The PhD and the powerful

Disparities of power often exist between PhD students & Early Career Researchers and more senior academics and the actors they study. This holds especially true for international studies, where access to information and subjects is often constrained by state actors able to envelop themselves in numerous, potentially legitimate, restrictions. This brief is designed to help PhD students in the realm of international studies identify, comprehend, and develop strategies for dealing with, such disparities. It evolved from a British International Studies Association Postgraduate Network workshop held at Kingston University, London, on November 1st, 2018. This brief reports on the workshop‘s key themes and provides intellectual framing and practical advice for PhD students thinking about how to network and develop and maintain professional relationships. It broadly adopts the workshop's structure, with four sections focused on locating, understanding, navigating and, speaking truth to power.