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Lecturers

Shawn Nichols
  • Pronouns she, her, her, hers, herself
  • Title
    • Continuing Lecturer
  • Division Social Sciences Division
  • Department
    • Politics Department
  • Phone
    831-459-2505
  • Email
  • Website
  • Office Location
    • Merrill College Faculty Office Annex, 155
  • Office Hours Tues/Thurs, 3-5pm
  • Mail Stop Merrill/Crown Faculty Services
  • Mailing Address
    • 1156 High Street
    • Santa Cruz CA 95064
  • Faculty Areas of Expertise International Development, Politics, Political Economy of Development, Comparative Politics, Critical Theory
  • Courses Global Politics; Global Organization; U.S. Foreign Economic Policy; International Security; Capitalism and War; Security, Conflict, Violence, and War; Politics of Development; Human Rights; International Law; U.S. Foreign Policy

Summary of Expertise

My research interests are rooted in international political economy. Focusing on the political economy of free trade and investment treaties, my research investigates the factors that have led to the inclusion of the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS) in free trade agreements - and its consequences on the evolving boundaries of property rights.  I have a broad range of teaching experience, including Global Politics, International Relations,  Comparative Politics, Foreign Policy, Legal Studies, and American Politics.

Research Interests

Political economy of global trade, transnational social forces, property rights, global organizations, and global governance

Biography, Education and Training

Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz
Committee: Kent Eaton, Daniel Wirls, Ronnie Lipschutz, and Jan Knippers-Black

Master of Arts, International Policy Studies (2004), Middlebury Institute of International Studies
Emphasis: International Trade, Conflict Resolution and Negotiations

Bachelor of Arts, French and Bachelor of Science, Business Administration, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC

Certificate of European Studies, Universite' de Caen, Caen, France (1 year study abroad)

Certificate of French language studies, Universite' d'Aix-Marseille III, Aix-en-Provence, France (1 year study abroad)

Selected Publications

"Transnational Capital and the Transformation of the State: Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)," Critical Sociology (Print version, forthcoming). Critical Sociology 0896920516675205, first published on November 11, 2016 as doi:10.1177/0896920516675205

"Expanding Property Rights under Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS): Class Struggle in the Era of Transnational Capital," Review of International Political Economy, first published on February 6, 2018: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/5XDpR7BAb8Pk2HNaSpXV/full 

 “Investor-State Dispute Mechanisms and Imperialism” (2019) in Immanuel Ness and Zak Cope (Eds.) Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism, 2nd addition. London: Palgrave MacMillan

“The International Political Economy of Transnational Class and Contemporary Capitalism” (2019) in Ernesto Vivares (Ed.) The Routledge Handbook of International Political Economy. New York: Routledge

“Transnational Capital and the Crisis of Neoliberalism” (forthcoming) in Terrence McDonough, David M. Kotz, and Cian McMahon (Eds.) Elgar Handbook on Social Structures of Accumulation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

 

Teaching Interests

Global Politics, International Relations, International Political Economy, Comparative Politics, Foreign Policy, International Security, Global Trade