Staff Profiles

Modules taught

Undergraduate

• POLI6006: International Development (level 6)
• POLI6011: South African Politics: from Apartheid to Democracy (level 6)

Postgraduate

• INRL7003: International Development
• INRL7017: International Development (DL)

Supervision

Stephen has supervised the following PhD students to completion:

• Duncan Green 'Active Citizens and Effective States: Definitions and Interactions - A Critical Review' (2010, PhD by Publication)
• Miguel Otero-Iglesias 'The Euro vs. the Dollar in the Political Economy of Global Monetary Governance: Perceptions from the Financial Elites in China, the GCC and Brazil' (2011)
• Abilene Pitt 'New Forms of Power in the World Bank's Post-Washington Consensus Development Policies: Understanding the application of the Comprehensive Development Framework to context specific lending strategies for Argentina 2000-2010' (2016)

He is also currently supervising another doctoral student in the department.

He is keen to supervise promising research students and would particularly welcome projects on South African Politics, South African Foreign Policy, European Union Development and Trade Policy and UK-Africa Relations post-Brexit.

Stephen has broad research interests in critical international political economy and development, especially with regard to Africa. More specific interests are in the political economy of post-apartheid South Africa, the trade and development policies of the European Union and UK-Africa trade policy post-Brexit.

Research grants and awards

• 2013-16 Economic and Social Research Council, Co-Investigator, Seminar Series on 'British Africa policy after Labour: Coalition, austerity, continuity and change'. Awarded £26,956 (Ref: ES/L000725/1).
• 2006 British Academy, Overseas Conference Grant to attend the International Studies Association 45th Annual Convention in San Diego. Awarded £500 (Ref: OCG-41945).

Research impact

In December 2017 Stephen submitted written evidence to the House of Commons International Trade Select Committee’s ‘Continuing application of EU trade agreements after Brexit’ inquiry. The final report of this inquiry is available here.

In October 2019 Stephen submitted written evidence to the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Select Committee's 'The UK and Sub-Saharan Africa - prosperity, peace and development co-operation' inquiry. The final report of this inquiry is available here.

In January 2020, Stephen co-organised a parliamentary symposium, which was attended by over 160 participants including parliamentarians, policymakers, academics and a range of stakeholders from the UK and Africa. Following the symposium, he has produced a Policy Briefing for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Africa which outlines the challenges and opportunities for UK-African trade after Brexit and concludes with a series of policy recommendations.

In January 2022, Stephen was invited to give expert comment to a meeting organised by the European Economic and Social Committee on its draft opinion on ‘A new framework for free trade agreements, economic partnership agreements and investment agreements that guarantees the real involvement of civil society organisations and the social partners and ensures public awareness’.

In February 2022, Stephen submitted written evidence to the House of Commons International Trade Select Committee’s ‘UK trade approach towards developing countries’ inquiry.

Books

• Beswick D, Fisher J, Hurt SR, Ed., Britain and Africa in the twenty-first century: Between ambition and pragmatism, Manchester University Press (2019)
  ISBN: 9781526134134 eISBN: 9781526134455
  Abstract

  Britain and Africa in the twenty-first century provides the first analysis of UK-Africa policy in the era of austerity, Conservative government and Brexit. It explores how Britain's relationship with Africa has evolved since the days of Blair, Brown and 'Make Poverty History' and examines how a changing UK political environment, and international context, has impacted upon this longstanding -- and deeply complex -- relationship. This edited collection includes contributions from leading UK- and Africa-based scholars, as well as from Chatham House's Africa Programme Head and the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Africa. Examining trade, security, aid and peacekeeping, as well as the role of political parties, advocacy groups and the UK population itself, Britain and Africa provides an indispensable reference point for researchers and practitioners interested in contemporary UK-Africa relations and the place of Africa in British foreign policy.--Provided by publisher.

