Professor Simon Rushton
School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations
Professor of International Politics
simon.rushton@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 1710
+44 114 222 1710
Elmfield Building
Full contact details
Professor Simon Rushton
School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations
Elmfield Building
Northumberland Road
Sheffield
S10 2TU
School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations
Elmfield Building
Northumberland Road
Sheffield
S10 2TU
- Profile
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Simon joined the Department of Politics and International Relations in January 2013 and was promoted to Professor of International Politics in January 2022. Prior to his move to Sheffield, he was based at Aberystwyth University’s Department of International Politics where he completed his PhD and subsequently held posts as Lecturer and Research Fellow.
Simon's research has been funded by the ESRC, DFID/FCDO, NIHR, MRC, Welcome Trust, and Newton Fund, working with partners in Nepal, Colombia, Bangladesh, Ghana and Vietnam. He is a member of Visiting Faculty at the Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences in Kathmandu and a member of the Executive Committee of the British International Studies Association.
Simon is currently the Department’s Director of Research and Innovation.
- Research interests
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Simon’s research interests focus on the global politics of health, peace and conflict, and participatory research methods. His work has looked in particular at international responses to infectious diseases; the links between health and national security; the changing architecture of global health governance; healthcare delivery in conflict and other crisis situations; and post-conflict peacebuilding. His current research projects are in Nepal and Colombia.
In 2021, the Improbable Dialogues project team, of which Simon was the UK Principal Investigator, was awarded the ESRC’s prize for Outstanding Societal Impact.
- Publications
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Books
- Participating in Peace. Bristol University Press.
- Security and Public Health. Polity.
- Disease Diplomacy: International Norms and Global Health Security. Baltimore, MA: Johns Hopkins University Press.
- The Transformation of Global Health Governance. Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Edited books
- The International Politics of Ebola. Routledge.
- Routledge Handbook of Global Health Security. Routledge.
- Partnerships and Foundations in Global Health Governance. Palgrave Macmillan.
Journal articles
- The Gates Foundation's network diplomacy in European donor countries.. Globalization and health, 21(1), 22.
- Global health partnerships for a post-2030 agenda. The Lancet, 405(10477), 514-516.
- HERA-lding More Integration in Health? Examining the Discursive Legitimation of the European Commission's New Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 49(5), 831-854.
- Theories, models and frameworks to understand barriers to the provision of mobility-assistive technologies: a scoping review. BMJ Open, 14(5), e080633-e080633.
- COVID-19 as a Challenge to Nepal’s Newly Federalized Health System: Capacities, Responsibilities, and Mindsets. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 36(5), 513-515.
- Participatory policy analysis in health policy and systems research: reflections from a study in Nepal.. Health research policy and systems, 22(1), 7.
- Processes of assistive technology service delivery in Bangladesh, India and Nepal: a critical reflection. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 19(2), 292-301.
- Selection of Study Sites and Participants for Research into Nepal’s Federal Health System. WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health, 12(2), 116-119.
- The impact of decentralisation on health systems: a systematic review of reviews. BMJ Global Health, 8(12), e013317-e013317.
- Overcoming the challenges facing Nepal's health system during federalisation: an analysis of health system building blocks.. Health research policy and systems, 21(1), 117.
- The health consequences of urbanization in Nepal: perspectives from a participatory photo project with recent rural-urban migrants. The Highlander, 3(1). View this article in WRRO
- Gender and caste inequalities in primary healthcare usage by under-5 children in rural Nepal: an iterative qualitative study into provider perspectives and the potential role of implicit bias. BMJ Open, 13(6), e069060-e069060.
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of persons with disabilities in rural Nepal: A mixed method study. Public Health in Practice, 5, 100377-100377.
- Access to assistive technology for persons with disabilities: a critical review from Nepal, India and Bangladesh. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 18(1), 8-16.
- Health system strengthening: the role of public health in Federal Nepal. Journal of the Nepal Public Health Association, 7(1), 36-42.
- Determinants affecting utilisation of health services and treatment for children under-5 in rural Nepali health centres: a cross-sectional study.. BMC public health, 22(1), 1948.
- Can we rely on the Security Council during health emergencies?. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 76(1), 35-39. View this article in WRRO
- The United Nations Security Council and health emergencies: introduction. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 76(1), 1-3. View this article in WRRO
- El diálogo social territorial. Contribuciones teórico-prácticas desde la experiencia de Buenaventura, Colombia. Colombia Internacional(109), 59-87. View this article in WRRO
- The Responsibility-Sharing of Nation-States and the ACT-Accelerator.. International journal of health policy and management, 11(11), 2765-2768.
