I am a Professor in the Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy at University College London. I also serve as Editor of the European Journal of Politics & Gender. I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Government at Cornell University in 2013, after obtaining a B.A. from the University of Washington and M.A. degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Cornell University. I also spent a year as Max Weber Fellow in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute, four years as Assistant and Associate Professor in the Department of Politics at Drexel University, and four years as Associate Professor in the Department of Diplomacy & World Affairs at Occidental College.
My research bridges insights from international relations and comparative politics, engaging with literature on transnational politics, sexuality and gender, norm diffusion, and the study of social movements. I am particularly interested in how the transnational mobilization of marginalized peoples and international channels of visibility influence socio-legal change across states. My book, titled When States Come Out: Europe’s Sexual Minorities and the Politics of Visibility, was published by Cambridge University Press in April 2016. It uses a mixed-method approach, combining large-n quantitative analysis with in-depth qualitative analysis of key cases, in order to explore the domestic conditions under which international norms governing LGBT rights are most likely to spread.
My publications have appeared or are forthcoming in the American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, Social Forces, Political Research Quarterly, the European Journal of Political Research, the European Journal of International Relations, Mobilization, Review of International Studies, the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Politics & Gender, the European Political Science Review, Social Movement Studies, German Politics, Social Politics, the Journal of Human Rights, the European Journal of Politics & Gender, Politics Groups & Identities, PS: Political Science & Politics, Journal of Democracy, Critique Internationale, and Perspectives on Europe. I have also received various grants and fellowships, including a Fulbright Schuman Fellowship for the European Union, an Alexander von Humboldt Chancellor Fellowship, a Cornell Sage Fellowship, a Mellon Writing Fellowship, three FLAS Fellowships, a European Research Council Grant, and a Max Weber Postdoctoral Fellowship.
In 2014, I was the recipient of the American Political Science Association’s Human Rights Section award for best dissertation, and the American Political Science Association’s Sexuality and Politics Section award for best dissertation. The following year, I received the European Union Studies Association's biennial 2013-2014 award for best dissertation. I also received the 2014 Janice N. and Milton J. Esman Graduate Prize for distinguished scholarship, and the 2011 George McT. Kahin Prize for the research in the areas of international relations and foreign policy studies judged to hold the greatest promise as a contribution to the discipline (both from Cornell University). In 2017, Drexel University awarded me a Career Development Award for my latest work on social learning. Also in 2017, the Council for European Studies' Gender and Sexuality Research Network recognized my work with Jeremiah Garretson (published in Comparative Political Studies) with their best article of the year prize. In 2018, I received Drexel University's Provost Award for Outstanding Early-Career Scholarly Achievement, to recognize a faculty member who has demonstrated unusual excellence and is an emerging leader in their scholarly field. In 2023, I was deeply moved to receive the Henrik Enderlein Prize's Distinction of Honorable Mention, for researchers under the age of 40 whose work both exhibits scholarly excellence and shapes public debate on the future of Europe.
I teach courses related to international relations, comparative politics, social movements, sexuality and politics, European politics, and research methods. For my work with students, Drexel University awarded me the Fellowships Faculty Mentor Award (Pennoni Honors College) in 2017.
My research bridges insights from international relations and comparative politics, engaging with literature on transnational politics, sexuality and gender, norm diffusion, and the study of social movements. I am particularly interested in how the transnational mobilization of marginalized peoples and international channels of visibility influence socio-legal change across states. My book, titled When States Come Out: Europe’s Sexual Minorities and the Politics of Visibility, was published by Cambridge University Press in April 2016. It uses a mixed-method approach, combining large-n quantitative analysis with in-depth qualitative analysis of key cases, in order to explore the domestic conditions under which international norms governing LGBT rights are most likely to spread.
My publications have appeared or are forthcoming in the American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, Social Forces, Political Research Quarterly, the European Journal of Political Research, the European Journal of International Relations, Mobilization, Review of International Studies, the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Politics & Gender, the European Political Science Review, Social Movement Studies, German Politics, Social Politics, the Journal of Human Rights, the European Journal of Politics & Gender, Politics Groups & Identities, PS: Political Science & Politics, Journal of Democracy, Critique Internationale, and Perspectives on Europe. I have also received various grants and fellowships, including a Fulbright Schuman Fellowship for the European Union, an Alexander von Humboldt Chancellor Fellowship, a Cornell Sage Fellowship, a Mellon Writing Fellowship, three FLAS Fellowships, a European Research Council Grant, and a Max Weber Postdoctoral Fellowship.
In 2014, I was the recipient of the American Political Science Association’s Human Rights Section award for best dissertation, and the American Political Science Association’s Sexuality and Politics Section award for best dissertation. The following year, I received the European Union Studies Association's biennial 2013-2014 award for best dissertation. I also received the 2014 Janice N. and Milton J. Esman Graduate Prize for distinguished scholarship, and the 2011 George McT. Kahin Prize for the research in the areas of international relations and foreign policy studies judged to hold the greatest promise as a contribution to the discipline (both from Cornell University). In 2017, Drexel University awarded me a Career Development Award for my latest work on social learning. Also in 2017, the Council for European Studies' Gender and Sexuality Research Network recognized my work with Jeremiah Garretson (published in Comparative Political Studies) with their best article of the year prize. In 2018, I received Drexel University's Provost Award for Outstanding Early-Career Scholarly Achievement, to recognize a faculty member who has demonstrated unusual excellence and is an emerging leader in their scholarly field. In 2023, I was deeply moved to receive the Henrik Enderlein Prize's Distinction of Honorable Mention, for researchers under the age of 40 whose work both exhibits scholarly excellence and shapes public debate on the future of Europe.
I teach courses related to international relations, comparative politics, social movements, sexuality and politics, European politics, and research methods. For my work with students, Drexel University awarded me the Fellowships Faculty Mentor Award (Pennoni Honors College) in 2017.
© 2023. Phillip Ayoub. All rights reserved. Keywords: transnational politics, norm diffusion, social movements, LGBT rights.
