Dr David Hudson

Lecturer in International Relations and Political Economy

Introduction

Dr David Hudson is a Lecturer in International Relations and Political Economy and directs the International Public Policy Programme.  His principal research interests lie broadly within International Political Economy and International Relations, and more specifically in the political economy of development, finance, and network analysis.

David joined the Department of Political Science in June 2005. Prior to joining UCL he was an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham (2004-05). The University of Birmingham was also where he completed his doctorate in political science (2000-04) under the supervision of Dr Matthew Watson and Professor Colin Hay.  He is responsible for teaching the Political Economy of Development, International Political Economy, and Theories of International Relations courses.

Research Interests

My current research focus is the political economy of development.  In particular my work explores the ongoing debates about financing for development: looking at the possibilities, problems, and contradictions of different (public and private) sources of funding which are being harnessed to reach the UN Millennium Development Goals.  This research forms the basis for a current book project: Global Finance and Development (Routledge).  In addition, elsewhere, I am critically examining alternative sources of finance to Official Development Assistance and Foreign Direct Investment; for example, migrant remittances, securitization, and microfinance.  I am also conducting research into public support and understandings of development assistance.

A second strand of my research explores financial markets as communities of practice and sits within the literature on the social studies of finance - this was the theoretical basis of my PhD.  In particular, the thesis was an exploration of the sociology behind the formation of price dynamics on financial markets, and consequently the relationship between prices and value - specifically, discourses and the social construction of value and the performativity of valuation.  In the context of the IPE literature, this was in relation to the debates about financial market regulation.  I am in the process of picking this up again in the context of the recent house price booms in the OECD economies and the subsequent slow down and fall out from securitization and the sub-prime crisis.

I am currently exploring these and other areas through the lens of formal network analysis.  I am interested in using this tool to empirically analyse the changing geographies of international and transnational relations and how forms of, more or less, global governance are forming and operating across different spaces and groupings of actors.  I am also interested in questions of disciplinarity/interdisciplinarity, with particular reference to IPE but also the social sciences more generally.  Finally, I have a longstanding and ongoing interest in critical theories of IR and IPE, especially historical materialist, poststructural, and feminist approaches.

I am always interested in supervising promising doctoral students in any of the above or related areas

Current Research Students

I am currently supervising eight doctoral students (either as first or second supervisor).  Please follow the links for more information on the individual projects:

• Niheer Dasandi (commenced Oct 2008) - Niheer is researching into the role of global relations of inequality in sustaining dependency and undermining development; the project will empirically map and formally analyse the role of different political, social and economic ties.
• Cathy Elliott (commenced Oct 2008) - Cathy's project is a genealogy of Pakistan’s development deploying poststructural and postcolonial approaches in order to interrogate how the values of democracy and development legitimate domestic and international forms of rule (ESRC funded).
• David Karp (commenced Oct 2006) - David's project links the literature on political theory, justice and human rights with IR and public policy to examine whether there ought to be enforceable extraterritorial law and/or international rules that identify transnational corporations as potential human-rights violators (funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada).
• Nicole Salisbury (commenced Oct 2006) - Nicki is exploring the governance network around HIV policy in South Africa.  Her thesis is determining the network features that serve to support or mitigate against organisations undertaking structural interventions.
• Barbara Sennholz (commenced Oct 2008) - Barbara's project is an examination of how financial regulation is adopted, adapted and performed within hedge funds as actors constituted through socio-technical agencements.
• Raluca Soreanu (commenced Jan 2007) - Raluca's project is an examination of the constructivist turn in IR.  Her thesis is exploring the roles of intellectual creativity and academic networks in order to understand disciplinary change (funded by a UCL Graduate School Research Scholarship). 
• David Wearing (commenced Oct 2008) - David is researching into how concentrations of socio-economic power influence British foreign policy; drawing on historical and critical approaches to the state the project will empirically map the role of different social forces in a selection of policy areas.
• Maurice Wong (commenced Oct 2006) - Maurice is researching China's regulatory regime for financial derivatives.  His thesis is mapping out the relevant governance network in order to understand the extent to which other actors and linkages influence regulatory outcomes.

Main Publications

• 'The Old and New Significance of Political Economy in Diplomacy', Review of International Studies, 30 (3), 2004: 343-60; co-authored with Donna Lee + Read more (External link)
• Governing Financial Globalization: International Political Economy and Multi-Level Governance, London: Routledge/RIPE Series in Global Political Economy, 2005; co-edited and co-authored 'Introduction' and 'Conclusion' with Andrew Baker & Richard Woodward + Read more (External link)
• 'Locating and Understanding the Marketplace in Financial Governance', in Andrew Baker, David Hudson & Richard Woodward (eds), Governing Financial Globalization: International Political Economy and Multi-Level Governance, London: Routledge/RIPE Series in Global Political Economy, 2005 + Read more (External link)
• 'Foreign Exchange Market' & 'Irrational Exuberance', in Mark Bevir (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Governance, London: Sage, 2006 + Read more (External link)
• 'Feminist Scholarship in International Relations and the Politics of Disciplinary Emotion', Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 37 (1) 2008: 123-151; co-authored with Raluca Soreanu + Read more (External link)
• 'Developing Geographies of Financialisation: Banking the Poor and Remittance Securitisation', Contemporary Politics, 14 (3), 2008: 315-333 + Read more (External link)
• 'Narratives of Neoliberalism: The Role of Everyday Media Practices and the Reproduction of Dominant Ideas', in Andreas Gofas & Colin Hay (eds), The Role of Ideas in Political Analysis: A Portrait of Contemporary Debates, London: Routledge, forthcoming 2009; co-authored with Mary Martin + Read more (External link)
• '"The Righteous Considereth the Cause of the Poor?": Public Attitudes Towards Poverty in Developing Countries', Political Studies, forthcoming 2009; co-authored with Jennifer van Heerde + Read more (External link)

Work in Progress

I am working on a number of different projects at the moment - all, albeit in different ways, related to those research interests detailed above.  I am trying to provide drafts of any 'work in progress' for circulation and comments through this website: http://davidhudson.wordpress.com/.  Please browse, download, and post comments as you see fit!

The following are the main things that I am working on at the moment:

• "‘A mile wide and an inch deep’: A review and critique of existing surveys on public opinion and development", paper presented at the ISA Annual Convention 2009, New York, co-authored with Jennifer van Heerde+ Read more (External link)
• Global Finance and Development, London: Routledge, in preparation+ Read more (External link)
• 'Global Financial Reform and the Fair Financing of Health Equity', paper presented to the conference The World Health Organization and the Social Determinants of Health: Assessing Theory, Policy, and Practice+ Read more (External link)