Dr Davide Schmid
Senior Lecturer in International Relations
My profile
Biography
My areas of specialism are Critical Theory and International Political Economy. In my research, I address the Frankfurt School tradition of critique and the analysis of contemporary capitalist crisis in relation to European integration and the European border regime.
I have published my research in high ranking academic journals such as the European Journal of International Relations (EJIR), Geoforum, the Journal of European Public Policy (JEPP), the Journal of Common Market Studies (JCMS) and Geopolitics. My first book, titled ‘The Poverty of Critical Theory in International Relations’, was published by Palgrave in 2023.
Prior to joining MMU in 2019, I worked as a Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Groningen and as a Teaching Assistant in Politics at the University of Sheffield. I obtained my PhD in 2018 at the University of Sheffield, writing on the contemporary challenges facing Frankfurt School theory in International Relations. Before that, I completed a BA degree in Politics at the Università Statale di Milano in 2010 and an MA in International Relations at the University of York.
I am a co-convenor of the Critical Theory in Hard Times (CTiHT) research network and Deputy Director of the Manchester Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence.
Academic qualifications
- PhD in Politics and International Relations, University of Sheffield, UK, 2018
- MA International Relations, University of York, UK, 2012
- BA International Sciences and European Institutions, Università Statale di Milano, Italy, 2010
Languages
Italian (mothertongue); German (mothertongue); French (intermediate); Spanish (intermediate)
Projects
My research background is one of interdisciplinary critical inquiry that straddles the line between International Political Economy, Critical Theory and European studies. What characterises my scholarship is an interest in how the current crisis conjuncture of global capitalism is reshaping the politics of European integration as well as problematising many of the theoretical and normative assumptions of critical theories of international politics.
My current work is organised around three main areas of inquiry.
The first involves a theoretical engagement with the tradition of Frankfurt School critique in International Relations (IR). In particular, it critiques the cosmopolitan theorising of Jürgen Habermas and its application to processes of globalisation and European integration. As part of this first avenue of research, I have published an article in the European Journal of International Relations (EJIR) as well as a research monograph titled ‘The Poverty of Critical Theory in International Relations’, which was published by Palgrave MacMillan. In these works, I argue that Critical Theory in IR finds itself in the midst of a ‘crisis of critique’ and needs to establish new connections with other strands of critical thinking and in order to reacquire the capacity to diagnose and interpret politically the present global conjuncture.
The second area of research focuses on the political economy of European Integration. Together with Dr Scott Lavery at the University of Sheffield and Dr Sean McDaniel at MMU, I have written about the ways in which ongoing transformations in the global economy associated with Brexit and the ‘decentring’ of globalisation are impacting the European Union and generating new tensions at the heart of European capitalism. Most recently, I have co-published an article in the Journal of Common Market Studies (JCMS) on the emerging ‘global disorder’ and a book chapter on the EU’s new ‘European Strategic Autonomy’ agenda.
The third and most recent area of research looks at the European border regime through the lens of Racial Capitalism. In particular, it brings a critical political economy perspective to bear on European migration policy, studying the creation, management and containment of racialised surplus populations at the borders of Europe. This avenue of research is being developed in collaboration with Dr Gemma Bird at the University of Liverpool and is informed by a growing interest in the theories of Racial Capitalism and Relative Surplus Populations. It has resulted, so far, in one co-authored article published in Geopolitics.
Teaching
Undergraduate teaching
- Global Emancipatory Movements
- Postcolonial Perspectives
Postgraduate teaching
- History of International Relations
- Issues in Contemporary Global Politics
Supervision
I’m interested in supervising PhD projects in the areas of International Political Economy, Critical Theory and European integration.
Research outputs
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Books (authored/edited/special issues)
Schmid, D. The Poverty of Critical Theory in International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan Cham.
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Chapters in books
Lavery, S., McDaniel, S., Schmid, D. 'European Strategic Autonomy: new agenda, old constraints.' In Babić, M., Dixon, A.D., Liu, I.T. (ed.) The Political Economy of Geoeconomics: Europe in a Changing World. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 57-80.
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Journal articles
Bird, G., Schmid, D. 'Humanitarianism and the ‘Migration Fix’: On the Implication of NGOs in Racial Capitalism and the Management of Relative Surplus Populations.' Geopolitics, 28(3) pp. 1235-1261.
Lavery, S., Schmid, D. 'European Integration and the New Global Disorder.' JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 59(5) pp. 1322-1338.
Lavery, S., McDaniel, S., Schmid, D. 'Finance fragmented? Frankfurt and Paris as European financial centres after Brexit.' Journal of European Public Policy, 26(10) pp. 1502-1520.
Lavery, S., McDaniel, S., Schmid, D. 'New geographies of European financial competition? Frankfurt, Paris and the political economy of Brexit.' Geoforum, 94pp. 72-81.
Schmid, D. 'The poverty of Critical Theory in International Relations: Habermas, Linklater and the failings of cosmopolitan critique.' European Journal of International Relations, 24(1) pp. 198-220.