Alex Yates
Political Science and International Studies
Political Science and International Studies +3
University of Bath, Department of Politics, Languages & International StudiesStart date: 02/10/2023
Research topic: Anti-Populism and Pluralism: A Comparative Analysis
Populism, which posits ‘the people’ against ‘the elite’, is often considered a significant challenge to liberal democracy. Namely, because of its supposed incompatibility with liberal-democratic pluralism, the understanding that political power should be widely diffused. In response, several political, academic, and media elites have come to occupy an ‘anti-populist’ position to defend pluralism from populist challengers. Such elites, however, have themselves been accused of undermining pluralism through their supposed marginalisation of dissent and demonisation of those who challenge neoliberalism. My research appraises anti-populist discourses to determine their efficacy in promoting pluralism against populism’s oft alleged authoritarian tendencies.Research supervisors: Dr Aurelien Mondon, Dr Sophia Hatzisavvidou, Dr George Newth
Email: ay557@bath.ac.uk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexkyates2000
Antonia Vaughan
Political Science and International Studies
PhD Researcher in Political Science and International Studies (ESRC +3)
University of Bath, Department of Politics, Language and International StudiesStart date: January 2020
Research topic: The alt-right online during the United States’ Presidential Election 2020.
My PhD is looking at the communities of the alt-right online, particularly on the platforms of Reddit and Voat. Using a mixed-methods methodology, the networks and communication methods of the communities will be analysed to show how they operate during a Presidential Election. The construction of identity and community will also be considered.Research supervisors: Professor Anna Bull, Dr Aurelien Mondon
Email: av790@bath.ac.uk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/antoniacvaughan
Benjamin Jackson
Political Science and International Studies
University of Bristol September 2024Start date: September 2024
Research topic: Applying hermeneutical philosophy to the question of ‘the international
This research is a philosophical investigation into how countries interpret ‘the international’ that will have relevance for International Relations and for contemporary understanding of Chinese foreign policy and interaction. Structurally, the research is twofold. Firstly, philosophical hermeneutics as developed by Hans-Georg Gadamer and Martin Heidegger, will be employed to demonstrate theory of how international units interpret and understand the international. Secondly, in order to operationalise this theory, an analysis of China as a case study will be conducted, through which I will seek to understand to what extent there is a unique Chinese understanding of the international. By understanding whether there is a unique Chinese interpretation of the international, better understanding of Chinese actions and behaviour in the context of the international will be attained.Research supervisors: Dr Torsten Michel , Professor Yongjin Zhang
Email: benjamin_jackson@hotmail.co.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-jackson-679b2788/
Clara Rayner
Political Science and International Studies1+3
University of Bristol, School of SociologyStart date: September 2023
Research topic: Climate protest movements, utopianism, and capitalist realism
Research supervisors: Jonathan Joseph, Ashley Dodsworth
Email: jz19707@bristol.ac.uk
Ditte Madsen
Political Science and International Studies
PhD Researcher in Politics (ESRC 1+3)
University of Exeter, College of Social Sciences and International StudiesStart date: September 2015
Research topic: Teenage pregnancy and social inclusion in Cornwall
Research supervisors: Dr Dario Castiglione
Email: dtm207@exeter.ac.uk
Eleanor Wolff
Political Science and International Studies
PhD Researcher in Political Science and International Studies (ESRC 1+3)
University of Bristol, School of Sociology, Politics and International StudiesStart date: September 2018
Research topic: How climate justice should affect international environmental law: the case for establishing an International Court for Climate Change
Research supervisors: Dr Pieraccini, Dr Dietzel
Email: nn18021@bristol.ac.uk
Ellen Martin
Political Science and International Studies
1+3
University of Bristol, School of Sociology, Politics and International StudiesStart date: October 2020
Research topic: Militarism as performance and the politics of resistance: exploring public discourse on militarism in Britain
With the aim of interrogating and destabilising military power, my research is exploring how the British public diversely perform militarism in their everyday spaces. I am interested in the subtle, embodied and affective performances by which violence and war (and their gendered and racialised hierarchies) are made possible. I am particularly attentive to how the public engages with militarism because their support, ambivalence, indifference, and sometimes resistance are rarely the focus of research, despite being central to understanding how militarism works. My research contributes to ongoing conversations in feminist IR and Critical Military Studies.Research supervisors: Tim Edmunds, Chris Rossdale
Email: e.martin@bristol.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellen-martin-40a3b6201/
Emily Anne Marsay
Political Science and International Studies
PhD Researcher in Political Science and International Studies
University of Exeter, School of Social Sciences and International StudiesStart date: September 2017
Research topic: The Quintuple Crisis? Addressing the missing crisis of care in the Alternative Development Strategies for a post-2015 era.