  Website 

Journal articles

• Hurt SR, 'African Agency and EU-ACP relations beyond the Cotonou Agreement'
  Journal of Contemporary European Research 16 (2) (2020) pp.139-162
  ISSN: 1815-347X
  Abstract

  With the Cotonou Agreement due to expire in 2020, formal negotiations towards a new partnership agreement between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states began in September 2018. Based on the acceptance of the EU’s negotiating mandate, the new arrangement will be primarily organised via three specific regional protocols with each of the ACP regions. Meanwhile, the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) launched in 2007, has seen the African Union (AU) gain increased prominence as an institutional partner of the EU. Given its ambitious pan-African agenda, it adopted an alternative ‘African’ vision for future EU-ACP relations, to the mandate agreed by the ACP states and expressed a willingness to become directly involved in the negotiations. This article contributes an important new case-study to the existing literature on ‘African agency’ in international politics by considering the scope for Africa to exert agency within the post-Cotonou negotiations, given the negotiation of a specific regional compact with Africa. It adopts a structurally embedded view of agency, based on Cox’s understanding of historical structures, as a fit between institutions, ideas and material relations. The central argument is that, in comparison to the negotiation of the Cotonou Agreement two decades ago, there is greater scope for African agency. However, both the ideational and material aspects of Africa’s relationship with the EU, condition the limits to how effective such agency might be. Moreover, tensions at the institutional level between the ACP and AU further undermine the potential for effective African agency.
  

  Website 
• Hurt SR, 'The EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements with Africa: "Decent Work" and the Challenge of Trade Union Solidarity'
  Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal 1 (4) (2017) pp.547-562
  ISSN: 2380-2014 eISSN: 2379-9978
  Abstract The EU has in recent years adopted the International Labour Organisation’s Decent Work Agenda in its external trade and development policy. It is portrayed as a way to mitigate any negative impacts on labour. However, African trade unions have campaigned against the EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). It is argued that their stance highlights the limitations of incorporating the Decent Work Agenda into trade agreements, which instead are seen as central to the process of entrenching economic liberalisation. As a result, the article considers the prospects for transnational labour solidarity to resist EPAs.
  Website 
• Hurt SR, 'What’s Left of "the Left" in Post-Apartheid South Africa?'
  Capital and Class 41 (2) (2017) pp.291-313
  ISSN: 0309-8168 eISSN: 2041-0980
  Abstract

  This article addresses the question of 'the left' in contemporary South Africa in two senses. First, in terms of assessing the health of leftist politics; second, it asks to what extent are the self-identified left, progressive in any meaningful sense. The first half of the article reflects on the current development situation in South Africa. Here it is argued that within most sections of the South African left there is broad agreement on the need to address the triple challenge of unemployment, rising inequality and poverty. The second half of the article identifies three broad sections to the contemporary left in South Africa (the Tripartite Alliance, the left outside of the Alliance and the remnants of the revolutionary socialist left). It argues that the left within the Alliance, despite the launch of the New Growth Path, are failing to implement the sufficiently radical policy changes that are required to address the development challenges identified in the first half of the article. The left outside of the Alliance, meanwhile, despite recent attempts at co-ordination, lacks influence and remains disconnected from the masses.

  Website 
• Hurt SR, 'The Congress of South African Trade Unions and Free Trade: Obstacles to Transnational Solidarity'
  Globalizations 11 (1) (2014) pp.95-105
  ISSN: 1474-7731 eISSN: 1474-774X
  Abstract

  This article considers the response of the largest trade union federation in South Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), to an extended free trade agenda, which has formed a key part of neoliberal restructuring during recent decades. It focuses in particular on South Africa’s position in multilateral trade talks and its negotiation of three Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). COSATU’s critique of these FTAs is considered and in particular the analysis focuses on its attempts at building transnational solidarity with other national labour movements. It argues that despite COSATU’s opposition to trade liberalisation there are a number of obstacles to developing effective international links.

  Website 
• Hurt SR, Lee D, Lorenz-Carl U, 'The argumentative dimension to the EU-Africa EPAs'
  International Negotiation 18 (1) (2013) pp.67-87
  ISSN: 1382-340X
  Abstract

  Not only is the participation of developing countries in international trade negotiations growing, so is their influence over the global trade agenda. This article highlights the increasing activism and impact of African states through a detailed study of the current Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) negotiations with the European Union (EU). In examining African resistance to EPAs, the article develops a constructivist approach to North-South trade negotiations that pays close attention to the role of development discourses. We argue that the growing willingness of African states to challenge the EU to deliver on its development promises during the decade-long EPA process was crucial to informing their sustained opposition to the EU’s goal of completing a comprehensive set of sub-regional economic agreements. We document African resistance to EU trade diplomacy in the EPAs, exploring how these otherwise weak countries were able to pursue normative-based negotiation strategies by recourse to the EU’s promise of a ‘development partnership.’

