Ben Garner

I am Senior Lecturer and Course Leader on the International Development/International Development programmes here at Portsmouth.  I have previously taught courses on development studies, international political economy and sociology at universities in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool.

My research is interdisciplinary and takes a global perspective.  I am keen to draw together critical insights from across the humanities and social sciences in research that addresses contemporary global challenges.  I have a particular interest in developing Foucauldian and post/de-colonial approaches to understanding global inequalities and strategies to confront these. 

An important strand of my research to date has been in exploring the role of culture within the political economy of development.  I have examined the different ways that culture has been conceptualised and become an area of contestation in international regimes of political and economic regulation from the postwar period to the present day. This has informed studies of the relationship between culture and trade liberalisation; the work of international organisations such as UNESCO, the World Bank and WTO; the formation and impact of international treaties on cultural diversity and indigenous rights; the political economy of knowledge and creativity; and the work of relevant policymakers and civil society stakeholders in Latin America and the Caribbean, the EU and China.

Research Clusters

• International Development Studies
• Centre for European and International Studies Research
• Security, Citizenship and Social Justice
• Citizenship, "Race" and Belonging
• Cultural Heritage and Sustainability

Discipline Areas

• International Development
• Global Political Economy
• International and Area Studies (Latin America & Caribbean)
• Sociology

I teach and supervise across a number of programmes here in the School of Area Studies, Sociology, History, Politics and Literature, in particular: BA International Development, BA International Development and Languages, MSc International Development, BA International Relations, BA Politics.

On these programmes, my main teaching responsbilities include the following modules:

• The Making of the Global South
• Climate Crises
• Development & Democracy in Latin America
• Transitional Justice and Human Rights
• Theory and Practice of Development
• 'Race', Rights and Development: Global Perspectives on Inequality and Social Justice