Dr Owen Parker
BSc, MSc, MA, PhD, SFHEA
School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations
Senior Lecturer in European Politics
School Student Experience Lead
+44 114 222 1695
Full contact details
School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations
D47
Elmfield Building
Northumberland Road
91Ö±²¥
S10 2TU
- Profile
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Dr Owen Parker joined the Department as Lecturer in European Politics in April 2012 and became Senior Lecturer in 2015.
Owen’s research and teaching is focused on the politics and political economy of the European Union. Recent research focuses on: the politics and governance of EU citizenship and the free movement of people in the EU; the contemporary political left and the EU; and Brexit.
His current projects are focused on EU citizens in post-Brexit UK, with a close focus on marginalised Roma and other racialised minorities. In the context of that work he has worked with a range of external actors, including the EU delegation to the UK, the Roma Support Group, Black Europeans, the3million, Migration Yorkshire, and the Office for National Statistics.
Owen’s academic interests dovetail with his prior professional experience. He worked from 2003-2006 as 'International Relations Officer' at the European Commission (Directorate General for Enlargement, Turkey Unit) on the assessment of Turkey's fulfilment of the EU's Copenhagen political criteria (relating to human rights, democracy, rule of law, minority rights).
Owen has held several leadership roles, including Director of Education, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Director of Employability, and Director of Postgraduate Taught Studies, Director of Student Conduct.
From academic year 2025/26 Owen will be be the School's Director of Student Experience.
- Qualifications
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Owen was awarded a PhD in Politics and International Studies from Warwick in September 2010 (ESRC funded), holds Masters degrees from Warwick (Politics, International Political Economy track, 2007) and the London School of Economics and Political Science (International Relations, 2002), and a BSc from Bath (Politics and Economics, 2000).
- Research interests
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Broad interests include:
- normative (political theory) and critical approaches to the European Union
- comparative European political economy
- EU economic governance
- the politics and political economy of Brexit
- progressive (left) politics and the European Union
Narrow interests include:
- the politics and governance of EU citizenship and the free movement of people
- Brexit and the British left
- EU citizens in Brexit Britain
- Roma and racialised EU citizens in the UK
- Investor citizenship in Europe
- Publications
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Books
- Politics in the European Union 5th edition.
- Cosmopolitan Government in Europe. Routledge.
Journal articles
- . Journal of Common Market Studies.
- . Perspectives on Politics, 19(1), 327-329.
- . Public Administration.
- . Comparative European Politics, 16(5), 805-824.
- . British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 19(3), 479-496.
- . Journal of Common Market Studies, 55(2), 332-348.
- . JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 54(1), 37-52.
- . International Political Sociology, 8(4), 379-395.
- . Global Society, 27(3), 360-378.
- . Cooperation and Conflict, 48(2), 229-246.
- . International Theory: a journal of international politics, law and philosophy, 4(2), 198-232.
- . Journal of Common Market Studies, 50(3), 475-491.
- . Journal of European Public Policy, 16(7), 1085-1101.
- . Constellations, 16(3), 392-409.
- . New Political Economy, 13(4), 397-417.
- . International Studies Quarterly, 49(2), 233-254.
- . Journal of Contemporary European Research, 18(2).
Chapters
- , Crisis in the Eurozone Periphery (pp. 1-27). Springer International Publishing
- , Globalisation and European Integration (pp. 94-112). Routledge
- Politics in the European Union 5th edition.
- Research group
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Owen has been an active participant in, among others, the Political Economy Research Group (PERG); the 91Ö±²¥ Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI); and the Migration Research Group (MRG).
- Grants
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Awarding Body: Office for National Statistics
Title of Research: ONS Qualitative Research Project on Roma in the UK (with Migration Yorkshire and the Roma Support Group)
Duration: 2024-2025
Total: £200,000
Total Award to UoS: N/A (consultant to project)Awarding Body: European Commission/ Ecorys
Title of Research: Ethnic Minority EU Citizens in the UK
Duration: 2024-2025
Total Award to UoS: approx. £12,000Awarding Body: 91Ö±²¥ City Council
Title of Research: Roma EU Citizens and the EU settlement scheme
Duration: 2024-2025
Total Award to UoS: approx. £20,000Awarding Body: Higher Education Innovation Fund
Title of Research: The Migration Status and Exclusion of Roma EU Citizens in the UK
Duration: 2024
Total Award to UoS: approx. £30,000Awarding Body: European Commission
Title of Research: Jean Monnet New European Borderlands Network
Duration: 2019-2022
Total Award to UoS: approx. £80,000Awarding Body: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Title of Research: EU Citizenship and Free Movement White Rose Network (network lead)
Duration: September 2016-2019
Total Award to UoS: approx. £60,000Awarding Body: Leverhulme Trust (Research Fellowship)
Title of Research: Citizenship for Sale: Immigrant Investor Programmes in Crisis EU?
Duration: September 2014-2015
Total Award: £45,000Awarding Body: Leverhulme Trust (Early Career Fellowship)
Title of Research: Roma Resistance in the EU: Beyond Cosmopolitan Government?
Duration: October 2011-2013
Total Award to UoS: approx. £55,000Awarding Body: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) PhD 1+3 award
Duration: 2007-2010
Total Award to UoS: approx. £70,000
- Teaching interests
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Owen is co-author a leading Oxford University Press textbook on EU politics, Politics in the European Union (6th edition forthcoming in 2026) and has published widely on teaching the EU.
He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and has been a university assessor for HEA awards. He has also been an external examiner at Kings College London and the University of Durham, as well as an external accreditor for the Open University.
- Teaching activities
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Owen teaches and leads the undergraduate modules SPR217, Europe in Crisis, and SPR327 Brexit and Beyond. The former considers the ways in which the project of European integration has been shaped by crises, both historically and in the contemporary period. The latter module first considers the UK’s historically difficult relationship with the EU before turning to consider Brexit and its wide ranging implications for the UK.
Owen has previously taught on a number of MA modules focused on Europe and political economy.
- Professional activities and memberships
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Owen is or has been a member of several professional associatons, including the Political Studies Association (PSA), British International Studies Association (BISA), International Studies Association (ISA), University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) and the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR).
Owen is a former co-convenor of BISA's International Political Economy Group (IPEG) and a co-organiser of various events under its auspices.
Owen has engaged and worked with a range of governmental and non-governmental organisations in the context of his various research projects.
- PhD Supervision
Owen has supervised a number (over 10) PhD students to successful completion, including students who have been awarded or nominated for academic prizes. Many of his former doctoral students are now successful in academic and non-academic jobs. He has acted as an external and internal PhD examiner on a number of ocassions. He is potentially interested in supervising PhD projects that align with the research interests highlighted above.