My research will evaluate the impact of different international development projects which aim to empower women and girls. I will focus on the role of unpaid care work in the achievement of development outcomes, and on the consequences that empowerment projects may have for the provision of care. I will conduct a comparative ethnography that aims to reflect the knowledge and the systems of meaning in the lives of a community in Eastern Kenya. I hope to construct a colourful picture of the myriad factors that contribute to women’s self-perceived empowerment and autonomy, including social interaction, structural constraints, culture and relationships.Research supervisors: Dr Duncan Russel, Dr Sarah Cooper
Professional memberships/Positions held:
University of Exeter Gender Research NetworkEmail: em390@exeter.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-marsay-3657a395/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/emilymarsay
Flo Bremner
Political Science and International Studies
PhD Researcher in Political Science and International Studies (ESRC 1+3)
University of Bath, Department of Politics, Language and International StudiesStart date: October 2019
Research topic: Far Right Discourse in the Mainstream
Research supervisors: Aurelien Mondon, Professor Anna Bull
Email: fb553@bath.ac.uk
Francesca Farmer
Political Science and International Studies
PhD Researcher in Politics (ESRC 1+3)
University of Exeter, College of Social Sciences and International StudiesStart date: September 2016
Research topic: Cybercrime vs hacktivism: do we need a differentiated regulatory approach?
The thesis aims to delineate and categorise different forms of political hacktivism by researching motivations behind cyber-attacks. It will then investigate whether a specific policy approach should accommodate political hacktivism at the national level. The primary methods used in this study will be qualitative. Interviews and questionnaires with key stakeholders will be the main data source with anonymous online surveys acting as a secondary data source for harder to reach participants. A virtual ethnography of the hacktivists behaviours on forums will also be undertaken in order to research the motivations behind hacktivism.Research supervisors: Professor Alison Harcourt, Professor Oliver James
Email: ff244@exeter.ac.uk
Greg Stride
Political Science and International Studies
PhD Researcher in Political Science and International Studies (ESRC 1+3)
University of Exeter, College of Social Sciences and International StudiesStart date: September 2018
Research topic: Public confidence in the electoral processes of the United Kingdom
Do people in the UK trust that their elections are free and fair? My research is on public attitudes towards electoral integrity and election administration in the UK. For the MRes thesis I am working on determining the relationship between mandatory Voter ID requirements in polling stations and confidence in the electoral process.Research supervisors: Professor Susan Banducci
Email: gs485@exeter.ac.uk
Helen Bramah
Political Science and International Studies
University of Bath, Politics, Languages & International Studies (PoLIS)Start date: September 2021
Research topic: Active Online Information-Seeking and Political Trust
Trust in government and politicians is low and declining in many countries across the world. My research focuses on the UK context, where distrust is becoming ever more intense. I am interested in how citizens judge whether to trust politicians and how online information shapes their decision-making. I am taking a mixed-methods approach using surveys, content analysis, focus groups and an online experiment. My first study explored how MPs convey trustworthiness via social media. My current work looks at how independent regulation of pay and expenses relates to political trust judgements.Research supervisors: Professor Peter Allen, Dr Iulia Cioroianu
Email: hab51@bath.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenbramah/
Twitter: https://bsky.app/profile/helenbramah.bsky.social
Julia Spence-Duclos
Political Science and International Studies
University of Bristol, School of Social Science and LawStart date: September 2024
Research topic: From post-conflict occlusion to contemporary othering: how the Franco-Algerian war of Decolonisation is remembered and taught in France
My research broadly looks at post-conflict memory in schools. I am using the Franco-Algerian war of decolonisation as a case study, analysing how this colonial war in taught in French schools. I’m particularly interested in understanding the effects these teachings and forms of knowledge productions have on the youth in France.Key words: memory, knowledge production, migration, identity, de/colonisation, France, Maghreb, othering.