  Website 
• Hurt SR, 'The EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations: 'Locking-In' the neoliberal development model in Southern Africa?'
  Third World Quarterly 33 (3) (2012) pp.495-510
  ISSN: 0143-6597 eISSN: 1360-2241
  Abstract This article focuses on the negotiation of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) which form the central focus of the commitments made in the Cotonou Agreement, signed in 2000 by the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. EPAs are part of a much wider trend witnessed since the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) whereby we have seen the proliferation of bilateral free trade agreements. It argues that both the material and ideational interests of the EU need to be considered, together with the historical context of EU-ACP relations. The EU is portrayed as making a concerted effort to"lock-in" neoliberalism across the seven different sub-regions of the ACP group by negotiating EPAs that include both reciprocal trade liberalisation and a raft of"trade-related" issues. It is suggested that in doing so EPAs will go beyond the requirements for WTO-compatibility, resulting in a reduction of the policy space for ACP states to pursue alternative development strategies. The article then considers the potential developmental impact of EPAs with reference to the negotiations with seven of the fifteen member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Here it is argued that the EU is promoting"open regionalism" and it is shown how this poses a threat to the coherence of the regional project in southern Africa.Website 
• Hurt SR, 'Understanding EU Development Policy: history, global context and self-interest?'
  Third World Quarterly 31 (1) (2010) pp.159-168
  ISSN: 0143-6597 eISSN: 1360-2241
  Website 
• Brown, W, Harman, S, Hurt, S, Lee, D, Smith, K, 'Editorial: New Directions in International Relations and Africa'
  Round Table 98 (402) (2009) pp.263-267
  ISSN: 0035-8533
  Website 
• Hurt SR, Knio K, Ryner M, 'Social forces and the effects of (post)-Washington consensus policy in Africa: comparing Tunisia and South Africa'
  Round Table 98 (402) (2009) pp.301-317
  ISSN: 0035-8533 eISSN: 1474-029X
  Abstract

  This article addresses the consequences of Washington Consensus and more recently post-Washington Consensus policy for democratic good governance in Africa. It acknowledges the increased focus in recent years of policy-makers on poverty as an important force in world politics. Despite this increased concern the authors argue that International Relations as a discipline fails to offer a suitable framework for understanding poverty as a social force. The article proposes a revival of Robert W. Cox and Jeffrey Harrod's approach based on"patterns of social relations of production" . This offers a disaggregation of the condition that is often referred to in the literature as"the poor" or"the informal sector" . The article then outlines a comparative research agenda based on the cases of Tunisia and South Africa. It demonstrates how these cases provide the sternest test for assessing the authors' scepticism of the prospects of reconciling market-led development with good governance, whilst also offering a"most-different" comparison given their very different political cultures. In conclusion, the article reflects on the methodological aspects to operationalising such a research agenda and proposes an ethnographic approach informed by the work of Burawoy.

  Website 
• Hurt SR, 'Mission Impossible: A Critique of the Commission for Africa'
  Journal of Contemporary African Studies 25 (3) (2007) pp.355-368
  ISSN: 0258-9001 eISSN: 1469-9397
  Website 
• Hurt SR, 'Co-operation and coercion? The Cotonou Agreement between the European Union and ACP states and the end of the Lomé Convention'
  Third World Quarterly 24 (1) (2003) pp.161-176
  ISSN: 0143-6597 eISSN: 1360-2241
  Website 
• Hurt SR, 'A Case of Economic Pragmatism? The European Union's Trade and Development Agreement with South Africa'
  International Relations 15 (3) (2000) pp.67-83
  ISSN: 0047-1178
  Website 

Book chapters

• Beswick D, Fisher J, Hurt SR, 'Introduction. UK Africa policy in the twenty-first century: business as usual?' in Beswick D, Fisher J, Hurt SR (ed.), Britain and Africa in the twenty-first century: Between ambition and pragmatism, Manchester University Press (2019)
  ISBN: 9781526134134 eISBN: 9781526134455
  Website 
• Hurt SR, 'British campaigns for African development: the Trade Justice Movement' in Beswick D, Fisher J, Hurt SR (ed.), Britain and Africa in the twenty-first century: Between ambition and pragmatism, Manchester University Press (2019)
  ISBN: 9781526134134 eISBN: 9781526134455
  Website 
• Beswick D, Fisher J, Hurt SR, 'Conclusions. Aspects of continuity and change after New Labour' in Beswick D, Fisher J, Hurt SR (ed.), Britain and Africa in the twenty-first century: Between ambition and pragmatism, Manchester University Press (2019)
  ISBN: 9781526134134 eISBN: 9781526134455
  Website 
• Hurt SR, 'African agency in world trade undermined? The case of bilateral relations with the European Union .' in African Agency in International Politics, Routledge (2013)
  ISBN: 9780415633536 eISBN: 9780203526071
  Abstract

