Staff profile

Cameron Harrington is an Associate Professor in International Relations in the School of Government and International Affairs. He is a researcher and analyst of global environmental politics. His research focuses on the theory and practice of security in the Anthropocene, drawing insights from across disciplines including critical security studies, political theory, criminology, and human geography. Recent research has explored topics such as water weaponisation, the institutionalisation of climate security, and the use of seed banks as security apparatuses. 

He is the co-author of the monograph Security in the Anthropocene: Reflections on Safety and Care (Transcript 2017) and is the co-editor of the book Climate Security in the Anthropocene: Exploring the approaches of United Nations Security Council member-states (Springer 2023). His research has appeared in journals such as Political Geography, Global Environmental Politics, PLoS Climate, Millennium, Environment and Planning E, Water International, Annual Review of Law and Social Science, and Critical Studies on Security.

Prior to joining Durham in 2017, Dr. Harrington held the Global Change and Sustainability Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Cape Town, where he was also an affiliate researcher with WWF-South Africa. He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the International Centre for Comparative Criminology, University of Montréal. He was awarded a Ph.D in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario in Canada.

• Anthropocene
• Critical security studies
• Global Environmental Politics
• IR Theory
• Posthumanism
• Water Security

Authored book

• Security in the Anthropocene: Reflections on Safety and Care.
  
  Harrington, C., & Shearing, C. (2017). Security in the Anthropocene: Reflections on Safety and Care. transcript. https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839433379

Chapter in book

• Climate Change as a “Threat Multiplier”: The Construction of Climate Security by the United Kingdom—2007–2020
  
  Harrington, C. (2023). Climate Change as a “Threat Multiplier”: The Construction of Climate Security by the United Kingdom—2007–2020. In J. Nora Hardt, C. Harrington, F. von Lucke, A. Estève, & N. P. Simpson (Eds.), Climate Security in the Anthropocene: Exploring the Approaches of United Nations Security Council Member-States (1st ed., pp. 297-318). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26014-8_14
• Introduction: A Framework for Assessing Climate Security
  
  Hardt, J. N., Harrington, C., von Lucke, F., Estève, A., & Simpson, N. P. (2023). Introduction: A Framework for Assessing Climate Security. In J. Nora Hardt, C. Harrington, F. von Lucke, A. Estève, & N. P. Simpson (Eds.), Climate Security in the Anthropocene: Exploring the Approaches of United Nations Security Council Member-States (pp. 1-23). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26014-8_1
• A Quantum Anthropocene? International Relations Between Rupture and Entanglement
  
  Harrington, C. (2020). A Quantum Anthropocene? International Relations Between Rupture and Entanglement. In J. Castro Pereira & A. Saramago (Eds.), Non-Human Nature in World Politics (pp. 53-73). Springer Verlag.
• Posthuman Security and Care in the Anthropocene
  
  Harrington, C. (2017). Posthuman Security and Care in the Anthropocene. In C. Eroukhmanoff & M. Harker (Eds.), Reflections on the posthuman in international relations : the Anthropocene, security and ecology. (pp. 73-86). E-International Relations.

Edited book

• Climate Security in the Anthropocene: Exploring the Approaches of United Nations Security Council Member-States
  
  Hardt, J. N., Harrington, C., von Lucke, F., Estève, A., & Simpson, N. P. (Eds.). (2023). Climate Security in the Anthropocene: Exploring the Approaches of United Nations Security Council Member-States (1st ed.). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26014-8

Journal Article

• Ambient water weaponisation: The permeation of violence in the hydrosphere
  
  Schmidt, J. J., & Harrington, C. (2026). Ambient water weaponisation: The permeation of violence in the hydrosphere. Political Geography, 130, Article 103591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2026.103591
• The challenges of the increasing institutionalization of climate security
  
  Hardt, J. N., Jayaram, D., Harrington, C., McLaren, D., Simpson, N. P., Cook, A. D. B., Oliveira, M. C., von Lucke, F., Trombetta, J. M., Daoudy, M., Floyd, R., Oramah, C. P., Anthony, M. C., & Estève, A. (2024). The challenges of the increasing institutionalization of climate security. PLoS Climate, 3(4), Article e0000402. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000402
• The eternal return: Imagining security futures at the Doomsday Vault
  
  Harrington, C. (2023). The eternal return: Imagining security futures at the Doomsday Vault. Environment and Planning E : Nature and Space., 6(4), 2614–2635. https://doi.org/10.1177/25148486221145365
• Race, Ethnicity, and the Case for Intersectional Water Security
  
  Harrington, C., Montana, P., Schmidt, J. J., & Swain, A. (2023). Race, Ethnicity, and the Case for Intersectional Water Security. Global Environmental Politics, 23(2), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1162/glep_a_00702
• Law and governance in the Anthropocene
  
  Woolley, O., & Harrington, C. (2022). Law and governance in the Anthropocene. Global Policy, 13(S3), 5-10. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13168
• Environmental Security and the Anthropocene: Law, Criminology, and International Relations
  
  Holley, C., Shearing, C., Harrington, C., Kennedy, A., & Mutongwizo, T. (2018). Environmental Security and the Anthropocene: Law, Criminology, and International Relations. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 14, 185-203. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-101317-030945
• From passengers to crew: introductory reflections
  
  Harrington, C., Lecavalier, E., & Shearing, C. (2017). From passengers to crew: introductory reflections. Crime, Law and Social Change, 68(5), 493-498. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-017-9698-y
• Entangling carbon lock-in: India’s coal constituency
  
  Lecavalier, E., & Harrington, C. (2017). Entangling carbon lock-in: India’s coal constituency. Crime, Law and Social Change, 68(5), 529-546. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-017-9701-7
• The political ontology of collaborative water governance
  
  Harrington, C. (2017). The political ontology of collaborative water governance. Water International, 42(3), 254-270. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2017.1309507
• The Ends of the World: International Relations and the Anthropocene
  
  Harrington, C. (2016). The Ends of the World: International Relations and the Anthropocene. Millennium : Journal of International Studies, 44(3), 478-498. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305829816638745
• Toward a critical water security: hydrosolidarity and emancipation
  
  Harrington, C. (2015). Toward a critical water security: hydrosolidarity and emancipation. Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, 21(1), 28-44. https://doi.org/10.1080/11926422.2013.846269
• The environment and emancipation in critical security studies: the case of the Canadian Arctic
  
  Harrington, C., & Lecavalier, E. (2014). The environment and emancipation in critical security studies: the case of the Canadian Arctic. Critical Studies on Security, 2(1), 105-119. https://doi.org/10.1080/21624887.2013.856197