Conference — Women and gender in security TV series

Initially scheduled in June 2020, the workshop “Women and gender in security TV series” has been postponed to March 2021 due to COVID-19.

A growing number of films and television series are set ‘behind the scenes’ of democratic regimes faced with terrorist threats. Thus, even if US productions are dominant, the series Le Bureau des Légendes (Canal +, 2015-) is shown internationally, and several British (The State, Spooks), German (Berlin Station, Deutschland 1983, Deutschland 1986), and Israeli series (Hatufim, Fauda) are distributed globally. Revealing a moral state of the world, these shows may be included in a broader reflection on ‘popular culture’ and its politics. They represented and express the threats and risks for democracy that make up the current security context.

Although women have long had access to important roles in security TV shows, from Nina Myers and Chloe O’Brian in 24 to Elizabeth Jennings in the Americans, some of the most popular, critically acclaimed and sought-after TV series now feature women in leading roles (see for example Carrie Mathison in Homeland, Villanelle and Eve in Killing Eve). Such an evolution resonates with the need expressed in society to modify an industry which long has all-too-often revolved around the presence of white male lead actors.

This international conference will bring together researchers working in the fields of television series, security studies, and women’s and gender studies as well as television professionals, in order to develop together an interdisciplinary reflection on the place of women in security television series.