Dr Nicola Smith

Dr Nicola Smith

Department of Political Science and International Studies
Associate Professor in Political Science
Deputy Head of Department

Contact details

Address
Department of Political Science and International Studies
School of Government
Muirhead Tower
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Nicola Smith is a political economist working on feminist and queer theory, neoliberalism and austerity, sex work and reproductive labour, and the history of the British body politic.

Qualifications

  • PhD Political Science (Birmingham)
  • MA Research Methods (Political Science) (Birmingham)

Biography

Nicola Smith's research focuses on the intersections between feminist political economy and queer theory, and her publications span topics such as sex work, body politics, austerity, and neoliberal discourse. She teaches the final-year undergraduate module "The Politics of Gender, Sex and Sexuality" (with Sameera Khalfey) and the MA module "Globalisation and Governance", and is currently Postgraduate Director for POLSIS.

Postgraduate supervision

Gender; sexuality; queer theory; feminist theory; sex work; body politics; poverty; genealogy

Research

Feminist political economy

Queer theory

Capitalism

British politics

Sex work

Austerity

Neoliberal discourse

Body politics

Poverty

Publications

Recent publications

Book

Smith, N 2020, Capitalism’s sexual history. Oxford Studies in Gender and International Relations, Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197530276.001.0001

Laing, M, Pilcher, K & Smith, N 2015, Queer Sex Work. Taylor & Francis, London. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203761960

Article

Morris, A & Smith, N 2024, 'Fat Scrounger, Lean Times: A Tale of Two Bodies in Austerity Britain', British Politics. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41293-024-00273-2

Kingston, S & Smith, N 2020, 'Sex counts: an examination of sexual service advertisements in a UK online directory', British Journal of Sociology, vol. 71, no. 2, pp. 328-348. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12727

Williams, H & Smith, N 2017, 'Feedback: Critiquing Practice, Moving Forward', European Political Science, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 159–178. https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2015.99

Smith, N & Williams, H 2017, 'Introduction: Rethinking Assessment and Feedback', European Political Science, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 127–134. https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2015.100

Cameron, A, Smith, N & Tepe, D 2016, 'Household Wastes: Disciplining the Family in the Name of Austerity', British Politics, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 396-417. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41293-016-0035-3

Chapter

Gore, E & Smith, N 2023, Sexual Injustice. in JCW Pevehouse & L Seabrooke (eds), The Oxford Handbook of International Political Economy . 1 edn, Oxford Handbooks, Oxford University Press, New York. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198793519.013.51

Smith, N 2018, Queer theory and feminist political economy. in J Elias & A Roberts (eds), Handbook on the International Political Economy of Gender. Handbooks of Research on International Political Economy series, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp. 102-112. <https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/handbook-on-the-international-political-economy-of-gender>

Smith, N 2017, (Dis)embodied Methodology in International Political Economy. in J Montgomerie (ed.), Critical Methods in Cultural and Political Economy. RIPE Series in Global Political Economy, Routledge.

Smith, N 2016, The Global Political Economy of Sex Work. in J Steans & D Tepe (eds), The Handbook on Gender in World Politics. Edward Elgar.

Smith, N 2016, Toward a Queer Political Economy of Crisis. in AA Hozic & J True (eds), Scandalous Economics: Gender and the Politics of Financial Crisis . Oxford Studies in Gender and International Relations, Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190204235.003.0013

Smith, N, Laing, M & Pilcher, K 2015, Being, Thinking and Doing “Queer’ in Debates About Commercial Sex. in N smith, M Laing & K pilcher (eds), Queer Sex Work . 1st edn, Routledge Studies in Crime and Society, no. 14, Routledge.

Smith, N 2015, Queer in/and Sexual Economies. in N Smith, M Laing & K Pilcher (eds), Queer Sex Work . Routledge studies in crime and society, no. 14, Routledge.

Special issue

Smith, N & Lee, D 2015, 'Corporeal Capitalism: The Body in International Political Economy', Global Society, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 64-69. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600826.2014.976608

View all publications in research portal