Helen Berents

I am a researcher interested in the politics of children and youth in international conflict and peacebuilding. My work is motivated by a genuine belief in the importance of recognising the contributions and capacities of children and youth in navigating violence and building peace.

I am a Senior Lecturer with the School of Government and International Relations at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. I was an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow from 2020-2024. I received my PhD in International Relations from the School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Queensland. I also have a Graduate Certificate of Academic Practice and I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

My research draws on feminist international relations, critical peace studies and the sociology of youth and explores representations and participation of children and youth in peace and conflict, everyday approaches to peacebuilding, and local-global relations in peace and security governance. It is concerned with both representations of young people in contexts of crises and conflict, and with engagements with the lived experience of violence-affected communities.

I am an editor at Critical Studies on Security. I am currently a member of the Swedish Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) International Research Working Group on Youth, Peace and Security (2023-2027), part of the Arab Reform Initiative’s Working Group on Youth and Peacebuilding in MENA, and member of the Global Coalition on YPS.

My first book Young People and Everyday Peace was published in 2018, and I have co-edited three volumes: Youth Leading Change: Emerging Sites of Knowledge in Peace and Conflict with Katrina Leclerc and Erika Yague (2025), Youth and Sustainable Peacebuilding with Profs Siobhan McEvoy-Levy and Catherine Bolten (2024), and Children, Childhoods, and Global Politics with Prof J Marshall Beier (2023). My Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship was on Youth Leadership and the Future of Peace and Security. For more on my academic and non academic writing see my various completed and in progress Research, or Writings & Media.

I’ve lived all over Australia, as well as in the UK, Venezuela, and Colombia. My pronouns are she/her/hers. If I’m not writing, I’m most likely baking something delicious. You can contact me here.