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Guillermo Alonso Simon

PhD Student

Senior Graduate Teaching Assistant

For academic or PhD enquiries:

guillermo.alonso-simon@warwick.ac.uk

For teaching enquiries (staff email):

guillermo.alonso-simon.1@warwick.ac.uk 

For students: To book a meeting please contact me on my staff email, suggesting a time slot and whether you prefer a face-to-face or Microsoft Teams meeting

Qualifications

BA (Hons) in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, Lancaster University, UK

MSc in International Relations, IE School of Global and Public Affairs, Spain

PhD in Politics and International Relations, University of Warwick, UK (ongoing)

Profile

My research interests are currently situated in the overlap between Comparative Political Economy and European studies. I am particularly interested in the integration and management of multiple capitalisms under the Euro, given the context of an incomplete political and economic union and the rise of challenges like increased levels of socioeconomic inequality.

As an example of this, my doctoral research, funded by a university scholarship and supervised by Prof. Ben Clift and Prof. Özlem Atikcan, focuses on the problems of Spain and Italy's entry into the European Monetary Union. Specifically, I analyse the evolution of these countries’ capitalist models in a manner that relates the processes of convergence initiated as a product of the signing of the Maastricht Treaty with the issues they confronted during the Eurozone crisis, focusing on developments in their fiscal and industrial policies.

Before starting my PhD, I worked as a Research Assistant for various projects, ranging from qualitative studies into understanding violent extremist groups, to the digital revolution and its implications for the European Union. The most prominent outcome of this has been co-writing, and presenting in academic conferences, two articles regarding Widening Participation efforts in the UK, situating them in the context of the increased marketisation of Higher Education, and exploring their impact on socioeconomic inequality at a broader level. I also have administrative and teaching experience from previous employment.

Research interests
  • Comparative and European Political Economy, specifically of Southern Europe
  • European economic integration and its problems, particularly as seen in the Eurozone crisis
  • The role of the state in contemporary capitalism, particularly in regards to industrial policy and macroeconomic management
  • The politics of economic ideas, especially regarding Europeanisation, social learning, and translation dynamics
Academic publications
  • Bayes, C, Johnson, M & Alonso, G (2020), ‘WP Game Playing: Exploring alternative pathways to ‘New Political Minds'’. in G Atherton, S Kendall, M Naughton & M Webster (eds), The Third Age of Widening Access, National Education Opportunities Network (NEON).
  • Johnson, M. T, Bowden, G. and Alonso, G. (2020) ‘Rethinking Disadvantage: A social capital approach to Widening Participation’, Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, Vol 22 (1), p.55-78.
Research Presentations
  • Alonso Simón, G. & Otero Iglesias, M. (2022) 'Varieties of Capitalism, state capacities and the politics of coordination in post-COVID Spain', presented in the Society for the Advancement of Socioeconomics (SASE) Annual Conference, Amsterdam, July 2022
  • Alonso Simon, G. (2022) 'The Lagging South: Capitalist Development and Europeanisation in Spain and Italy during Accession to the EMU', presented in the PAIS Research Conference, University of Warwick, June 2022
  • Bayes, C., Johnson, M., and Alonso, G. (2019) ‘WP Game Playing: Exploring alternative pathways to ‘New Political Minds’’’, presented in the NEON Summer Symposium 2019, in Lancaster University.
  • Johnson, M. T, Bowden, G. and Alonso, G. (2019) ‘Rethinking Disadvantage: A social capital approach to Widening Participation’ presented in the Association for Academic Outreach (AFAO) Annual Conference 2019, in Warwick University.
Other publications
Teaching experience
  • Senior Graduate Teaching Assistant, PO133 Foundations of Political Economy, PAIS Department, The University of Warwick (2022-2023)
  • Graduate Teaching Assistant, PO107 Introduction to Politics, PAIS Department, The University of Warwick (2021-2022)
  • Intern Workshop Coordinator, New Political Minds course, Richardson Institute for Peace Studies, Lancaster University, August 2019
Awards and Scholarships
  • Chancellors' International Scholarship, Doctoral College, University of Warwick, 2022-2025
  • Best Undergraduate Dissertation - Philosophy, Lancaster University, 2019
Other Activities
    • Co-Chair of the 2022-2023 Critical Research and International Political Studies (CRIPS) graduate working group