Doctor of Philosophy [Ph.D] [Politics] From Newcastle University

We can offer you excellent supervision for your Politics PhD or MPhil, in a vibrant and supportive research environment.

We have a Politics Postgraduate Society, which organises:

• the 'New Voices' seminar series, with both internal and external presenters
• Round table discussions on topical issues
• professional development workshops led by politics staff
• You are encouraged to attend conferences to present papers, partial funding for this is available from the School.

Our main research themes are:

The politics of difference

We examine the issues thrown up by the social and political differences of humanity from a variety of perspectives including: analytical and continental political philosophy; comparative politics and international politics; post-colonialism. Our work includes research on:

• multiculturalism and issues of identity
• inequality and social justice
• disability
• competing discourses of national identity
• ethnic-nationalism
• political violence
• socio-political exclusion and discrimination
• global norms and cultural difference

• free speech - toleration and recognition

Popular culture and political communication

Our research addresses various key issues including:

• representation
• aesthetics
• identity
• cultural political economy
• memory
• control

We also assess the processes and depiction of political struggles, such as:

• armed conflict
• everyday life
• political organising and identity formation
• elections

Political participation and elections

We examine the differing forms of political participation that link society to the political systems of the world. We look at both the formal electoral process and non-electoral politics (social movements, protest groups etc). Our research on the emergence of virtual political participation means that some of our work intersects with popular culture and political communication. We investigate:

• citizen involvement and (dis)engagement
• social capital
• non-participation
• the role of civil society