  Historically, the dominant understanding of Africa’s place in world politics has been one dominated by concepts such as ‘marginalisation’ or ‘exploitation’. During the 1960s and 1970s, there were a number of adherents of the dependency theory view, which understood African underdevelopment as a direct consequence of the continent’s economic relations with the core of the world economy (see Amin 1976; Rodney 1972). Then as we entered the post-Cold War era, Africa’s international relations were seen to result in a struggle for state survival as superpower rivalry within the continent gave way to the rigours of an increasingly global economy (Clapham 1996). Others went as far as to argue that after two decades of the structural adjustment era, due to the persistence of neopatrimonial regimes in particular, what we were witnessing at the turn of the century was the persistence of long-term economic crisis in African economies (Van de Walle 2001). By contrast, over the last few years, another competing story of Africa is beginning to emerge. For example, an editorial in the Observer newspaper in February 2011 proclaimed that a new continent is emerging, concluding that: ‘Europe and the UK have been slow to adjust to the rise of an Africa powered by economic growth and a burgeoning consumer boom. The African lions are finding their voice’ (Observer 2011: 28). Similarly, a recent World Bank publication concluded that: ‘there is a good chance that the continent’s strong economic performance of the last decade will be sustained’ (Chuhan-Pole and Devarajan 2011: 17). To support this changing narrative of Africa’s position in the global political economy, the evidence that tends to be provided is the rates of economic growth of key African economies. For example, six of the ten fastest growing economies in the world from 2000 to 2010 were to be found in Africa, with Angola at the top of the list (The Economist 2011: 12). Similarly, Africa’s share of world trade has increased in recent years, although there was a downturn in 2009, when the figure fell again to 3.1 per cent (UN Economic Commission for Africa 2011: 50). This decade of economic growth coincides, and is partly explained by, the fact that during recent years, we have also witnessed increasing African cooperation with other countries in the global south – most notably, China (Lopes 2010: 74-77) – and the associated boom in the demand for Africa’s natural resources (Cornelissen et al. 2012: 5).
  

  Website 
• Hurt SR, 'Post-Apartheid South Africa and the European Union: Integration over Development?' in The New Multilateralism in South African Diplomacy, Palgrave (2006)
  ISBN: 978-1349281299
  
• Hurt SR, 'Civil Society and European Union Development Policy' in New Pathways in International Development: Gender and Civil Society in EU Policy, Ashgate (2006)
  ISBN: 978-0754647188
  
• Hurt SR, 'The European Union's external relations with Africa after the Cold War: Aspects of continuity and change' in Africa in International Politics: External involvement on the continent, Routledge (2004)
  ISBN: 978-0415358361
  

Reviews

• Hurt SR, review of Emerging Powers, Emerging Markets, Emerging Societies: Global Responses, in International Affairs 93 (5) (2017) pp.1262-1263ISSN: 0020-5850 eISSN: 1468-2346
  Website 
• Hurt SR, review of The European Union's Africa Policies: Norms, Interests and Impact, in Review of African Political Economy 39 (2012) pp.193-194ISSN: 0305-6244 eISSN: 1740-1720
  Website 
• Hurt SR, review of Window of Opportunity: EU Development and Cooperation After the End of the Cold War, in African Affairs 109 (2010) pp.686-687ISSN: 0001-9909 eISSN: 1468-2621
  Website 
• Hurt SR, review of South Africa and the European Union: Self-interest, Ideology and Altruism, in Journal of Modern African Studies 46 (2008) pp.164-165ISSN: 0022-278X eISSN: 1469-7777
  Website 
• Hurt SR, review of Globalization, Negotiation and the Failure of Transformation in South Africa: Revolution at a Bargain?, in International Affairs 83 (2007) pp.1224-1225ISSN: 0020-5850 eISSN: 1468-2346
  Website 
• Hurt SR, review of African renaissance: roadmaps to the challenge of globalization, in International Affairs 79 (2) (2003) pp.467-468ISSN: 0020-5850 eISSN: 1468-2346
  Website 
• Hurt SR, review of The European Union and Africa: the restructuring of north-south relations, in International Affairs 78 (3) (2002) pp.615-616ISSN: 0020-5850 eISSN: 1468-2346
  Website 
• Hurt SR, review of Against global apartheid: South Africa meets the World Bank, IMF and international finance, in International Affairs 78 (4) (2002) pp.940-ISSN: 0020-5850 eISSN: 1468-2346
  Website 

