Kingston's Politics and International Relations Department
Kingston University’s Politics Department is part of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. The Politics Department prioritizes a focus on Human Rights within the context of International Relations. Through a global and regional focus, Kingston’s researchers address contemporary political events through the perennial question of who gets what, when, how, why and where, examining International Relations through the lenses of power, justice, order, conflict, legitimacy, accountability, obligation, sovereignty, decision-making and governance
Key Staff of Department of Politics
Dr. Radu Cinpoes, Head of Department and Senior Lecturer
Dr. Cinpoes has been Head of Department since 2014, in addition to Senior Lecturer in Politics, International Relations and Human Rights at Kingston University and Visiting Lecturer in Politics at the University of Westminster. His research focuses on exploring articulations of national identity and the construction of nationhood. While a large part of his work has been concerned with these processes in the context of communism and transition from communism in Central and Eastern Europe, he has been investigating similar processes in wider contexts (looking at, among other things, European identity). Linked to the issues of identity and belonging, Radu's current research project deals with migration, taking a critical realist approach to the relationship between structure and agency in shaping migration processes.
Dr. Atsuko Ichijo, Associate Professor
Dr. Atsuko Ichijo is Senior Researcher at Kingston University and a former Research Project Officer at the London School of Economics, where she also earned her PhD. Dr Atsuko Ichijo's research interests are found at the intersection between nationalism studies and European studies, and the relationship between contemporary nationalism and development of European integration has been a major focus of her research. She has two monographs on the topic. In relation to this, she is also interested in theories of nationalism, the 'West'-'East' contrast in nationalism and nationalism's relationship to modernity. Currently Atsuko is co-ordinating a European Commission funded collaborative research project with nine partners across Europe on European identities.
Dr. Ronald Ranta, Senior Lecturer
Dr. Ronald Ranta is Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Kingston University and also serves as Postgraduate Programme Coordinator and Course Director for the MSc in International Relations. Dr. Ranta also serves as Research Associate at University College, London and was previously a Lecturer at SOAS. Dr. Ranta has written extensively on Middle Eastern nationalism and identities, discussing food nationalism across the Middle East, Palestinian Culture and Israeli Identity and the case of Israel and the Occupied Territories, a course he also teaches at University College, London. Dr. Ranta’s research interests include nationalism and the politics of identity in the Middle East. He is also involved in a British academy/Leverhulme funded research project addressing perception of identity and challenges of belonging among EU citizens in the UK