Dr Sean Irving
Lecturer in Modern British History
Email: s.irving@qmul.ac.uk
Room Number: Arts Two 3.04
Profile
I am a historian of modern Britain, with a particular focus on the ideas and politics of neoliberalism. More broadly, I specialise in the history of political economy and the relationship between debates about market competition, freedom, and ownership.
Teaching
HST4330 – Unravelling Britain: British History since 1801
HST5700 – Crime and Punishment in London
HST5901 – History Research Project
HST6738 – Making Thatcher's Britain: The Thatcher Revolution, 1975-1997
HST7901 – Mastering the Field
Research
Research Interests:
My research interests can be categorised into four interrelated fields of study:
- The history of political economy and the concepts of ‘competition and competitiveness’
- The Intellectual History of Neoliberalism and its relationship to Political Conservatism
- The concept of the ‘Anglosphere’ and associated visions of global political economy
- The Republican political tradition and its lessons for matters of power and ownership.
In addition to historical work, I am also engaged in debates about ‘liberty’ that take place on the terrain of political theory. This arises from my interest in republicanism. I also write about the history of cooperative enterprise and reflect on how common ownership can embody republican ideas of freedom and popular power in the world of work.
Publications
Monograph
- Hayek’s Market Republicanism: The Limits of Liberty (London: Routledge, 2020)
Journal Articles
- ‘Competitiveness, Civilizationism, and the Anglosphere: Kenneth Minogue's Place in Conservative Thought’, Modern Intellectual History published online (2024)
- ‘Moral Economy in a Time of Polycrisis’, Global Perspectives 5:4 (2024). With Patrick Doyle
- ‘Power, Plutocracy and Public Choice: James M. Buchanan, and the “Italian Tradition”’, Global Intellectual History 6:6 (2021), 956-976
- ‘Hayek’s Neo-Roman Liberalism’, European Journal of Political Theory 19:4 (2020), 553-570
- ‘Limiting Democracy and Framing the Economy: Hayek, Schmitt, and Ordoliberalism’, History of European Ideas 44:1 (2018), 113-127.
Edited Journal Special Edition
- ‘Morality and Political Economy’ Global Perspectives 5:4 (2024). With Patrick Doyle.
Public Engagement
2024 - Review of ‘Challengers’, The Conversation
2023 - ‘What the SVB Bailout tells us about Tech and Finance’, Labour Hub
2022 - ‘More Austerity was Always the Plan’, Tribune Magazine
2021 - ‘What the European Super League fiasco taught us about “fair competition”’ University of Essex Blog
2017 - ‘Now that Labour is close to power, we need to work out what public ownership means in our brave new progressive world’ Labour List.