Dr Will Leggett

 

Senior Lecturer

Department of Political Science and International Studies

Contact details

Telephone +44 (0)121 415 8628

Fax +44 (0)121 414 3496

Email w.p.leggett@bham.ac.uk

Department of Political Science and International Studies
School of Government and Society
Muirhead Tower
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston, Birmingham,
B15 2TT, United Kingdom

About

Will Leggett researches and teaches in the areas of political sociology and social and political theory, with a particular focus on the relationship between social change, ideology and political identities and action.

 

Qualifications

 

  • D.Phil. Social and Political Thought, University of Sussex
  • MA Sociology (with Distinction), University of Essex
  • BA Hons. (First Class) Politics and Sociology, University of Warwick

Biography

Will Leggett researches and teaches in the areas of political sociology and social and political theory, with a particular focus on the relationship between social change, ideology and political identities and action.

Will’s work seeks to understand the ways in which governors and citizens adapt their political ideas and activities in the face of (ideas about) social change. He is currently examining the social conditions and political implications of ‘behaviour change’ as a policy objective.

Will also has a longstanding research interest in (centre) left ideology and politics, social democracy and the British Labour Party. He has examined how centre-left modernisers have developed and responded to narratives about social change (eg globalisation), and has offered critical alternatives across a range of publications including his (2005) After New Labour: Social Theory and Centre-Left Politics (Palgrave Macmillan).

Will has been a commentator on centre-left politics and political trends in national and international print and broadcast media.

Teaching

Undergraduate modules:

  • Political Sociology
  • Global Societies
  • Modern Sociological Theory
  • Contemporary Social Theory

Postgraduate programmes: 

  • MA Social and Political Theory
  • PhD and MA dissertation supervision

Postgraduate supervision

Will supervises and would welcome applications from research students in the following areas:

  • Political Sociology, particularly state-society relations; ideology and political action; the political status of ‘emotion’; governance and ‘behaviour change’
  • The relationship between social theory and political analysis and action
  • (Centre) Left political ideology, parties and movements

Research

Research interests

Political sociology and social and political theory, in particular:

  • The relationship between social change and political ideology, identities and action
  • The status of ‘emotion’ in social and political theory and political practices
  • Governance and the theory and politics of ‘behaviour change’
  • Centre-left ideology and politics

Current projects

Will is currently writing a book on Politics and Social Theory (Palgrave Macmillan) which examines the relationship between social theory and political analysis through substantive areas such as governance and political identity formation. He is also developing a critical analysis of theories of ‘behaviour change’ (eg ‘Nudge’). 

Other activities

External Examiner, Politics and Sociology Programme, Nottingham Trent University

Visiting Lecturer, University of Warwick Business School, Masters in Public Administration (Political Economy of Public Policy) 

Member of the British Social Democrat Philosophy Group

Publications

Leggett, W. (2013) 'The politics of behaviour change: Nudge, neoliberalism and the state', Policy & Politics, published online 8 April DOI: 10.1332/030557312X655576 

Leggett, W. (2013) 'Restoring society to post-structuralist politics: Mouffe, Gramsci and radical democracy', Philosophy and Social Criticism, 39 (3): 299-315.

Leggett, W. (2011) ‘The analytical and political limits to ‘interpreting’ governance’, British Politics, 6 (2): 241-51.

Leggett, W. (2010) ‘What makes progressive ideology? Lessons from the Third Way’ (with a reply by Prof. Lord Giddens), in Hickson, K. and Griffiths, S. (eds.) British Party Politics and Ideology after New Labour, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 53-66.

Leggett, W. (2009) ‘Prince of modernisers: Gramsci, New Labour and the meaning of modernity’, in McNally, M. and Schwarzmantel, J. (eds.) Gramsci and Global Politics: Hegemony and Resistance, London: Routledge, pp. 246-82.

Leggett, W. (2007) ‘British social democracy beyond New Labour’, British Journal of Politics and International Relations 9 (3): 346-64.

Leggett, W. (2005) After New Labour: Social Theory and Centre-Left Politics, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Leggett, W. (2005) ‘It’s the culture, stupid! New Labour’s progressive consensus’, Political Quarterly , 76 (4): 550-57.

Leggett, W. (2004) 'Social change, values and political agency’, Politics , 24 (1): 12-19.

Hale, S., Leggett, W. and Martell, L. (eds.) (2004) The Third Way and Beyond: Criticisms, Futures, Alternatives, Manchester: MUP.

Leggett, W. (2002) 'Reflexive modernization and reconstructing the Third Way' The Sociological Review, 50 (3):  419-36.

Expertise

Behaviour change and 'Nudge'; Labour Party; British politics; political ideas and ideologies; political culture; social change

Alternative contact number available for this expert: contact the press office

Expertise

Behaviour change and 'Nudge'; Labour Party; British politics; political ideas and ideologies; political culture; social change

Alternative contact number available for this expert: contact the press office

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