Dr Rachel Joy Bosler

Biography

Rachel has a highly interdisciplinary background with an undergraduate degree from the University of Warwick in English Literature and an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science in Gender, Development and Globalization. She completed her PhD in Government at the University of Essex in 2025, with co-supervision from the Human Rights Centre. Her PhD looked how the concept of protecting the public is used in the UK to justify policies that, rather than keeping anyone safe, justify and legitimize greater securitization and privatization of the public realmwhile encouraging suspicion and fear of others. She specifically focused on responses to anti-social behavior and protest policy. Continuing her interest in affect and emotion, she is currently working on a project on the weaponization of emotion and looking at policies that treat emotional discomfort and annoyance as a serious harm. Specifically, she aims to theorize the right to be annoying. Currently, Rachel works as an Academic Skills Tutor with Skills for Success and leads on their modules for PhD students. She worked previously as an Assistant Lecturer for the Interdisciplinary Studies Centre.

Qualifications

• BA (First Class) English Literature The University of Warwick (2017)

• MSc Gender, Development and Globalisation The London School of Economics and Political Science (2018)

• PhD Government The University of Essex (2025)

Thesis