Research PROJECTS
We have an extensive track record of academic excellence, policy impact and knowledge exchange activities, including, among others, in relation to pandemic politics, refugee politics and austerity politics.
Pandemic politics
Welcome to the our research page, seeking to contribute to urgent public debates and policy practice on the UK’s phased response to COVID-19, drawing on political behaviour, crisis management theory, international relations and political psychology. Through the analysis of original survey data, our main aims are to analyse what drives public support for and compliance with social distancing measures, how the pandemic disproportionately affects different social groups, and what are the public preferences on balancing public health with economic considerations and security with freedom.
refugee politics
Building Futures: Aspirations of Syrian Youth Refugees and Host Population Responses in Lebanon, Greece and the UK
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This project is designed to offer an in-depth and innovative comparative study of the experiences, skills and aspirations of young Syrian refugees, who have been forcibly displaced by the conflict in their home country, and the corresponding attitudes and belief structures of the host population in three receiving states: Lebanon, Greece and the United Kingdom (UK). Through surveys and interviews, this study will allow us to formulate policy recommendations to meet the training and skills needs of young migrants, with a view to facilitating either reintegration in Syria or integration in their host nations. It will also give guidance on how such policy can be framed and advocated so as to build consensus and cross-community understanding in a context of strained public resources and anti-immigration sentiment.
Austerity politics
Since 2009, Greece has found itself at the epicentre of world attention, as it has been rocked by the worst economic crisis of its modern history. With the situation still unfolding and the crisis undermining the stability of the Eurozone and global markets, the economic wisdom, the political consequences and the social sustainability of the austerity packages introduced remain the subject of heated debate. This website presents original research on the the origins, management and implications of the Greek crisis, in a comparative context, aiming to generate new theoretical perspectives about the politics of austerity within and beyond Greece.
culture war
Our project “Cultural divides: Understanding the role of affective polarisation” aims to situate developments in Greek public opinion in a comparative perspective, and examine how cultural issue cleavages have realigned around such new partisan identities. In doing so, our aim is to examine the extent to which social polarisation on issues that measure the logic of a “culture war” narrative prevail over those that measure “economic” issues and interests.
