Dr Mattias Hjort

Dr Mattias Hjort

Department of Political Science and International Studies
Teaching Fellow in Political Science

Contact details

Email
h.hjort@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
Department of Political Science and International Studies
School of Government
Muirhead Tower
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Mattias is a political scientist with interests including climate governance, international development and sustainable development. He approaches these fields of study by drawing on post-structural methodologies, including the governmentality concept and actor-network theory. From September 2017, He took up a Teaching Fellow position in the Department of Political Science and International Studies in Speptember 2017, having obtained a PhD degree from the International Development Department in 2016.

Feedback and office hours

Office hours (term time only, excluding reading week):  

  • Thursdays: 12.30-2.00
  • Fridays: 13.30-3.00 

Online (email for Zoom link)

Qualifications

  • PhD International Development, University of Birmingham, 2016
  • MA Global Studies, University of Göteborg, Sweden, 2010
  • MSc International and European Relations, University of Linköping, Sweden, 2008
  • BSc Environmental Science, University of Linköping, Sweden, 2006

Biography

Mattias came to the University of Birmingham in 2011 to start a PhD degree with the International Development Department. Prior to that he studied at the universities of Göteborg and Linköping in Sweden, and worked as a car mechanic at Gummigubben. His PhD on the policy mechanism Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) was supervised by Dr Fiona Nunan and Dr Emma A. Foster. During and after his PhD, he has been teaching on modules including: Introduction to Political Economy, Analysing Political Worlds, and Critical Approaches to Development.

From September 2017, he will be taking up a Teaching Fellow position in the Department of Political Science and International Studies. In addition to this, he undertakes research in collaboration with Dr Danielle Beswick of the International Development Department on the Conservative Party’s overseas social action projects.  

Teaching

  • Understanding Political Economy (UG 1 year)
  • Global Governance (UG 2 year)
  • International Political Economy (PG)
  • Global Environmental Governance (PG)

Research

Research interests

Mattias’ PhD research focused on global climate negotiations and in particular the policy mechanism Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) from a governmentality and actor-network theory perspective, thereby elucidating its dominant discourses and practices of government.

Current projects

Since Mrch 2017, Mattias has been undertaking research with Dr Danielle Beswick on the Conservative Party’s overseas social action projects. The title for this research project is:

  • Building Support for International Development: Expectations and Impacts of Conservative Party Overseas Volunteering Projects.

Publications

  • (2020) 'Volunteering and policy makers: The political uses of the UK Conservative Party's international development volunteering projects', Voluntas. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-020-00222-9
  • (2019) 'Who should be governed to reduce deforestation and how? Multiple governmentalities at the REDD+ negotiations'. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space. https://doi.org/10.1177/2399654419837298
  • (2019) with Beswick, D. 'A missing link in understanding party policy change? Conservative Party overseas volunteering projects and UK development policy (2007-2017)'.British Journal of Politics and International Relations. https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148119830041

View all publications in research portal