Asha Herten-Crabb

Assistant Professor

Email:

Room: S0.42

Advice and Feedback Hours:

In person: Mondays 14.30 - 15.30 S0.42 Social Sciences, please book hereLink opens in a new window

Online: Fridays 13.30-14.30, please book here Link opens in a new window

Profile

I am Assistant Professor of International Organisations. I completed my PhD in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2024, where I was also a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of International Relations (2024-25) and a Guest Lecturer at the European Institute (2023-24).

I hold a BA in Philosophy, a BSc (Hons) in Genetics and Immunology, and a Master of Human Rights Law from the University of Melbourne, as well as an MSc in Infectious Disease Control from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Prior to my academic career. I worked as a researcher and policy analyst at Chatham House, the Fiji Ministry of Health, the Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy, and ActionAid.

My research agenda examines the enduring legacies of Western European imperialism in global governance. Bringing together international political economy and critical international relations theory, my work focuses on how imperial relations are reproduced through global governance arrangements and their underlying assumptions about order, development, and legitimacy.

My work develops this agenda across three interrelated areas.

First, I develop a theoretical agenda on the ontological political economy of global governance. This work examines how global governance regimes privilege particular ways of being, knowing, and governing, and how these ontological assumptions shape what forms of political and economic life are recognised as legitimate. By analysing the deep structures of global order, this research shows how imperial relations endure beyond formal decolonisation through claims to universality, neutrality, and expertise.

Secondly, I study international trade governance and the political economy of international organisations, with a particular focus on North–South power asymmetries. Much of my empirical research examines European Union trade policy, including EU–MERCOSUR negotiations, intellectual property, and trade and sustainable development provisions. This work analyses how trade negotiations and legal frameworks reproduce uneven development, constrain policy space, and operate as contemporary mechanisms of imperial power.

Thirdly, I engage in public-facing and participatory research on truth-telling, British imperialism, and reparations. I am a co-founder and organiser of the People’s Educational Forum on the British Empire, a transnational initiative that brings together scholars, educators, activists, and communities to support processes of historical reckoning, institutional accountability, and public education on the legacies of British imperialism.