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Oliver Pierce

Dr Oliver Pierce

(he/him)

Teacher

School of Law and Politics

Overview

My work primarily concerns itself with arguments regarding the structure of the international order, the purchase that normative arguments press against this and what the realities of this system require appreciation of when seeking to answer the tough questions that international politics bring to the fore. As such, my work crosses multiple theoretical jurisdictions including International Law, International Relations and International Political Theory all whilst attempting to provide coherent and compelling syntheses between these.

My PhD thesis, titled "Humanisation and the Normative Evolution of International Society" explores arguments concerning the changing structure of the international order under pressure from legalised human rights norms. I reject assertions of incipient hierarchy whilst exploring how normative evolutions can and do occur under conditions of heterarchy. 

 

 

 

Publication

2022

Thesis

Research

My research heads in different directions ranging from issues surrounding Brexit to normative questions on human rights and contemporary understandings of sovereignty. Alongside working towards the publication of a monograph based on my PhD thesis, I have begun work on an edited collection that focuses on symmetry and structure in law, war and international society. 

Pierce, O. 2021. Legal Order, UK-EU Legal Relations and the Foundations of International Law [Online]. Available at: https://ukandeu.ac.uk/legal-order-uk-eu-international-law/

Pierce, O. and Sutch, P. 2023 (Forthcoming). Practicing Humanity: Humanisation and Contemporary International Political Theory. In: Boucher, D. et al. Palgrave Handbook of International Political Theory. 

Teaching

Cardiff University


Year One:

Introduction to International Relations.

Introduction to Political Thought.

Introduction to Political Science.

Introduction to Government.

Introduction to European Integration.

Year Two.

International Law in a Changing World.

Year Three.

Justice, Legitimacy and International Law.

Global International Organisations.

US Government and Politics.



University of Bristol 

Post-graduate 

International Security 

Biography

2012 - Present: Cardiff University 

BscEcon Politics and International Relations.

Msc International Relations (Distinction).

PhD (scholarship) International Relations