- Re‐examining critiques of resilience policy: evidence from Barpak after the 2015 earthquake in Nepal. Disasters, 46(3), 768-790.
- An investigation into the impact of decentralization on the health system of Nepal. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 7(1), 3-14.
- Problems with traffic light approaches to public health emergencies of international concern. The Lancet, 397(10287), 1856-1858. View this article in WRRO
- The International Health Regulations, COVID-19 and national borders : pursuing health security in a globalized world. Behind the Headlines, 69(3), 1-6.
- The role of social capital in disaster resilience in remote communities after the 2015 Nepal earthquake. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 102112-102112. View this article in WRRO
- COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal: Emerging evidence on the effectiveness of action by, and cooperation between, different levels of government in a federal system. Journal of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences, 3(3), 1-11.
- Choosing not to weaponize healthcare: politics and health service delivery during Nepal’s civil war, 1996-2006. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 36(3), 212-231. View this article in WRRO
- The International Health Regulations, COVID-19, and bordering practices: Who gets in, what gets out, and who gets rescued?. Contemporary Security Policy, 41(3), 458-477. View this article in WRRO
- Nepal’s Bumpy Transition to Federalism: Implications for the Health System. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 5(1), 1-3. View this article in WRRO
- Promoting pro-health policies across regimes: Global AIDS institutions and the harm reduction debate. Global Governance, 24(2), 267-286. View this article in WRRO
- Use of information and communication technologies in the formal and informal health system responses to the 2015 Nepal earthquakes. Health Policy and Planning, 32(suppl_3), iii48-iii58. View this article in WRRO
- The (Mis)appropriation of HIV/AIDS advocacy strategies in Global Mental Health: towards a more nuanced approach. Globalization and Health, 13(1). View this article in WRRO
- Health Rights and Realization; Comment on “Rights Language in the Sustainable Development Agenda: Has Right to Health Discourse and Norms Shaped Health Goals?”. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 5(5), 341-344. View this article in WRRO
- Public health emergencies: a new peacekeeping mission? Insights from UNMIL’s role in the Liberia Ebola outbreak. Third World Quarterly, 37(3), 419-435. View this article in WRRO
- Global health security: the wider lessons from the west African Ebola virus disease epidemic. The Lancet, 385(9980), 1884-1901. View this article in WRRO
- The Politics of Researching Global Health Politics; Comment on “Knowledge, Moral Claims and the Exercise of Power in Global Health”. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 4(5), 311-314. View this article in WRRO
- Health for health's sake, winning for God's sake: US Global Health Diplomacy and smart power in Iraq and Afghanistan1. Review of International Studies, 40(5), 835-857.
- The Holy See on sexual and reproductive health rights: conservative in position, dynamic in response. Reproductive Health Matters, 22(44), 114-124. View this article in WRRO
- Analyzing Leadership in Global Health Governance. Global Health Governance, 1(VII), 1-19.
- HIV/AIDS and securitization theory. European Journal of International Relations, 19(1), 115-138.
- The global debate over HIV-related travel restrictions: Framing and policy change. Global Public Health, 7(sup2), S159-S175.
- Framing global health: The governance challenge. Global Public Health, 7(sup2), S83-S94.
- New life in old frames: HIV, development and the ‘AIDS plus MDGs’ approach. Global Public Health, 7(sup2), S144-S158.
- Smart Power? Health Interventions for Strategic Effect in Iraq and Afghanistan. International Political Sociology, 6(3), 328-331.
- Frames, Paradigms and Power: Global Health Policy-Making under Neoliberalism. Global Society, 26(2), 147-167.
- The revised International Health Regulations: socialization, compliance and changing norms of global health security. Global Change, Peace & Security, 24(1), 57-70.
- Global Health Security: Security for whom? Security from what?. Political Studies, 59(4), 779-796.
- Are the ‘Good Times’ Over? Looking to the Future of Global Health Governance. Global Health Governance, 5(1).
- Framing AIDS: Securitization, Development-ization, Rights-ization. Global Health Governance, 4(1).
- AIDS and international security in the United Nations System. Health Policy and Planning, 25(6), 495-504.
