James Brassett is Reader in the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS); previously RCUK Research Fellow in the ESRC Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation (CSGR). His research addresses the everyday politics of globalisation with a focus on how global politics is performed through cultural practices like film, social media and comedy. Outputs include four books and over 30 articles in journals such as European Journal of International Relations, International Political Sociology, International Theory, International Studies Quarterly, New Political Economy, Review of International Political Economy and Security Dialogue. In addition, Brassett has edited 8 Journal Special Issues on subjects including 'Ethics in World Politics', 'Legitimacy and Global Governance', 'The Political Economy of the Sub-Prime Crisis', 'Resilience', and 'Humour in Global Politics'. His article 'British Irony, Global Justice: A Pragmatic Reading of Chris Brown, Banksy and Ricky Gervis' won the annual BISA prize for the Best Article in Review of International Studies.

Brassett's current research project looks at the rise of humour in global politics, from the use of irony and satire in popular discourses of critique to the growing circulation of memes and `banter' in international diplomacy. His commentary on humour and global politics has appeared in media such as The Conversation, The Economist, and The New York Times.  

Books

• I-PEEL: The International Political Economy of Everyday Life, Oxford University Press, 2022, with Juanita Elias, Lena Rethel and Ben Richardson.
• The Ironic State: British Comedy and the Everyday Politics of Globalisation, Bristol University Press, 2021.
• Affective Politics of the Global Event: Trauma and the Resilient Market Subject, Routledge, 2018.
• Cosmopolitanism and Global Financial Reform: A Pragmatic Approach to the Tobin Tax, Routledge, 2010.

Recent Articles

• Lettuce Rejoice in the Downfall of Liz Truss? Humour, Ontological (In)Security and the Politics of Ridicule, forthcoming in Alternatives, co-authored with Chris Browning.
• Russian Warship, Go Fuck Yourself: Humour and the (Geo)Political Limits of Vicarious War, Cooperation and Conflict, forthcoming 2024, with Chris Browning.
• Anxiety, Humour and (Geo)Politics: Warfare by Other Memes?, International Relations, 37(1), 2023 with Chris Browning.
• Men Behaving Badly? Representations of Masculinity in Post-Global Financial Crisis Cinema, International Feminist Journal of Politics, 23(5), 2021, with Frederic Heine.
• EU've Got to Be Kidding: Anxiety, Humour and Ontological Security, Global Society, with Chris Browning and Muireann O'Dwyer, 2021, 35(1): 8-26.

Funding

• Humorous States: New Diplomacy and the Rise of Comedy in International RelationsLink opens in a new window, with Chris Browning, British Academy Small Grant.
• International Political Economy of Everyday Life, with Juanita Elias, Ben Richardson, and Lena Rethel, IATL Grant For Teaching Innovation.
• Ethics and Global Governance, Research Councils UK: 5 Year Fellowship.
• Roberts Funding for Research Development and Workshops.
• Visiting Fellowships at University of Amsterdam and University of Queensland.

Completed Phds

Dr Frederic Heine, 'The Temptation of Inflation': Masculinities and the Eurozone Crisis', ESRC funded.

Dr Marco Andreu, Impact Bonds and the Ambiguous Politics of Market Ethics, Warwick Chancellors Fellowship.

Dr Aya Nassar, Spaces of Power: Politics, Subjectivity and Materiality in Post-Independence Cairo, Warwick Chancellors Fellowship.

Dr Donna Greene, The Sustainability of the Social Democratic Welfare State: A Case Study of Barbados 1974-1994.

Dr Maurice Stierl, Migration Resistance as Border Politics: Counter Imaginaries of Europe, Warwick Chancellors Fellowship.

Dr Chris Rossdale, Anarchism, Anti-Militarism and the Politics of Security, ESRC Funded, Winner of the BISA Michael Nicholson Prize for the Best Thesis in IR, 2014.

Dr Chris Clarke, The Ethics of Liberal Market Governance: Adam Smith and the Constitution of Financial Market Agency, ESRC Funded.

Dr Mark Fowle, Practices of Emancipation: Security, Dialogue and Change in Post-War Vukovar, ESRC Funded.

Dr Chris Holmes, Economistic Fallacies in Contemporary Capitalism: A Polanyian Analysis of Regimes of Marketised Protection, ESRC Funded.

 

 

 

 

Research Interests

• Everyday Politics of Globalisation
• Alternative Practices of Resistance
• Mediatisation of Global Politics
• Humour and International Relations

Public Engagement

• Review of Charlie Brooker's Anti-Viral WipeLink opens in a new window for The Conversation
• Quoted in Dutch newspaper Volkskrant on the rise of the comedian in politics. Link opens in a new window
• Quoted in The Economist on UK Political SatireLink opens in a new window
• Quoted in Danish newspaper Politiken on the Politics of Brexit Satire.Link opens in a new window 
• E-IR Blog on Social Media Europe and the Rise of Humour in Global DiplomacyLink opens in a new window
• Panel on Humour and Politics at the Leicester Comedy Festival.
• Roundtable on the Future of Political Comedy, London South Bank.
• LSE Democratic Audit Blog on Comedy and the Politics of Resistance.Link opens in a new window
• Carnegie UK Trust Report on Gobal Governance and Democratic Civil SocietyLink opens in a new window.
• UNDP Report on Financial Transactions Taxes and Global Democracy.

Contact Details

Office: E2.12

Telephone: 02476-574420

Advice and Feedback via Teams: Friday 10am-12pm, during term time, except Reading week,