Research Interests
Open to PhD applications in three distinct areas:
- political economy of development, in post-colonial Africa and South Africa in particular
- energy transitions and the future of fossil fuels, especially the history and agency of international oil companies
- American Politics, including energy politics and the history of "Big Oil", and conservative politics and political realignments in the context of American Political Development
Public outreach & key achievements
My research at Queen's has been funded by the ESRC World Economy and Finance Research Programme, the British Academy, the Nuffield Foundation and the DfE (NI) Global Challenges Research Fund.
Publications indicative of my key research interests have appeared in journals such as Business & Society, The Extractive Industries and Society, Energy Research & Social Science, Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Political Geography, Political Studies, Democratization, Third World Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary African Studies, and Commonwealth & Comparative Politics.
I am also the author of Africa’s Development Impasse: Rethinking the Political Economy of Transformation (Zed Books).
Research students
| PhD Title | Economic Diversification in Gulf States: Navigating the Precursor to Energy Transition |
| Name | Fawwaz Alabdulhadi |
| Years of Study | 2021 - Present |
| Country | Kuwait |
Alumni: Where are they now
| PhD Title | Impact of philanthropic and private donors on Irish foreign aid |
| Name | Dr Nicolas Marcoux |
| Years of Study | 2008 - 2011 |
| Country | France |
| Current Position | Senior Governance Specialist, Institute of Public Affairs, Dublin |
| PhD Title | State-Business Relations and Economic Transition in the Modern World-System: A Comparative Study of South Africa and Zimbabwe |
| Name | Dr Sinan Baran |
| Years of Study | 2016 - 2019 |
| Country | Turkey |
| Current Position | Assistant Professor, Kırşehir Ahi Evran Üniversitesi |
| PhD Title | The Rise of 'Green' China: A Comparative Study of Beijing's Modern Energy Policy in the Global South |
| Name | Dr Ryan McLean |
| Years of Study | 2017 - 2022 |
| Country | UK |
| Current Position | Lecturer, American University of Beirut |