Jan Eijking
BA Utrecht, MPhil DPhil Oxon
I’m a William Golding Junior Research Fellow at Brasenose College. As postdoctoral Research Associate at the DPIR and Oxford Martin Fellow I work on the Changing Global Orders programme at the Oxford Martin School. I recently completed a DPhil in International Relations at Balliol College and have held teaching positions at Utrecht University (2022-23) and at Pembroke College, University of Oxford (2021-22).
My main interest is in the history of international organisations and international thought, with a focus on the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. My doctoral thesis examined how technical experts became central to the design and contestation of modern international organisations. At the Changing Global Orders programme I work on how early international organisations have mobilised expertise to address health, economic, and food crises.
My research, which has been funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council and the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes), has won the ISA Barbara W. Tuchman Prize (2023), the ISA Prize for Best Graduate Paper in IR Theory (2023), the ISA-Northeast Fred Hartmann Award (2022), and the EISA Best Graduate Paper Award (2021).
I have also written for public outlets including Responsible Statecraft and The Conversation. I’m an Associate Member of the Centre for Global Knowledge Studies at the University of Cambridge and affiliated with the Security History Network at Utrecht University. Previously I convened the Seminar in the History of International Politics (SHIP) at the University of Oxford.
Photo credits © 2021 John Cairns for DPIR.
Teaching
I have previously taught the following undergraduate papers:
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International Relations (214),
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International Relations in the Era of Two World Wars (212),
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International Relations in the Era of the Cold War (213),
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Political Thought: Bentham to Weber (216).

Publications
Peer-reviewed
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2022. Why does Colombia export security expertise? In: Carlos Solar and Carlos Perez Ricart (eds.). Crime, Violence, and Justice in Latin America: Themes and Trends. London: Routledge.
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2021. A ‘priesthood of knowledge’: the international thought of Henri de Saint-Simon. International Studies Quarterly, DOI: 10.1093/isq/sqab089
Review essays
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2022. Looking for Utopia: Experts and Global Governance. Journal of International Political Theory 18(2): 262-72.
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2022. Whose power is knowledge? Global Intellectual History, online first.
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2021. Review of "Time's Monster: History, Conscience and Britain's Empire" by Priya Satia. Global Intellectual History, DOI:10.1080/23801883.2021.1880540
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2021. Corporate Sovereignty and Modern International Order. International Studies Review, DOI:10.1093/isr/viab003
Other writing
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Josep Borrell’s ‘jungle’ trope was no slip of the tongue. Responsible Statecraft (2022)
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Experts in de internationale politiek: tussen hoop en afleiding.Over de Muur [in Dutch] (2022)
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Saint-Simon’s Technocratic Internationalism. Centre for Intellectual History (2021)
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How the technical expert emerged in 19th century politics – and what empire had to do with it. The Conversation (2020)
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Expert politics and the COVID-19 pandemic. Oxford Political Review (2020)
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Wie Großkonzerne die Klimaskepsis sponserten. taz [in German] (2020)
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Colombia’s export of security expertise. Oxford Politics Blog (2019)