Dr Richard Saull, BA (Portsmouth), MSc (Econ.), PhD (LSE)

Profile

After graduating from Portsmouth Polytechnic in 1990 with a BA in Politics, Rick completed an MSc in International Relations at the LSE. He then spent two years teaching English as a foreign language in the Czech Republic and Spain. After returning to the UK in 1994 he moved on to doctoral studies in International Relations at the LSE completing his PhD in 1999. Prior to joining the School in September 2006, Rick lectured at the University of Leicester (2002-2006) and before that at SOAS and Richmond, the American International University in London. Rick's doctorate outlined a new historical materialist theorization of the Cold War and since completing his doctorate he has continued to work within this framework; in the study of the international politics of revolution, the end of the Cold War and the theorization of US global power. More recently, his work has been concerned with developing an international historical sociology of far-right social and political movements through examining the ways in which the capitalist political economy of the international system has conditioned the historical rise and contemporary development of such movements.

Office hour joining link 

Undergraduate Teaching

• POL247 Modernity: Theories of State, Economy and Society
• POL340 The Global History and Politics of the Far Right

Research

Research Interests:

My research concentrates on historical sociological approaches in International Relations and the historical evolution of the modern international system drawing particularly on historical materialist and post-colonial theoretical perspectives. My research work has focused on the evolving relationship between the structures of geopolitics and capitalism and how they have conditioned the historical development of radical forms of political change and agency. Whilst I continue to be interested in the history of the Cold War my current work focuses on theorizing the historical evolution of the far-right covering the period from the middle of the nineteenth century up to the contemporary era. Thus, I have published on the historical origins of the European far-right and the relationship between the far-right and neoliberalism. I am currently working on two monographs: one, on the origins and persistence of the far-right within liberal modernity, and the other on the role of fascist legacies in the construction of the post-war liberal international order.

To date my main research projects have looked at:

• Revolutionary internationalism in the French Revolution
• International Relations theory and the theorization of the Cold War.
• The historical evolution of the Cold War and the debate about the end of the Cold War
• The role of communist and revolutionary movements in the history of the Cold War
• Theorizing American hegemony and debates about US decline
• The international historical sociology of far-right political movements

I welcome applications from prospective PhD students in the following areas:

• International historical sociology (Marxist and post-colonial in particular) approaches to international relations
• International history and politics of the Cold War
• Resistance and revolutionary international political change
• Theorising US global power
• History and politics of the far-right
• Neoliberal political economy

Publications

Books:

Fascist Legacies and the Far-Right in the Making of the Cold War Liberal Order – with Alexander Anievas (in preparation)

The Far-Right in World Politics (London: Routledge, 2024) co-edited with Alexander Anievas

Capital, Race and Space, Volume One: The Far-Right from Bonapartism to Fascism (Leiden: Brill, 2023)

Capital, Race and Space, Volume Two: The Far-Right from ‘Post-Fascism to Trumpism (Leiden: Brill, 2023)

The Longue Durée of the Far-Right: An International Historical Sociology, (eds) with Alexander Anievas, Neil Davidson and Adam Fabry (London: Routledge, 2015) - http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9781138785748/

The Cold War & After (London: Pluto Press, 2007).

The War on Terrorism and the American Empire After the Cold War (London: Routledge, 2005) editor with Alejandro Colás.

Rethinking Theory and History in the Cold War: The State, Military Power and Social Revolution (London: Frank Cass, 2001).

