Research profile
My research interests are in comparative political economy and comparative politics, with a particular focus on welfare states, industrial relations, and party politics. Specifically, I have examined policy responses to precarious work and welfare; the role of trade unions in labour market reform; the distributive implications of European integration; the economic and social policies of radical right parties; and the internal challenges faced by social democratic parties in immigration policy. More recently, I have taken an interest in party politics to understand how political parties connect voters with political power in contemporary capitalism. My work is primarily comparative and qualitative in nature. I have done case study analyses on Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, and Sweden.
Current research
My current research examines the impact of radical right parties on social and economic policies. It was awarded a research grant from the German Research Foundation (2019-2023). Within this project, I am writing a book provisionally called “How the Radical Right has changed Capitalism and Welfare in Europe and the USA” under contract with Oxford University Press. The book addresses two questions: How have radical right parties influenced social and economic policies in Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and the USA (Trump administration) when in government? And how can we explain cross-national variation in the policy impacts of the radical right?
Radical right parties have been the most successful party family in the advanced capitalist democracies during the past three decades. Previous research has therefore intensely studied the causes of their electoral rise, but we know very little about their impact on different varieties of capitalism and welfare. The book will remedy this problem by providing a comparative account on how radical right parties have changed the welfare state in Europe and the USA.
In addition to my book project, I currently work on paper projects on the economic policy positions of radical left and right parties in the Eurozone (with Jonathan Hopkin, LSE) and 'just transition' and eco-social policy approaches at the international level (with colleagues from the Climate Justice and Social Policy Group at the Social Policy Association, UK)