Other

Reports

Hurt SR, (2020) UK-Africa Trade after Brexit: Challenges and Opportunities (Policy Briefing for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Africa), London: Royal African Society.

Hurt SR, (2017) 'UK-Africa Trade Within and Outside of the European Union: From Lomé to Brexit' in All Party Parliamentary Group for Africa, The Future of Africa-UK Trade and Development Cooperation Relations in the Transitional and Post Brexit Period, London: Royal African Society.

Encyclopedia Entries

Hurt SR, (2010) Entries for 'Apartheid', 'International Labor Organization (ILO)', 'Newly Industrializing Countries', Nontariff Barriers to Trade', 'North-South Relations' in George Thomas Kurian et. al. (eds), The Encyclopedia of Political Science, Washington: CQ Press.

Hurt SR, (2006) Entries for 'Poverty Reduction', 'Third World Debt', 'Washington Consensus', 'World Bank', 'World Development Indicators' 'World Trade Organization' in Mark Bevir (ed), Encyclopedia of Governance, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Online Publications

Hurt SR, Onwurah, C, (2020) 'UK-Africa trade after Brexit: Time for a reset', African Arguments, 14 December.

Hurt SR, (2020) 'UK investment in Africa will lag international rivals', Oxford Analytica (Daily Brief), 13 February.

Hurt SR, (2016) 'Why African States Are Refusing to Sign On to EU Trade Deals', World Politics Review, 9 November.

Hurt SR, (2014) 'EU Trade Deal Limits EAC's Options for Future Trade Policy', World Politics Review, 17 November.

Hurt SR, (2014) 'A big election win for South Africa's ANC, but results suggest future challenges', The Conversation, 10 May.

Hurt SR, (2014) 'Pressure Mounts as Deadline for EU-Africa Trade Talks Looms', World Politics Review, 14 April.

Hurt, SR (2013) 'Why South Africa has ripped up foreign investment deals', The Conversation, 17 December.

Hurt SR, (2005) 'Trade agreements between Europre and Africa', Pambazuka News, No. 231.

Membership of professional bodies

Stephen is a member of the International Studies Association, British International Studies Association, Political Studies Association, Chatham House, Royal African Society and the African Studies Association of the UK.

Consultancy

Reviewer for LSE Public Policy Group of Special Reports published by the European Court of Auditors on development policy issues (2009, 2010, 2012).

Other experience

• 2002-2003 Nottingham Trent University, Lecturer (0.5) in International Relations.
• 2000-2003 University of Birmingham, Teaching Fellow in International Political Economy.
• 1996-2000 University of Warwick, Taught on Introduction to Politics, Theories of IR and Politics of Developing Areas modules.
• 1995-1999 University of Warwick, PhD in Politics and International Studies. Thesis title: Meeting the Challenges of Past and Present: Post-Apartheid South Africa's Reintegration into the Global Political Economy, 1994-1997.
• 1994-1995 University of Southampton, MSc in International Relations.
• 1990-1993 University of Southampton, BSc in Economics and Politics.

Press, publicity and reviews

Stephen was interviewed live on BBC Radio Oxford on 1 July 2005 about the forthcoming G8 Summit in Gleneagles. In November 2010 Stephen was interviewed for the World Politics Review website about EU-South Africa relations. In March 2014 he took part in a discussion on EU trade and development policy for Radio Študent who are based in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

In the summer of 2017 he was interviewed for a series of podcasts on Post-Brexit trade scenarios published by the Trade Justice Movement. Stephen's contribution to this series was focused on trade, development, and the EU's free trade agreements with countries in the global south.

In January 2020 Stephen was interviewed live on Sky News TV about the UK-Africa Invesment Summit.

Further information