Kasper Arabi
I successfully defended my doctoral project in September 2026. It was situated within the field of International Political Economy and titled The Everyday Politics of Hegemonic Ordering: Economic Inequality and the Transition from Pax Britannica to Pax Americana. My doctoral research was supervised by Professor Matthew WatsonLink opens in a new window and Dr Chris RogersLink opens in a new window, with informal supervision provided by Senior Researcher Rasmus Sinding SøndergaardLink opens in a new window (Danish Institute for International Studies).
Research interests
I study how everyday perceptions of the economy inform broader societal relations. I am generally interested in economic inequalities, state selectivities, international ordering, and business-government relations. Methodologically, my research has a strong historical dimension, and I am keen to explore questions typically considered the domain of political science using archival research methods with the aim of shedding new light on present-day developments. Put differently, I have developed a strong interest in researching everyday experiences with the economy through cultural-historical lenses in archival collections.
These themes came together in my doctoral thesis. My research focused on everyday perceptions of intra-state inequality and their relationship with the broader international system. Put briefly, I studied whether non-elite experiences of economic polarization within a hegemon inform its approach to international order. To explore this question, my research examined the hegemonic transition from Pax Britannica to Pax Americana, and I aimed to contribute to the literature on the outward effects of domestic intra-state dynamics, such as specific configurations of state selectivities and business-government-society relations, on hegemony and the stability of world order. The empirical side of my work was therefore heavily based on cultural-historical explorations of various archives in the U.S. and the U.K. Parts of my thesis have been published in the Review of International StudiesLink opens in a new window and the Review of International Political EconomyLink opens in a new window.
I am currently developing these lines of research further. This includes the use of history in policymaking processes and the everyday underpinnings of national growth models.
In short, my research interests include:
- Economic inequality
- Hegemony and hegemonic projects
- State regulation and state selectivities
- Historical international political economy
- Everyday political economy
- Archival research methods
Published work
- Arabi, K. (2026). Susan Strange meets the everyday: The mundane sources of structural power. Review of International Studies, 52(2), 347-366. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0260210525101083
- Arabi, K. (2025). Overcoming methodological statism: new avenues for hegemony research. Review of International Political Economy, 32(1), 242–257. https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2024.2401432
- Arabi, K. (2022). Book review (in Danish) of 'The Return of Inequality: Social Change and the Weight of the Past'. Politica, 54(1), 104–106. https://doi.org/10.7146/politica.v54i1.130598
Teaching experience
- 2024: Co-convenor and lecturer, Introduction to Political Science, Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University.
- 2020: Instructor, Public Policy, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen.
Other activities
- Full-Time Research Assistant, Commissioned inquiry into Denmark's engagements in Afghanistan 2001-2021Link opens in a new window, Denmark, 2022-2024.
- Assistant Editor, Danish Foreign Policy Review, 2020-2021.