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Brian Roper 2019 ImageMA (Cant), PhD (Griff)

Associate Professor Roper's research interests include: New Zealand politics; public policy; political economy; social inequality; gender and feminism; classical and contemporary Marxism; history and major theories of democracy.

He has co-edited two books: State and Economy in New Zealand (1993) and The Political Economy of New Zealand (1997). His book Prosperity for All? Economic, Social and Political Change in New Zealand since 1935 was published in 2005. His second authored book is The History of Democracy, originally published by Pluto Press in 2013, with translated editions due to appear in China, Germany and Turkey. It is described by David McNally, Professor of Political Science at York University, as a “stunning and panoramic book”, which “sheds light on the theory and practice of democracy across the ages”.

According to reviewers, The History of Democracy provides: "an excellent exploration of the history of democracy and the struggle to extend it" (Socialist Review (UK)); “an excellent text for anyone seeking to understand a socialist perspective on democracy, historically rooted, and then read on further” (London Socialist Historians Group); an “ambitious project of cutting-edge relevance for the Arab region and the world” (Jordan Times).

He has been a political activist for more than twenty years, and has been involved in a wide variety of progressive struggles and campaigns.


Teaching


Contact details

Room 4N2, 4th floor, Arts (Burns) Building
Tel +64 3 479 8667
Emailbrian.roper@otago.ac.nz
Research days – Monday morning, Friday

Publications

Roper, B. S. (2024). Neoliberalism’s war on New Zealand’s universities: A critical analysis and evaluation of tertiary educational policy-making from 2017 to 2024. Proceedings of the Sociological Association of Aotearoa New Zealand (SAANZ) Conference: The Sociology to Come. Retrieved from https://www.saanz.net/saanz2024/ Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Roper, B. S. (2024). Making sense of neoliberalism in Aotearoa/New Zealand: A response to Nicholls, Duncan, Neilson, and Foucauldian governmentality. Supplementary note 1 and 2: The neoliberal policy regime: A brief overview. New Zealand Sociology, 39(Suppl.). Journal - Research Other

Roper, B. S. (2024). Making sense of neoliberalism in Aotearoa/New Zealand: A response to Nicholls, Duncan, Neilson, and Foucauldian governmentality. New Zealand Sociology, 39(1), 39-59. Journal - Research Article

Roper, B. S. (2024). China’s rise and the United States’ response: Implications for the global order and New Zealand/Aotearoa. Part I: Using uneven and combined development theory to explain China’s rise. Kōtuitui. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/1177083X.2024.2328532 Journal - Research Article

Roper, B. (2023, June). The rise, entrenchment, and modification of a neoliberal policy regime in Aotearoa New Zealand. Verbal presentation at the Proceedings of the 25th Annual Conference of the Association for Heterodox Economics (AHE): Bringing together heterodox approaches to economic challenges, Cambridge, UK. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

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