Professional Biography
Reza Hasmath is a Trinidadian-Canadian academic, who is a Full Professor in Political Science at the University of Alberta. Prior to this appointment, he held faculty positions in management, sociology and political science at the Universities of Toronto, Melbourne and Oxford, and has worked for think-tanks, consultancies, development agencies, and NGOs in USA, Canada, UK, Australia and China. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, and was formally trained in philosophy, public policy, international studies and diplomacy, and social and political sciences, as well as in various East Asian and European languages.
His award-winning research is supported by several multi-year grant schemes, notably from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, and can be summarized in fivefold: (1) examining the life course experiences (e.g. from education to the labour market), and public management, of ethnic minorities in global contexts; (2) analyzing state-society relationships in China, and how the activities of emerging state and non-state actors potentially affect salient theories, practices and assumptions in international development and global affairs; (3) assessing the evolving behaviour of policy actors and citizens, and their subsequent impact on advanced authoritarian regimes; (4) evaluating global social and economic sustainability, and the development of environmental, social and corporate governance principles and practices; and, (5) probing into the essentialist qualities of the self, community and state through their performative interplay in the public domain.
He is the author and editor of nine books, and his journal articles appear in leading outlets in political science (e.g. Democratization, Governance, International Political Science Review), sociology (e.g. Current Sociology), Chinese studies (e.g. The China Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary China), ethnic studies (e.g. Ethnic and Racial Studies), labour studies (e.g. International Labour Review), social policy (e.g. Journal of Social Policy), public administration (e.g. Public Administration and Development), philosophy (e.g. Journal of Deliberative Democracy), development studies (e.g. Development Policy Review, European Journal of Development Research), and non-profit studies (e.g. Voluntas, Journal of Civil Society). Many of his influential publications have been translated into several languages, including Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian and Spanish, and are available in video and audio formats.
To raise broader awareness about his research findings and the subsequent policy implications, he has delivered numerous talks and policy speeches at leading global academic, NGO, government and think tank institutions. He is regularly sought for advice in his cognizant research areas by government agencies, non-profits and multinational enterprises. In addition, he is a regular contributor for national and international media outlets, appearing in 300+ interviews in television (e.g. BBC UK, CCTV China, CTV News Canada, DW Germany, France 24, NBC News USA, SBS Australia), radio (e.g. ABC Radio Australia, BBC Radio UK, CBC Radio Canada) and print (e.g. The Economist, Financial Times UK, Globe and Mail, The Guardian UK, Le Monde, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post).
Professor Hasmath is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Civil Society, and is the Foundation Editor of the Routledge Research on the Politics and Sociology of China book series.
