Research Interests

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Julia has made written and fieldwork based contributions to externally funded (USAID, DFID, Sida) CICS policy documents and publications. Her output in this area includes;

'Assessment of the Conflict Sensitivity of donor funded NGO programs: Sub-Saharan Africa' (2008) SIDA; 'Analysis of Donor policy and programs, Iraq' (2008); 'Assessment of the Conflict Sensitivity of Democracy and Peace Programs, Zimbabwe' (2008); 'Assessment of Georgian IDP Housing Program'; 'Assessment of Peace Support to Women's Organizations: Palestine' 2007; 'Lesbians, gay men and transgendered people in situations of violent conflict (2007); 'Terrorism and Development Co-operation' (2007); 'Options for Arms Management: Nepal (2007) http://www.un.org.np/uploads/peacemissions/20060811024318.pdf; 'Anti-poverty programming: Colombia' (2006); 'Political Actors: Bolivia (2006)'; 'Violence and Insecurity in Central America' (2006); 'Options for Constitutional Reform in Nepal' (2005); 'Election Security Assessment: Nepal' (2005). She is also part of the CICS team that is engaged with the 2-year donor funded project assessing the human security impacts of DDR, contributing to desk studies and a thematic working paper 'Reintegration and Long Term Development: Linkages and Challenges' http://www.ddr-humansecurity.org.uk/images/DDR%20Working%20Paper%205.pdf

Aside from these policy-oriented reports, private sector consultancies relating to: 'Foreign Investors and Community Councils in Venezuela'; 'Venezuela: Nuclear Trajectories'; 'Prospects for Agricultural Expropriation in Venezuela', 'Trajectories in the Venezuelan Gold Mining Sector', 'Marketing responses to Anti-Americanism in South America' and 'Trends in the Venezuela Oil Industry' were completed over the period 2006-08. Two expert reports for asylum cases (Nepal) were also completed over this period, as was the paper 'Latin America: politics, trade unions and solidarity', which was commissioned by UNISON.

Future Research Strategies:

Future publications that are pending for the 2008-9 period include the edited collection The Politics of Drugs (Routledge); a chapter for the edited collection Governance After Crisis (ed. J. Grugel and P. Riggirozzi, Palgrave); a chapter for the edited collection Reclaiming Latin America: Experiments in Radical Social Democracy (ed. S. Ludlam and G. Livesey, Zed) and an edited collection of the DDR working and thematic papers. Julia aims to develop her work on democracy, specifically exploring the limitations of contemporary democracy promotion strategies, and on the narcotic drugs trade, focusing on the expansion of trafficking in West Africa. Work will be continuing through 2008-09 on policy consultancies for European donors; the narcotic drugs trade, the political economy of the Andean region and democratization (programming and policies).

Julia is a regular contributor and commentator for the print and broadcast media in the US, UK, Europe and South America and has written for Open Democracy and The World Today.

Selected Publications

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Julia Buxton's publications reflect her research interests in the trade in narcotic drugs, democratisation and South American politics. Through her specialist interest in Venezuela she has sought to catalogue and analyse the radical changes taking place in the country.

• 'Venezuela: Socialism by Default' Global Dialogue, Summer / Autumn 2008.
• 'The Historical Foundations of the Narcotic Drug Control Regime', World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 4553 (2008) http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2008/03/12/000158349_20080312084905/Rendered/PDF/wps4553.pdf
• 'A South American Perspective' in K. Omeje (ed.) Extractive Economies and Conflicts in the Global South: Multi-Regional Perspectives on Rentier Politics (Ashgate: 2008);
• 'National Identity and Political Violence: the Case of Venezuela' in W. Fowler and P. Lambert (eds) Political Violence and the Construction of National Identity in Latin America, Palgrave 2007;
• The Political Economy of Narcotic Drugs Zed Books, 2006;
• Special edition of Democratization 'Securing Democracy in Complex Environments' Frank Cass, Winter 2006;
• With O. Greene and C. Salonius Pasternak, Conflict Prevention, Management and Reduction in Africa (eds.) Foreign Ministry of Finland Publication, 2006;
• 'Venezuela's Contemporary Political Crisis in Historical Perspective' Bulletin of Latin American Research 24 (3) 2005;
• 'Pacts and Polarisation' in Special Edition of Iberoamericana, Nordic Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Institute of Latin American Studies, Stockholm, Easter 2004.
• 'The Economics of Chavismo' in S. Ellner and D. Hellinger (eds.) Venezuelan Politics in the Chavez Era Lynne Rienner, (2003);
• The Failure of Political Reform in Venezuela Ashgate, 2001;
• 'Venezuela: Degenerative Democracy' in P. Burnell and P. Calvert (eds.) The Resilience of Democracy, Persistent Practice, Durable Idea Frank Cass, (1999);
• With N. Phillips (eds.) Country Case Studies in Latin American Political Economy Manchester University Press and Developments in Latin American Political Economy, Manchester University Press, (1999);
• 'Venezuela: Economics and History', South America Handbook, Europa all years 2000 to 2009; 'Venezuela' in Revolutionary and Dissident Movements of the World; John Harper Publishing.

