Simon Fraser University

Alison Ayers,
Assistant Professor

Cross-appointed with Sociology & Anthropology

 

Email: ajayers@sfu.ca

Phone: 778-782-4677

Office location: AQ5066

 

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Global/international political economy, globalization, imperialism and development; the theorization of the state; the constitutive role of the subaltern within the global political economy, with a focus on Africa; political violence and armed conflict, the ideology of ‘failed states’; democratization and governance; the philosophy and methodology of social science.

 

Dr Alison Ayers received her D.Phil in International Relations/International Political Economy from the University of Sussex, where she held an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) award. Dr Ayers is cross-appointed with the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at SFU. Prior to joining SFU, Dr Ayers was Lecturer in International Political Economy at the University of Southampton, where she received a certificate of merit for Excellence in Teaching. Previous employment included research and program work in Africa, Latin America and the UK, with community and indigenous organizations, several European NGOs, the United Nations and leading research institutes.

 

 

 

Recent Publications:

 

 

 

 

 

Gramsci, Political Economy and International Relations Theory: Modern Princes and Naked Emperors, New York: Palgrave, 2008 (editor)

 

 

 

‘At the Gates of Fortress North America: Race-ing the SPP and its Political Subject’ Studies in Political Economy, forthcoming 2010 (with Cynthia Oka)

 

‘Sudan’s Uncivil War: The Global-Historical Constitution of Political Violence’ Review of African Political Economy, Vol. 37, Issue 124, 2010

‘Imperial Liberties: Democratisation and Governance in the “New” Imperial Order’ Political Studies, Vol. 57, Issue 1, 2009


‘“We All Know A Democracy When We See One”: (Neo)Liberal Orthodoxy in the Democratisation and Good Governance Project’ Policy and Society, Vol. 27, Issue 1, 2008

‘Production, Class and Power in the Neo-Liberal Transition: a Critique of Coxian Eclecticism’ in Alison J. Ayers (ed) Gramsci, Political Economy and International Relations, New York: Palgrave, 2008 (with Alfredo Saad-Filho)

‘Beyond the Imperial Narrative: African Political Historiography Revisited’ in B. Gruffydd Jones (ed.) Decolonising International Relations, Rowman and Littlefield, 2006

‘Demystifying Democratisation: The Global Constitution of Neo-Liberal Polities in Africa’ Third World Quarterly Vol. 27, Issue 2, 2006

In the Service of Power: The Global Political Economy of Citizenship and Human Rights’ Citizenship Studies, Special Issue ‘Citizenship and Human Rights’ Vol. 10, Issue 3, 2006 (with Tony Evans)

Work-in-progress includes the global-historical constitution of political violence in Africa; a critique of the ideology of ‘failed states’; and a monograph on the Global Political Economy of Democratization.

 

 

Faculty Overview

 

Faculty Research Specialty Areas