Hannah Britton
- Associate Professor
Contact Info
Blake Hall, room #504E
Biography —
Hannah Britton is an associate professor in the departments of political science and women, gender, and sexuality studies. Britton's scholarship focuses on women and politics, gender and African politics, the prevention of gender-based violence, and human trafficking. Britton is also the Director of the Center for the Study of Injustice at the Institute of Policy & Social Research at the University of Kansas. In this role, she coordinates KU's Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Initiative (ASHTI), which is a working group of faculty and students engaged in teaching and research about slavery, labor exploitation, and commercial sexual exploitation. She is the lead researcher on a project in the Midwest examining the factors that may leave someone vulnerable to exploitation. Hannah also coordinates a working group of faculty and graduate students using qualitative research methods in their teaching and scholarship.
Research —
For the past twenty years, my research has focused on the intersection of gender, sexuality, nationality, and ethnicity as factors affecting social status, political power, and violence prevention. Much of my early scholarship focused on improving the socio-economic and political position of women in post-conflict settings, in particular in southern Africa. More recently, my work examines how individuals and communities address the risk, protective, and resiliency factors affecting (1) human trafficking, including sex and labor exploitation and (2) intimate-partner violence and gender-based violence. My twenty years of field-based research in South Africa and Namibia and my more recent work in the Midwest U.S. provide a wealth of experience in designing community-based research projects. My primary research methodology has been field-based research in both rural and urban settings, and I have employed a range of qualitative research methods including interview research, focus group research, participant observation, document analysis, and content analysis. Through this field-based research, I have extensive knowledge of reaching hidden populations, of working in urban and rural areas, of establishing networks of community partners, and of designing researcher and participant safety measures.
Research interests:
- Comparative Politics
- Gender and Politics
- African Politics, Human Trafficking
Teaching —
Teaching interests:
- Comparative Politics
- African Politics, Gender and Politics
- Human Trafficking
- Qualitative Methods
- Feminist Theory
Selected Publications —
Schwarz, Corinne, Emily Kennedy, and Hannah Britton. “‘Aligned Across Differences: Structural Injustice, Sex Work, and Human Trafficking.’” Journal Articles. Feminist Formations 29, no. 2 (July 2017): 1–25.
Schwarz, Corinne, Erik Unruh, Katie Cronin, Sarah Evans-Simpson, Hannah Britton, and Megha Ramaswamy. “Human Trafficking Identification and Service Provision in the Medical and Social Service Sectors.” Journal Articles. Health and Human Rights 18, no. 1 (April 19, 2016): 181–91. https://www.hhrjournal.org/2016/04/human-trafficking-identification-and-service-provision-in-the-medical-and-social-service-sectors/.
Schwarz, Corinne, and Hannah E. Britton. “‘Queering the Support for Trafficked Persons: LGBTQ Communities and Human Trafficking in the Heartland.’” Journal Articles. Social Inclusion 3, no. 1 (2014): 63-75. http://www.cogitatiopress.com/ojs/index.php/socialinclusion/article/view/172.
Britton, Hannah E., and Lindsey Shook. “‘I Need to Hurt Your More’: Namibia’s Fight to End Gender-Based Violence.” Journal Articles. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 40, no. 1 (2014): 153–75.
Britton, Hannah E., and Laura Dean. “Policy Responses to Human Trafficking in Southern Africa: Domesticating International Norms.” Journal Articles. Human Rights Review 15, no. 3 (2014): 305–28.
Britton, Hannah E., and Taylor Price. “‘If Good Food Is Cooked in One Country, We Will All Eat From It’: Women and Civil Society in Africa.” Book Chapters. In The Handbook of Civil Society in Africa, 2013.
Britton, Hannah E., and Jennifer N. Fish. “Engendering Civil Society Society in the Democratic South Africa.” Book Chapters. In Women’s Activism in South Africa: Working Across Divides, edited by Hannah E. Britton, Sheila Meintjes, and Jennifer N. Fish. University of KwaZulu Natal Press, 2009.
Britton, Hannah. Women’s Activism in South Africa: Working Across Divides. Books. Edited by Hannah E. Britton, Sheila Meintjes, and Jennifer N. Fish. University of KwaZulu Natal Press, 2009.
Britton, Hannah E. “South Africa: Challenging Traditional Thinking on Electoral Systems.” Book Chapters. In Women and Legislative Representation: Electoral Systems, Political Parties and Sex Quotas, edited by Manon Tremblay. Palgrave, 2008.
Britton, Hannah E. “Organizing Against Gender Violence in South Africa.” Journal Articles. Journal of South African Studies 32, no. 1 (2006): 145–63.
Britton, Hannah E. “South Africa: Mainstreaming Gender in a New Democracy.” Book Chapters. In Women in African Parliaments, edited by Gretchen Bauer and Hannah E. Britton. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006.
Britton, Hannah E. “Trading Places: Juxtaposing South Africa and the United States.” Book Chapters. In Interrogating Imperialism: Conversations on Gender, Race and War, edited by Robin Riley and Naeem Inayatullah. Palgrave, 2006.
Britton, Hannah E., and Gretchen Bauer, eds. Women in African Parliaments. Books. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006.
Britton, Hannah E., and Gretchen Bauer. “Women in African Parliaments: A Continental Shift?” Book Chapters. In Women in African Parliaments, edited by Gretchen Bauer and Hannah E. Britton. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006.
Britton, Hannah E. Women in the South African Parliament: From Resistance to Governance. Books. University of Illinois Press, 2005.
Britton, Hannah E. “Coalition Building, Election Rules, and Party Politics: South African Women’s Path to Parliament.” Journal Articles. Africa Today 49, no. 4 (2002): 32–67.
Britton, Hannah E. “The Incomplete Revolution: South African Women’s Continued Search for Liberation.” Journal Articles. International Feminist Journal of Politics 4, no. 1 (2002): 1–29.
Britton, Hannah E. “New Struggles, New Strategies: Emerging Patterns of Women’s Political Participation in the South African Parliament.” Journal Articles. International Politics 38, no. 2 (2001): 173–99.
Service —
Hannah Britton is the Director of the Center for the Study of Injustice and the Director of the Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Initiative at KU.