Research supervisors: Dr Karen Tucker, Dr Elena Stavrevska
Professional memberships/Positions held:
Member – Global Insecurities Centre (Peace Conflict and Violence)
Member – Decoloniality and Race Research Group Founder – Memory Research Group (PhD)Email: julia.spence@bristol.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-spence-7b2328144/
Kate Precious
Political Science and International Studies
PhD Researcher in Political Science and International Studies (ESRC +3)
University of Bath, Department of Politics, Language and International StudiesStart date: September 2018
Research topic: A seat at the table: a comparative analysis of the causes, process and effect of the integration of the autistic community into policy in England and Denmark.
Research supervisors: Dr Engeli, Dr Maras, Dr Milner
Email: k.j.precious@bath.ac.uk
Katy Brown
Political Science and International Studies
PhD Researcher in Political Science and International Studies (ESRC 1+3)
University of Bath, Department of Politics, Language and International StudiesStart date: October 2017
Research topic: ‘Talking with’ and ‘talking about’ the far right: putting the mainstream back into mainstreamin
It is widely acknowledged that the far right has enjoyed increased success over recent years in Europe. However, a focus on electoral gains has led to misperceptions about the extent and nature of its impact. Discursive studies have largely investigated on how far-right parties have ‘softened’ their rhetoric to appear less extreme. While this internal strategy is important, mainstreaming is more complex, and there is a need to shift the focus towards the system in which far-right parties, or more specifically their ideas, are allowed to flourish. My PhD explores the role of mainstream elites within politics, the media and academia in creating this receptive environment.Research supervisors: Dr Aurelien Mondon, Dr Sophia Hatzisavvidou
Email: kjb28@bath.ac.uk
Lauren Brown
Political Science and International Studies
Political Science and International Studies 1+3
University of Bristol, School of Sociology, Politics and International StudiesStart date: September 2021
Research topic: Who are the demos anyway? An exploration of how elites in England and Scotland discursively construct the citizen and the Other at various spatial levels.
My research focuses on the elite discursive construction of migrants and citizens within England and Scotland at a national and sub-state level. In particular, I aim to explore how communities (and thus belonging) is created at different spatial levels, and how identity translates across these. In doing so, I hope to shed light on how belonging is varied across Britain.Research supervisors: Professor Bridget Anderson, Professor Jutta Weldes
Email: lauren.h.brown.2021@bristol.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-brown-9172b5137/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenbrown_8
Lewis Cooper
Political Science and International Studies
PhD Researcher in Political Science and International Studies (ESRC 1+3)
University of Exeter, School of Social Sciences and International StudiesStart date: September 2018
Research topic: The Emotions of the Economic Household: Expressions & Experiences Of Wealth and Work In Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century England
Research supervisors: Dr Schaap, Dr Maiguashca
Email: lc707@exeter.ac.uk
Max Guarini
Political Science and International Studies
PhD Researcher in Political Science and International Studies (ESRC 1+3)
University of Bristol, School of Sociology, Politics and International StudiesStart date: September 2018
Research topic: Visual politics, the relationship between traditional and social media, discourse analysis, relational sociology, and power
I am interested in how images are playing an increasingly important role in shaping how politics is understood and experienced in a media environment which sees the logics of legacy media and social media coexist, clash and coevolve. My PhD thesis applies this interest in the visual aspect of politics to the imagery used to depict Jeremy Corbyn during his tenure as leader of the UK Labour Party. I use discourse analysis to show how meaning is constructed through the use of images accompanying headline text in traditional media formats, as well as through social media with the creation of image macros and memes, which also make use of text and image to construct meaning. More specifically, my research is focused on showing how imagery was employed, alongside text, to construct Corbyn as a threat to the UK during his four years as Labour leader and how these constructions were reinforced or resisted through social media.Research supervisors: Prof. Terrell Carver, Dr. Neil Matthews