Journal articles:

‘The Far-Right in World Politics/World Politics in the Far-Right,’ Globalizations, 20/5 (2023): 715-30 – with Alexander Anievas

‘Reassessing the Cold War and the Far-Right: Fascist Legacies and the Making of the Liberal International Order after 1945,’ International Studies Review, 22/3 (2020), pp.370-95 – with Alex Anievas

'Racism and Far-Right Imaginaries within Neoliberal Political Economy', New Political Economy, 23/5 (2018): 588-608

'Neoliberalism and the Far-Right: An Introduction', Critical Sociology 43/4-5 (2017) - with Ray Kiely

'Neo-Liberalism and the Far-Right: A Contradictory Embrace’, Critical Sociology 43/4-5 (2017), pp.707-24 - with Neil Davidson

'Capitalism, Crisis and the Far-Right in the Neoliberal Era,' Journal of International Relations and Development 18/1 (2015), pp. 25-51 

'Capitalist Development and the Rise and 'Fall' of the Far-Right,’ Critical Sociology 41/4-5 (2015), pp. 619-39

'Rethinking Hegemony: Uneven Development, Historical Blocs and the World Economic Crisis,' International Studies Quarterly 56/2 (2012), pp.323-338

'Social Conflict and the Global Cold War,' International Affairs 87/5 (2011), pp.1123-40

'Empire, Imperialism and Contemporary American Global Power,' International Studies Perspectives 9/3 (2008), pp.309-18

‘Locating the Global South in the Theorisation of the Cold War: Capitalist Development, Social Revolution and Geopolitical Conflict,’ Third World Quarterly 26/2 (2005) pp.253-81

‘Transforming Citizenship and Political Community: The Case of French Revolutionary Internationalism’ in Global Society: Journal of Interdisciplinary International Relations 16/3 (2002) pp.245-75

Chapters in Books:

‘Epilogue: The Far-Right in a World Transformed?’ in Anievas, A. and Saull, R. G. (eds.) The Far-Right in World Politics (London: Routledge, 2024) – with Alexander Anievas

‘Capitalism and the Politics of the Far Right,’ in Panitch, L. and Albo, G. (ed.) Socialist Register 2015: The Politics of the Right (London: Merlin Press, 2015).

'The Longue Durée of the Far-Right: An Introduction', in Saull, R. G. et al (eds.) The Longue Durée of the Far-Right: An International Historical Sociology (London: Routledge, 2015) - with Alexander Anievas, Neil Davidson & Adam Fabry.

'The Origins and Persistence of the Far-Right: Capital, Class and the Pathologies of Liberal Politics,' in Saull, R. G. et al (eds.) The Longue Durée of the Far-Right: An International Historical Sociology (London: Routledge, 2015).

‘One World Many Cold Wars: 1989 and the Middle East,’ in Cox, M. et al (eds.) The Global ’89: Continuity and Change (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010).

'American Foreign Policy During the Cold War,' in Cox, M. & Stokes, D. (eds.) US Foreign Policy: From Republic to Hyperpower (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008).

‘Reactionary Blowback: The Ends of the Cold War and the Post-Cold War Disorder’ in Colás, A. & Saull, R. G. (eds.) The War on Terrorism and the American Empire After the Cold War (London: Routledge, 2005).

‘Introduction: The War on Terror  and the American Empire after the Cold War,’ in Colás, A. & Saull, R. G. (eds.) The War on Terrorism and the American Empire After the Cold War (London: Routledge, 2005) – with Alex Cold War,’ in Colás

‘The Politics of the “State” in the Cold War’ in Nagel, S. (ed.) Policymaking and Peace: A Multinational Anthology (New York: Lexington Books, 2003)

Comment & Review Essays:

‘Tracing the Origins of the New Authoritarian Protectionism,’ International Politics (2023) – online first

‘Hegemony and the Global Political Economy’ in Denmark, R. (ed.) International Studies Encyclopaedia Volume V (Oxford: Blackwell/Wiley, 2010)

H-Diplo Roundtable Reviews XII/25 (June 6, 2011), Golub 'Power, Profit and Prestige'

H-Diplo Roundtable Reviews X/20 (July 2, 2009), Lynch & Singh 'After Bush'.

H-Diplo Roundtable Reviews X/23 (July 15, 2009), Joseph & Spenser 'In from the Cold: Latin America's New Encounter with the Cold War'.