- HIV, AIDS and security: where are we now?. International Affairs, 86(1), 225-245.
- Twenty-five years ofMedicine, Conflict and Survival. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 25(4), 265-266.
- The UN Secretary-General and Norm Entrepreneurship: Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Democracy Promotion. Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations, 14(1), 95-110.
- The UK, health and peace-building: the mysterious disappearance of Health as a Bridge for Peace. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 22(2), 94-109.
- Health and Peacebuilding: Resuscitating the Failed State in Sierra Leone. International Relations, 19(4), 441-456.
Chapters
- Health In Phillips N (Ed.), Global Political Economy Oxford University Press
- Security and Health, The Oxford Handbook of Global Health Politics (pp. 121-141). Oxford University Press (OUP)
- The invisible men: HIV, security, and men who have sex with women, Global Health and Security: Critical Feminist Perspectives (pp. 131-147).
- Pandemics and global health, Routledge Handbook of Security Studies: Second Edition (pp. 224-234).
- Health Security In Caballero-Anthony M (Ed.), An Introduction to Non-Traditional Security Studies: A Transnational Approach (pp. 174-192). London: Sage.
- The Omega Man, Colonialism, and Global Health, Politische Theorie im Film (pp. 195-211). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden
- The revised international health regulations and outbreak response, The Politics of Surveillance and Response to Disease Outbreaks: The New Frontier for States and Non-state Actors (pp. 23-40).
- Who will lead? In Frenk J & Hoffman S (Ed.), "To Save Humanity" What Matters Most for a Healthy Future (pp. 301-304). Oxford University Press, USA
- ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY INTRODUCTION, ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY (pp. 1-+).
- Arguments for Securitizing Global Health Priorities (pp. 287-303). Wiley
- Health interventions for Political Ends: Medical Initiatives in Conflict and Peacebuilding In Novotny TE & Kickbusch I (Ed.), 21st Century Global Health Diplomacy World Scientific Publishing Company
- The end of one era and the start of another: Partnerships, foundations and the shifting political economy of global health In Rushton S & Williams OD (Ed.), Partnerships and Foundations in Global Health Governance Palgrave Macmillan
- Private Actors in Global Health Governance, Partnerships and Foundations in Global Health Governance (pp. 1-25). Palgrave Macmillan UK
- Coda, Partnerships and Foundations in Global Health Governance (pp. 253-267). Palgrave Macmillan UK
- Global Governance Capacities in Health: WHO and Infectious Diseases, GLOBAL HEALTH GOVERNANCE - CRISIS, INSTITUTIONS AND POLITICAL ECONOMY (pp. 60-80).
- A History of Peace through Health In Arya N & Barbara JS (Ed.), Peace Through Health Kumarian Press
Book reviews
- Conflict, education and peace in Nepal: rebuilding education for peace and development. Medicine Conflict & Survival, 40(2), 208-210.
- Epidemics and society: from the Black Death to the present. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 37(4), 330-332.
- South African AIDS activism and global health politics.. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, 89(6), 1498-1499.
- Groove Armada: Rafa Benítez, Anfield and the New Spanish Fury. Soccer and Society, 1(9), 151-153.
- The Best Intentions: Kofi Annan and the UN in the Era of American Power. Intelligence and National Security, 4(23), 586-588.
- Planning for the wrong pandemic: COVID-19 and the limits of expert knowledge. Medicine, Conflict and Survival.
Website content
- Healing or Harming? United Nations Peacekeeping and Health.
- AIDS: Five Neglected Questions for Global Health Strategies.
- '‘The Public’, Participation, and the Ethics of Engaging with Communities' in Kate Dommett and Nikki Soo (eds.), Who and What are the Public?.
- Antimicrobial Resistance and International Relations: Research Brief.
Other
- The end of US foreign aid and implications for global health?. Public Health, 242, 101-102.
- Liz Willis. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 35(4), 294-294.
- Moving on. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 33(3), 167-167.
- Fostering narratives of peace and security?. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 33(1), 1-2.
- The Trump Presidency – what future for global health and armed conflict?. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 32(4), 253-254.
- Introduction: Ebola and International Relations. Third World Quarterly, 37(3), 373-379.
- Climate change and health: rising to the challenge?. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 31(3-4), 141-143.
- The Lancet, Gaza and academic publishing: defending political engagement. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 31(2), 81-87.
- The age of unconventional conflict?. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 31(1), 1-3.
