Barry Maydom

Overview

Biography

I joined Birkbeck's Department of Politics in 2018 after completing my DPhil at the University of Oxford and teaching at Oxford and the London School of Economics.

My research focuses on two main areas: 1) the effects of emigration and financial remittances on political attitudes and behaviour in migrants’ homelands, and 2) the political drivers of individuals’ migration decisions.

Qualifications

• DPhil, University of Oxford, 2017

Administrative responsibilities

• Programme Director, MRes Politics
• Chair, Undergraduate Social Sciences Exam Board

Visiting posts

• Fellow, Governance and Local Development Institute, University of Gothenburg, 01-2024 to 12-2024

Professional memberships

• Fellow of Advance HE

Honours and awards

• Best Lecturer Award, Birkbeck Students Union, July 2024
• Best Dissertation Supervisor Award, Birkbeck Students Union, July 2022

ORCID

0000-0003-0821-2019

Research

Research interests

• Migration
• Democratization
• Corruption
• Taxation

Research overview

My research has explored how migrants’ financial remittances influence political participation in Africa and Latin America, investigated how frontline corruption drives emigration in the Western Balkans, and examined previously state-supported trade unions’ effects on labour politics after democratic transitions. I have published in journals of politics, migration, and area studies, including Comparative Political Studies, Latin American Politics and Society, and Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. I am currently working on projects exploring the 'Trump effect' on migration intentions in Central America, the relationship between migrant remittances and frontline corruption and how migration influences the social contract in new democracies.

Supervision and teaching

Supervision

Current PhD students

• Mohammed AlHajri: The Ports of Oman in China’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative
  
• Lindsay Ward: Policy learning in an authoritarian regime: a case study of the policy development work of INGOs in providing educational and skills support for younger refugees in Jordan
• Alex Mutnansky: Ethnonationalism and Self-Determination: The Fragmentation of Ethnic Identity in the South Caucasus (secondary supervisor)

 Completed PhD students

• Ben Steyn: A Political Values Spectrum for Nature and Technology (co-supervised with Kristoffer Ahlstrom-Vij, Department of Philosophy, completed in 2023)

I am interested in supervising PhD students in the following areas

• The politics of migration
• Contemporary Middle East politics
• Democratisation and authoritarian legacies
• Political participation in developing countries
  

If you are interested in pursuing research in any of these areas, you should first read our advice on how to apply for MPhil/PhD research (http://www.bbk.ac.uk/departments/politics/prospective-phd-guidance) before submitting an application.

Teaching

This year, I am teaching Introduction to Quantitative Social Research, Experiments in Social Science and Doing Political Research. I also contribute a session on survey design to the Masterclass in Social Research.

In previous years, I have taught modules on International Migration and Transnationalism, Politics of Population Change, Qualitative Social Research and, Liberal Order and Disorder in Global Politics and Challenges in Contemporary Politics.

Teaching modules

• Dissertation MRes Politics (POSO072D7)
• Masterclass in Social Research (SSPO019S7)
• Doing Political Research (SSPO220S6)
• Introduction to Quantitative Social Research (SSPO239H7)
• Experiments in Social Science (SSPO245H7)

Publications