notable of these communities is known as the ‘Manosphere’, an anti-women digital world that foments extreme misogyny, dehumanising women and, at its deepest levels, advocating for violence against all things feminist. This chapter will lay out the contours of the Manosphere and illuminate the major threats arising from this online space.
Zimmerman, Shannon, “Strange Bedfellows: Terrorism/counterterrorism and the Responsibility to Protect” in The Responsibility to Protect: Consolidation and Contestation. Ed. Phil Orchard and Charles T. Hunt (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2020).

Book Reviews

Zimmerman, Shannon, Review of Vanessa Newby’s “Peacekeeping in South Lebanon: Credibility and Local Cooperation” (Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 2018). The Hague Journal of Diplomacy. February 2020.
Zimmerman, Shannon, Review of Kurt Mills’ “International Responses to Mass Atrocities in Africa: Responsibility to Protect, Prosecute and Palliate” (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015). Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal: Vol. 11: Iss. 1 (2017): 104-106. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5038/1911-9933.11.1.1464 

If there are any articles you would like and are unable to access, please feel free to contact me at s.zimmerman (at) deakin.edu.au.