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Lucia Pradella

Dr Lucia Pradella

Reader in International Political Economy

Biography

Lucia Pradella studied Philosophy, Social Sciences and Migration Studies at the University of Venice Ca’ Foscari and the Humboldt University in Berlin. She collaborated with the project of historical-critical edition of Marx’s and Engels’s complete works at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. After completing her PhD on globalisation and the history of political economy using that edition (jointly at the University of Naples Federico II and Paris X Nanterre), she conducted a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship in Sociology of Economic Processes and Work at Ca’ Foscari. She taught in the areas of International Political Economy, Migration, and Welfare Policies at Brunel, SOAS and Ca’ Foscari. She is a Research Associate in the SOAS Department of Development Studies and in the Centre for the Global Political Economy at the University of Sussex, and member of the Laboratory for Social Research at Ca’ Foscari. She joined King’s as a lecturer in International Political Economy in 2015.

Research

  • International Political Economy
  • Labour, Production and Poverty
  • Europe in a Changing World
  • Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism
  • Migration and Racism
  • Alternatives to Neoliberalism

Lucia’s research programme is concerned broadly with globalisation and the changing nature of labour and poverty in Europe. One of the main thrusts of her research is to overcome the problems of methodological nationalism and Eurocentrism. Lucia has published extensively on the theoretical and historical foundations of IPE, on social theory, and on the relationship between capitalism and imperialism. She has also worked on contemporary processes of impoverishment and global economic crisis, with a focus on the working poor and immigration in Western Europe. A third strand of Lucia’s research concerns alternatives to neoliberalism and the crisis. She is currently studying the interrelations between industrial relations and labour conditions in the metalworking sectors in the UK, Germany, Italy, and in developing countries like China. She is also working on Marxism and postcolonial studies, and editing a collection of Italian anti-colonial writings for the Edinburgh University Press Book Series Key Texts in Anti-Colonial Thought.

Teaching

Lucia’s teaching has covered a wide range of subjects: International Political Economy, Social Theory, Empire and Imperialism, Migration and Development, Political Theory, as well as Political Economy of the Welfare State.

At King’s College she teaches:

International Political Economy
International Political Economy: Theories, Methods & Issues 
Political Economy of the Welfare State
Research Methods

PhD Supervision

Lucia welcomes applications for PhD topics related to any of her research interests. 

Expertise and public engagement

Lucia has written for The Guardian and popular websites and magazines (e.g., Jacobin, Red Pepper, International Socialism) on contemporary political economy issues.

She is an elected council member of the International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy (IIPPE), and a member of the Council for European Studies, the European International Studies Association (EISA), and the European Society for the History of Economic Thought.

Lucia serves on the editorial boards of Politics: Rivista di studi politici, and the Ca’ Foscari University Press Book Series Society and Social Transformations.

She acted as a reviewer for Critical Sociology (Sage); Economic Thought(World Economics Association); Routledge (Economics and New Frontiers in Political Economy book series); Research in Political Economy (Emerald); International Critical Thought (Routledge).

    Research

    contemporary marxim research group resized
    Contemporary Marxism Research Group

    The Contemporary Marxism Research Group use the varieties of Marxist theory to analyse the contemporary world, with special reference to political economy and to political and social movements.

    international political economy research group resized
    The International Political Economy Research Group

    International Political Economy research group focuses on the examination of contemporary socioeconomic and political dynamics of crisis and limitations of European and global order.

    News

    Panel examines what lies ahead for prime minister at special event

    Rishi Sunak’s fledgling premiership was in the spotlight at special panel event hosted by the Department of European and International Studies.

    Downing Street

    Call for papers made ahead of major workshop

    A call for papers has been issued ahead of major international workshop taking place at King’s next year.

    FanonLanzmann

    Student-led event seeks to demystify decolonisation

    The King’s Decolonising Working Group (Decol) held an event aimed at dispelling some of the dominant myths about decolonisation in Higher Education (HE).

    Decol Team

    World-leading scholar to join book launch event

    One of the academic world’s leading postcolonial scholars will be among guests at a book launch hosted by a research group at King’s College London.

    laptop-stickers-_oKSYD2cSIk-unsplash

    'Militarisation of EU borders has worsened migrant exploitation'

    The impact of the NATO intervention in Libya and the ‘militarisation’ of EU borders in the Mediterranean Sea has led to thousands of immigrant workers...

    Lampedusa, off the coast of Italy, has been an arrival point for many migrants. Picture: RON DAUPHIN

    Abolishing Racism: The Global Black Lives Matter Revolt

    European politics student, Tadiwanashe Ndlovu shares her account of a webinar which brought together hundreds of people from across the globe to talk about...

    European politics student, Tadiwanashe Ndlovu

    Events

    07MayStudents lecture

    CaféTheoria Workshop 5: Stuart Hall with Professor Yasmin Gunaratnam

    CaféTheoria is an interactive, hybrid workshop series where experts discuss core social science theories and students engage in lively debate.

    Please note: this event has passed.

