Research Areas

International, Comparative, and Critical Political Economy, Global Governance

Research Interests

International Political Economy, Comparative Political Economy, Globalization, Neoliberalism, Identity, Nationalism, Populist Nationalism, Cosmopolitanism, Political Sociology, Social Movements, Party Politics, Mixed Methods, Martial Arts Studies

Please refer to the latest version of my research statement.

Dissertation Project

My doctoral dissertation explored the relationship between the structural transformation of nation-states under neoliberal globalization (from nation-states to capital-states) and the surge of populist nationalism (neo-nationalism). I draw on Karl Polanyi’s study of the “great transformation” and focus on the OECD countries over the period 1980-2015. My case studies include France, Australia, Hungary, and South Korea.

Accepted Manuscripts

The Rise of the Capital-State: A New Polanyian Moment
Globalizations, 18(4)
https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2020.1827850

Drawing on a scaled-up Polanyian framework, I advance the argument for a large-scale incremental process of the renewed ‘great transformation’ wherein the welfarist and developmentalist nation-state has been reconstituted into the capital-state – a polity safeguarding the market order under the auspices of neoliberal globalization. I substantiate the argument empirically by the original capital-state index constructed for the OECD countries between 1980 and 2015.

Voting for Jobbik and Front National: Nostalgic, Deprived, and Status-Frustrated
European Review of International Studies, 8(1)
https://doi.org/10.1163/21967415-08010017

Using the cases of Jobbik in Hungary and Front National in France, I advance the argument that marketization of societies is prone to: first, generate individual- and group-level experiences of nostalgia, relative deprivation, and status frustration; and relatedly, second, engender demand for political refuge in the form of populist nationalism.

Northeast Asian Modern Martial Arts: An Embodied Synthesis of Virtue Ethics and Deontology
The International Journal of the History of Sport
https://doi.org/10.1080/09523367.2021.1887143

Grounded in the broader comparative philosophical perspective, I draw on the Asian martial arts to advance the thesis of the “moral philosophy of the body.” I argue that Asian martial arts can be conceived as a synthesized moral tradition of virtue ethics and deontology, and that such a synthesis is arrived at through embodied practices rather than rational contemplation.

Manuscripts in Submission

The Rise of the Capital-State and Neo-Nationalism (pending peer review)

I explore the systemic causes behind neo-nationalism measured through party electoral performance. I coin the term “capital-sate” to capture pro-market transformation of nation-states; present the capital-state index (CSI) to quantify the degree of this transformation; and examine the relationship between the rise of the capital-state and the surge of neo-nationalism as a protective movement.

Manuscripts in Progress

The revised version of my dissertation is currently under review as a book manuscript for the Brill Global Populisms series. The book proposal can be accessed here.

Datasets in Repositories

Capital-State Index (CSI) (link to Figshare)
35 OECD countries / 36 years (1980-2015)

Neo-Nationalist Vote (link to Figshare)
35 OECD countries / 36 years (1980-2015)

Double Movements (link to Figshare)
35 OECD countries / 36 years (1980-2015)