School of Politics and International Studies

Dr John Schwarzmantel

Senior Lecturer in Politics

Photo of Dr John Schwarzmantel

My work is in the broad area of political theory, with a focus on the relationship between political ideas and political practice, exploring how political ideologies find expression in movements and parties.

I am the Programme Director of the MA in Democratic Studies and, at the moment, Director of the Centre for Democratisation Studies. My work is thus centrally concerned with the problems of realising democratic ideals in practice.

Research Interests

I am currently working on a book dealing with democracy and the problems of political violence, and also preparing a study of the theory and practice of socialist internationalism and its relationship to nationalism. I am also developing a collaborative project on 'Gramsci and contemporary politics'.

Teaching

I teach undergraduate modules on political ideologies, on nationalism and its role in modern politics, and a level 3 module on the ideas of the Italian Marxist thinker Antonio Gramsci and their significance for modern politics. I teach an MA module on 'Democratic Theory and Political Transformation'.

PhD Supervision

I have supervised PhD theses on the relationship between nationalism and democracy in Slovakia and Slovenia, on the concept of civil society and on the development of Scottish nationalism. 

I am interested in PhD supervision in the broad field of the following topics.

  • Nationalism
  • Political ideologies
  • Democratic theory and practice

Key Publications

Books
Chapters in Books 
  • Schwarzmantel, J.J. (2005) "Karl Renner and the problem of multiculturalism". In: E. Nimni (ed.) National Cultural Autonomy and its Contemporary Critics, Routledge, pp.63-73.
Journals
  • Schwarzmantel, J.J. (2007) "Community as communication: Jean-Luc Nancy and 'Being-in-common'". Political Studies, 55(2), pp.459-476.
  • Schwarzmantel, J.J. (2005) "Challenging neoliberal hegemony". Contemporary Politics, 11(2+3), pp.85-98.

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