‘On the “New” American Empire,’ Security Dialogue, 35/2 (2004), pp.250-53

'The Rise and Fall of Revolution?’ Historical Materialism: Research in Critical Marxist Theory 10/1 (2002) pp.288-303

Blog Posts

‘Seeing Class through Race: Britain’s Racialized Moral Economy and the Construction of a “White Working Class”’ – https://thedisorderofthings.com/2018/07/04/seeing-class-through-race-britains-racialized-moral-economy-and-the-construction-of-a-white-working-class/

‘The Far-Right as Pathology of Capital’ - http://thedisorderofthings.com/2014/09/30/the-far-right-pathology-of-capital/

Conference & Workshop Papers:

‘Capitalist Development, Crisis and the international History of the European Far-Right,’ presented at the Annual Convention of the International Studies Association (ISA) held in San Diego, April 1-4 2012

‘Hegemony and the World Economic Crisis’ presented at the Annual Convention of the International Studies Association (ISA) held in New Orleans, February 17-20, 2010

'Theorising Political Islam as Anti-Imperialism: An International Historical Sociological Account,' presented at the Annual Convention of the International Studies Association (ISA) held in San Francisco, March 26-28, 2008

'Subverting the Historical Import of "1989": The Uneven, Shifting and Paradoxical Endings of the Cold War in the South and the character of contemporary anti-imperialisms' presented at the 'Global '89 Research Workshop held at the LSE, May 29, 2008

'Social Relations, History & Theorizing the Cold War' presented at the Annual Convention of the International Studies Association (ISA) held in Chicago, February 28 - March 3, 2007

'Empire in History, Empire Today,' presented at the Annual Convention of the International Studies Association (ISA) held in Chicago, February 28 - March 3, 2007

‘The War on Terror and the American Empire,’ presented at the US Foreign Policy Section/Panel at the Annual Conference of the European Consortium on Political Research, Budapest, Hungary September 8-11, 2005

‘Theorising the Ends of the Cold War,’ presented at The Social History of International Relations research workshop, University of Sussex, May 14-15, 2005

‘American Empire After the Cold War’ presented at the ‘Issues in American Foreign Policy Conference’ organised by the Centre for Diplomatic and International Studies, Department of Politics, University of Leicester, March 23-4, 2005

‘Locating the Global South in the Theorisation of the Cold War: Capitalist Development, Social Revolution and Geopolitical Conflict’ presented at the Annual Conference of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) held in Las Vegas, October 2004

‘Reactionary Blowback’: The Ends of the Cold War and the Post-Cold War Disorder’ presented at the (BISA) British International Studies Association Marxism and International Relations Working Group’s research workshop on ‘The “War on Terror” and the American “Empire” After the Cold War’ held at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, September 2003

‘The Nature of American “Empire” in Post-Cold War World Politics’ presented at the Annual Conference of (BISA) British International Studies Association, held at the London School of Economics, December 2002

‘Anti-globalization and the Reactionary Right: Historical Reflections’ presented at the BISA Marxism and International Relations Working Group research workshop on ‘The Politics of Protest in the Age of Globalization,’ held at the University of Sussex, September 2002

‘Class and Reactionary Responses to Globalization’ presented at the Annual Conference of BISA held at the University of Edinburgh, December 2001

Supervision

Rick has supervised the following doctoral students:

Felix del Campo (with Ray Kiely) ‘Free Market “Anticapitalism”: Ordoliberalism, Far Right Anti-Globalism and the Spectre of Authoritarianism’ – completed in March 2024

Ida Roland Birkvad (with Kim Hutchings and Simon Reid-Henry)  ‘The Aryan Other: A Conceptual History of Connection’ - completed in March 2023

And is currently supervising the following students:

James Hicks (with Ray Kiely) ‘Populism For and Against the Neoliberal Order’

Marzia Maccaferri (with Madeleine Davis) ‘Intellectual and Political Discourse of Marxism Today (1977-1991): A Transnational Perspective’

Laura Kabis-Kechrid (with Chris Phillips) ‘The Struggle for a New Regional Order: Turkey’s Alliance Politics in the Post-2011 Middle East and North Africa’