I am broadly interested in interrogating IR theory by examining the history of global governance and international thought. My research examines, historically and sociologically, the emergence of the international as a separate domain of political action, and exclusionary conceptions of knowledge and agency that have shaped this domain.
My first book – The Making of the Technocratic International, under contract with Oxford University Press – reconstructs the modern history of expert-based global governance. How did expertise emerge as a central ingredient of international cooperation? My answer combines an intellectual history of technocratic international thought with case studies of international experiments with expertise: the Suez canal, international telegraphy, and the first World’s Fairs. Listen to this interview to find out more. Relatedly, I am also editing a collection titled Experts In A Turbulent World (under contract with Oxford University Press) which brings together historians and IR scholars working on expertise.
I’m currently working on a second book project on crisis management, and the social and political construction of crisis, at three early-twentieth century international organisations.