- Polio, conflict and distrust: a global public health emergency. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 30(3), 143-145.
- The Holdstock-Piachaud Prize 2013. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 30(3), 165-165.
- Introduction. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 30(2), 73-74.
- Eyes on Africa. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 30(1), 1-3.
- Inscribing the history of conflict – from Germany to Syria; Japan to Afghanistan. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 29(4), 267-269.
- What have we learnt about war?. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 29(2), 89-92.
- Killing machines. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 29(3), 165-168.
- Looking forward and looking back. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 28(4), 275-277.
- Depressingly familiar. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 28(3), 191-194.
- Terrorism, conflict and the after effects of war. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 28(2), 107-109.
- The Holdstock-Piachaud Prize 2011. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 28(2), 111-112.
- Confronting violence, protecting health. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 27(4), 187-190.
- Putting health first. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 27(3), 139-140.
- Spies, vaccines and violence: Fake health campaigns and the neutrality of health. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 27(2), 73-76.
- Politicizing aid: Healthcare provision and strategic objectives. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 27(1), 1-4.
- Editorial. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 26(4), 247-251.
- Health, human rights and global security: Exploring connections. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 26(3), 185-189.
- Health, peace and conflict: roles for health professionals. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 26(2), v-vii.
- Rethinking the space for health and conflict?. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 26(1), 1-3.
- Medicine, Conflict and Survival: change and continuity. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 25(3), 187-190.
- The politics of war. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 1-3.
- Participating in Peace. Bristol University Press.
- Research group
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International Relations
- Grants
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Externally funded research projects
- Awarding Body: AHRC-GCRF Creating Safer Space Network
- Title of Research: 'Community strategies for Unarmed Civilian Protection in South-West Colombia: local experiences and lessons learned’
- Principal Investigator: Juan Mario Diaz Arevalo Co-Investigators: Adrián Alzate (Universidad Autónoma de Occidente); Natalia Campo (Universidad Autónoma de Occidente); Jesús Alfonso Flórez López (Universidad Autónoma de Occidente); Simon Rushton (University of Sheffield); Arlene Tickner (Universidad del Rosario)
- Duration: 12 months (2022-2023)
- Total Award: £88,176
- Awarding Body: NIHR Global Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) Programme
- Title of Research: ‘Living in the city: Building collaborations to strengthen health systems to respond to the needs of newly urbanised populations in Africa and Asia.'
- Principal Investigators: Simon Rushton and Manish Baidya (PHASE Nepal, Nepal)
- Co-Investigators: Genevieve Aryeetey (University of Ghana), Helen Elsey (University of York), Rumana Huque (ARK Foundation, Bangladesh), Jiban Karki (ScHARR, University of Sheffield), Andrew Lee (ScHARR, University of Sheffield), Sarita Panday (Politics and International Relations, University of Sheffield),
- Duration: 9 months (2020)
- Total Award: £99,650
- Awarding Body: DFID/ESRC/MRC/Wellcome Health Systems Research Initiative
- Title of Research: ‘The impact of federalisation on Nepal's health system: a longitudinal analysis’.
- Principal Investigators: Simon Rushton and Julie Balen (ScHARR, University of Sheffield).
- Co-Investigators: Shiva Adhikari (INEHD, Nepal), Jiban Karki (ScHARR, University of Sheffield), Andrew Lee (ScHARR, University of Sheffield), Sujan Marahatta (Tribhuvan University, Nepal), Sarita Panday (Politics, University of Sheffield), Padam Simkhada (University of Huddersfield), Madhusudan Subedi (Tribhuvan University, Nepal), Edwin van Teijlingen (Bournemouth University).
- Duration: 36 months (2020-2023)
- Total Award: £984,175
- Awarding Body: UKRI GCRF NGO Secondary Data Analysis Scheme
- Title of Research: ‘Determinants of health in rural Nepal: Utilising PHASE Nepal data to investigate social inequalities in health and healthcare amongst under-5s’
- Principal Investigator: Simon Rushton
- Co-Investigators: Manish Baidya (PHASE Nepal), Tim Chater (ScHARR, University of Sheffield), Dan Green (ScHARR, University of Sheffield), Jiban Karki (ScHARR, University of Sheffield), Andrew Lee (ScHARR, University of Sheffield), Gerda Pohl (PHASE Nepal).
