Luke
Cooper
Luke Cooper’s research at the IWM focuses on what he refers to as the “dual crisis” of the European Union: the combination of the economic and the refugee crises. The dual crisis reflects the construction of unequal frontiers characterized by a weak sense of moral obligation amongst the powerful states of the European core towards the periphery. The resulting monograph seeks to deepen scholarly understanding of the problems afflicting the EU, and, in doing so, assist the development of progressive proposals for institutional reform from civil society and the new left.
Luke Cooper is an associate professorial research fellow with the Conflict and Civicness Research Group and director of PeaceRep’s Ukraine program. He is a historical sociologist and political scientist whose work studies processes of change and transformation within and between societies. Previously, he was a senior research fellow with the project Responsible Deal. Where and how to best protect and integrate Syrian refugees. He also launched the LSE Conflict Zone podcast series, and worked as a researcher on the LSE projects Visions of Europe and The Social Shaping of Governance: Capitalism, Civil society, and War.
Aside from his academic work, Cooper has extensive campaigning and policy advocacy experience. He is the co-founder of Another Europe Is Possible and co-host of the Another Europe podcast. He has developed and led a range of advocacy projects, most recently on monitoring and scrutinizing the impacts of Brexit and on promoting international solidarity with Ukraine. He has written extensively on nationalism, authoritarianism, and the theory of uneven and combined development, engaging contemporary and historical case studies. His most recent book, Authoritarian Contagion: The Global Threat to Democracy, was published in 2021.
