Rupert Taylor is a British political sociologist, educated at the progressive Dartington Hall School, the University of Kent, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Formerly a professor of political studies at a leading South African university, Taylor has held visiting scholar positions at the New School University and Columbia University in New York City. Taylor has published significant papers on both the politics of power-sharing in South Africa and in Northern Ireland; and his edited books include: Creating a Better World: Interpreting Global Civil Society (2004, Kumarian); Consociational Theory: McGarry & O’Leary and the Northern Ireland Conflict (2009, Routledge); and, Third Sector Research (2010, Springer).

Rupert Taylor is working in collaboration with the Centre to develop and publish an edited volume that thoughtfully engages with the theoretical and practical dimensions of consociationalism in Northern Ireland today.