- Duration: 16 months (2019-2021)
- Total Award: £171,520
- Awarding Body: Newton RCUK-Colciencias Research Partnership
- Title of Research: Improbable Dialogues: Participatory Research as a Strategy for Reconciliation
- Principal Investigators: Simon Rushton and Jefferson Jaramillo (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia)
- Co-Investigators: Matthew Bishop (Politics, UoS), Jackie Harrison (Journalism, UoS), Jaime Hernandez-Garcia (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia), Juan Miguel Kanai (Geography, UoS), Melanie Lombard (Urban Studies, UoS); Stefanie Pukallus (Journalism, UoS), Jose Manuel Salamanca (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia), Fernando Sarmiento (CINEP, Colombia), Helen Turton (Politics, UoS), Juan Pablo Vera (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia), Maria Zapata (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia).
- Duration: 24 months (2018-2020)
- Total Award: £502,763 (£392,763 UK; £110,000 Colombia).
- Awarding Body: ESRC-DFID Development Frontiers Research Scheme.
- Title of Research: Resilience Policymaking in Nepal: giving voice to communities
- Principal Investigator: Simon Rushton
- Co-Investigators: Julie Balen (ScHARR, University of Sheffield), Bhimsen Devkota (Bikas Shrot Kendra, Nepal), Jonathan Joseph (Politics, University of Sheffield), Jiban Karki (Politics, University of Sheffield), Andrew Lee (ScHARR, University of Sheffield), Martina McGuinness (Management School, University of Sheffield), Sarita Panday (Politics, University of Sheffield)
- Duration: 12 months (2017-2018)
- Total Award: £297,906
- Awarding Body: Wellcome Trust
- Title of Research: Healthcare Anatomy of Conflict
- Principal Investigator: Louis Lilywhite (Chatham House)
- Collaborators: Karl Blanchet (LSHTM); Stuart Gordon (LSE); Simon Rushton.
- Duration: 12 months (2015-2016)
- Total Award: £50,000
- Teaching activities
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At Undergraduate level, Simon teaches the Level Three module POL3139 Pandemics and Panics: Health, Security and Global Politics. At Master’s level, he teaches POL6604 Global Health and Global Politics.
In 2017, Simon received a Teaching Excellence in Social Sciences award for Outstanding Practice in Learning and Teaching. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
“I view students taking my modules as emerging scholars with something to contribute to our knowledge and understanding, not as passive recipients of truths handed down from on high. The balance I try to strike in my teaching is between conveying knowledge and at the same time helping students to develop the conceptual and critical tools that allow them to challenge conventional wisdoms and re-think common assumptions.
I always enjoy working with students from different backgrounds and with varied life experiences who can engage critically with big political issues, look at things in different ways, and ask new questions. I invariably learn something new from each group of students that I teach.”
- PhD Supervision
I am always happy to hear from students considering a PhD in any area of global health politics, or in global governance, international institutions or security studies more broadly.
Current and completed PhD students:- Kieran Collins, 'COVID-19 as an existential threat: Securitization in the UK'.
- Asma Aldawood, ‘Provision of Assistive Technologies in Saudi Arabia’.
- Jean-Claude Kayumba, ‘UN Peacekeeping missions: the contested role of UN Media in post-conflict reconstruction contexts. A case study of Democratic Republic of Congo’.
- Minju Jung, '‘The Political Dynamics of Decision-Making in Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI): Decision-making in the GAVI board on COVAX’.
- Adam Ferhani, ‘Health Security as Practice: A Praxiographic Study of Routine Health Security at the UK Border’.
- Chishimba Mulambia, ‘Decentralisation and Health Service Governance in Zambia’.
- Charlotte Godziewski, ‘Health in All Policies at EU Level: A Critical Analysis’.
- Maëlle de Seze, ‘Health policymaking between West Africa and WHO: The construction of viral hepatitis as a global problem and the responses to Hepatitis B in Senegal and the Gambia’.
- Remi Adekoya, ‘Ethnic identity and ethnic mobilization in Nigerian politics - a critical analysis of the roles played by Nigeria’s founding fathers: Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Ahmadu Bello’.
- Jonathan Webb, ‘The EU and Democratisation: Creating Democratic Culture’.
- Herman Salton, ‘Dangerous Diplomacy: Anatomy of the UN Failure in Rwanda’.
- Sonja Kittelsen,‘The EU and the Securitization of pandemic influenza’.