Other Professional Activities

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Knowledge Transfer:

Participation in conferences and workshops is seen as an integral element of CICS output and knowledge transfer activities. Julia Buxton has participated in a diverse number of local, national and international conferences in academic, community and governmental settings. Among the most recent are presentations at: World International Studies Conference, Slovenia, July 2008; The School for the Study of the Americas, (ACLAIIR) Advisory Council on Latin American and Iberian Information Conference ‘researching Venezuela’, June 2008); Florida International University (Conference: ‘Ten years of Venezuela Foreign Policy’, May 2008); Oxford University (Conference: ‘Provincializing Westphalia: The Emergence of Global International Society’, April 2008); International Studies Association, San Francisco (Conference Paper on Narcotic Drugs and Conflict, March 2008); Watson Institute, Brown University, Boston (Conference: ‘Changes in the Andes’, Feb 2008); International Institute for the Study of Cuba (The Chavez Connection, Feb 2008) http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/research-units/cuba/past-events/buxton-and-morris.cfm; St. Antony’s College, Oxford University (conference: ‘Can A New Social Contract be Crafted from Resource Wealth’, June 2007); Centre for Latin American Studies, Cambridge University (guest lecture ‘The Threat and Promise of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution’, May 2007); Chatham House (guest lecture ‘Reshaping Continental Relations, May 2007); Washington Office on Latin America (panel ‘Political Developments in Venezuela’, Feb 2007); Chatham House (Panel presentation ‘Latin America: New Challenges, New Responses, Nov 2006); School for the Study of the Americas (guest lecture ‘Social policy under Chavez: The Missions: populism, clientelism or something very different?, October 2006); Oxford Analytica International Conference (Latin America panel member, Sept. 2005, 2006, 2007); Royal College of Defence Studies (guest lecture September 2006 and 2007); Canning House (panel member, The Politics of Policies, Feb 2006). In 2005, she participated in conferences that were held in the US (Georgetown University), Venezuela (Caracas, Universidad Central de Venezuela and Maracaibo (PDVSA) and Puerto Rico (Latin American Studies Association).

Outside of the academic setting, she has presented talks on social development, Cuba, narcotic drugs, peace building, Venezuela and South America to local adult and youth community-based groups in Ilkley, Sheffield, Leeds, London and North Wales and to fringe meetings of the Labour Party, Trade Union Congress and UNISON. Julia is also a regular contributor to government (UK FCO and US State Department) round tables and briefings on policy and strategy in Venezuela and South America.

In 2006-7 she examined PhD candidates at Essex University and the London School of Economics and is currently supervising PhD dissertations on the Venezuelan Social Economy and Democratization in Sierra Leone. She has reviewed manuscripts and articles for the Bulletin of Latin American Research, Journal of Latin American Studies, Democratization, Zed Books, Verso and Pluto. Julia contributes to the teaching on the FCO Chevening Fellowship Program ‘Security Sector Reform in Countries Emerging from Conflict’ hosted by the CICS (http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/cics/projects/security/) and she teaches an undergraduate course on the Political Economy of narcotic drugs.

Esteem Factors:

Julia was visiting professor at the Centre for Latin American Studies, Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington for the Spring semester 2007 where she taught the post-graduate courses ‘Venezuela’ and ‘China, the EU and Latin America’. She is currently a member of the Corporacion Andina de Fomento (CAF) Working Party on Narcotic Drug Policy.