    07Maystudents in seminar

    CaféTheoria Workshop 6: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels with Dr Lucia Pradella

    CaféTheoria is an interactive, hybrid workshop series where experts discuss core social science theories and students engage in lively debate.

    Please note: this event has passed.

    06DecGuernica

    What is Anti-Racism? And Why it Means Anti-Capitalism?

    Book launch with author Arun Kundnani, and with discussants Vanessa E. Thompson, John Narayan & Lucia Pradella.

    Please note: this event has passed.

    09MarDowning Street

    Back on Track or Off the Rails? British Politics under Rishi Sunak

    Has Rishi Sunak managed to navigate British politics through choppy waters or is there more turmoil to come in the next 12 months?

    Please note: this event has passed.

    18JanDavosMarxEvent

    Paul Cammack, Surbhi Kesar and Lucia Pradella on the Politics of Global Competitiveness

    This panel will discuss how best to understand, and resist, the politics of global competitiveness.

    Please note: this event has passed.

    17FebThe book features contributions from a number of EIS academics and explores the development of what are now ‘a thousand Marxisms’

    Book launch: Routledge Handbook of Marxism and Post-Marxism

    One of the academic world’s leading postcolonial scholars will be among guests at a book launch hosted by a research group at King’s College London.

    Please note: this event has passed.

    02DecLaunch of the Geoforum special issue: Placing Surplus Populations in Global Capitalism

    Launch of the Geoforum special issue: Placing Surplus Populations in Global Capitalism

    A discussion on the themes of the upcoming special issue of Geoforum between the editors, contributors and discussants

    Please note: this event has passed.

      Research

      contemporary marxim research group resized
      Contemporary Marxism Research Group

      The Contemporary Marxism Research Group use the varieties of Marxist theory to analyse the contemporary world, with special reference to political economy and to political and social movements.

      international political economy research group resized
      The International Political Economy Research Group

      International Political Economy research group focuses on the examination of contemporary socioeconomic and political dynamics of crisis and limitations of European and global order.

      News

      Panel examines what lies ahead for prime minister at special event

      Rishi Sunak’s fledgling premiership was in the spotlight at special panel event hosted by the Department of European and International Studies.

      Downing Street

      Call for papers made ahead of major workshop

      A call for papers has been issued ahead of major international workshop taking place at King’s next year.

      FanonLanzmann

      Student-led event seeks to demystify decolonisation

      The King’s Decolonising Working Group (Decol) held an event aimed at dispelling some of the dominant myths about decolonisation in Higher Education (HE).

      Decol Team

      World-leading scholar to join book launch event

      One of the academic world’s leading postcolonial scholars will be among guests at a book launch hosted by a research group at King’s College London.

      laptop-stickers-_oKSYD2cSIk-unsplash

      'Militarisation of EU borders has worsened migrant exploitation'

      The impact of the NATO intervention in Libya and the ‘militarisation’ of EU borders in the Mediterranean Sea has led to thousands of immigrant workers...

      Lampedusa, off the coast of Italy, has been an arrival point for many migrants. Picture: RON DAUPHIN

      Abolishing Racism: The Global Black Lives Matter Revolt

      European politics student, Tadiwanashe Ndlovu shares her account of a webinar which brought together hundreds of people from across the globe to talk about...

      European politics student, Tadiwanashe Ndlovu

      Events

      07MayStudents lecture

      CaféTheoria Workshop 5: Stuart Hall with Professor Yasmin Gunaratnam

      CaféTheoria is an interactive, hybrid workshop series where experts discuss core social science theories and students engage in lively debate.

      Please note: this event has passed.

      07Maystudents in seminar

      CaféTheoria Workshop 6: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels with Dr Lucia Pradella

      CaféTheoria is an interactive, hybrid workshop series where experts discuss core social science theories and students engage in lively debate.

      Please note: this event has passed.

      06DecGuernica

      What is Anti-Racism? And Why it Means Anti-Capitalism?

      Book launch with author Arun Kundnani, and with discussants Vanessa E. Thompson, John Narayan & Lucia Pradella.

      Please note: this event has passed.

      09MarDowning Street

      Back on Track or Off the Rails? British Politics under Rishi Sunak

      Has Rishi Sunak managed to navigate British politics through choppy waters or is there more turmoil to come in the next 12 months?

      Please note: this event has passed.

      18JanDavosMarxEvent

      Paul Cammack, Surbhi Kesar and Lucia Pradella on the Politics of Global Competitiveness

      This panel will discuss how best to understand, and resist, the politics of global competitiveness.

      Please note: this event has passed.

      17FebThe book features contributions from a number of EIS academics and explores the development of what are now ‘a thousand Marxisms’

      Book launch: Routledge Handbook of Marxism and Post-Marxism

      One of the academic world’s leading postcolonial scholars will be among guests at a book launch hosted by a research group at King’s College London.

      Please note: this event has passed.

      02DecLaunch of the Geoforum special issue: Placing Surplus Populations in Global Capitalism

      Launch of the Geoforum special issue: Placing Surplus Populations in Global Capitalism

      A discussion on the themes of the upcoming special issue of Geoforum between the editors, contributors and discussants

      Please note: this event has passed.