Email: mg12881@my.bristol.ac.uk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaxiGuarini
Melis Kirtilli
Political Science and International Studies
ESRC +3
University of Exeter, Department of Social and Political Sciences, Philosophy, and AnthropologyStart date: October 2022
Research topic: The Political Economy of Decentralised Federalism: A Historical and Analytical Account of Classical Anarchist Constitutional Design
A key problem in contemporary political philosophy is the attempt to reconcile liberty and equality on the one hand and finding the institutional design principles that would foster freedom as non-domination on the other. My project proposes to reconcile a libertarian socialist account of freedom and equality with non-statist constitutional design principles. I aim to demonstrate that the anarchist political economy of decentralised federalism reconciles liberty and equality on left-libertarian terms and meets republican defenses of freedom. By showing the real-world applicability of this model, this research will move us towards a more grounded and institutional design driven ‘political political theory’, which is motivated to rebuild more just, equal, and free institutions beyond the narrowly defined existing notions of private property and state.Research supervisors: Dr Alex Prichard, Prof. Robert Lamb
Professional memberships/Positions held:
I am the Honorary Secretary of the James Madison Trust, which supports and commissions research on federal studies, and a member of the Political Studies Association, Anarchist Studies Network. Prior to my PhD, I worked at Oxford University Press, interned at Rotterdam Turkish Consulate General, and was a Junior College Advisor at St Cross College, University of Oxford. I previously held the positions of Vice-President for Academic Affairs at the International Association for Political Students, co-chair of the October Club, and management team member at Informal Forum for International Student Organisations.
Email: m.kirtilli@exeter.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meliskirtilli/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MelisKirtilli
Nicholas Dickinson
Political Science and International Studies
PhD Researcher in Political Science and International Studies (ESRC 1+3)
University of Exeter, PoliticsStart date: September 2015
Research topic: The Regulation of MPs Salaries and Expenses in Westminster Democracies
I am a doctoral researcher in Politics focusing on the regulation of the salaries and expenses of members of parliament in Westminster democracies. The project aims to provide analysis and information on expenses regulation both from a scholarly standpoint and to inform ongoing debates on policy. My broader interests are the comparative study of parliamentary institutions in the English-speaking world, with a particular focus on the interactions between institutional arrangements, resource use and forms of political behaviour.Research supervisors: Professor Nicole Bolleyer, Professor Claudio Radaelli
Email: nd327@exeter.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nick-dickinson-12782896
Website/Blog: https://twitter.com/NickSDickinson
William Feltham
Political Science and International Studies
PhD Researcher in Political Science and International Studies (ESRC 1+3)
University of Bristol, School of Sociology, Politics and International StudiesStart date: October 2019
Research topic: Discursive and Narrative Tactics in Representations of the Labour Party - Toward a Counter Hegemonic Politics
My research addresses the role of language and narrative used in the presentation of the Labour Party and Momentum (by those groups themselves, in the press, and on social media) in the ongoing battle for control over the Labour Party. I aim to examine the linguistic and narrative battles being fought by various groups in the British political landscape for control over the ways in which the Labour Party is represented and understood. Further, I seek to discover how the language and narratives employed by Labour can and do form part of a genuine counter-hegemonic ambition.Research supervisors: Dr Mark Wickham-Jones, Dr Thomas Osborne
Email: rm19459@bristol.ac.uk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WilliamFeltham2
South West Doctoral Training Partnership
