Prf Susan Newman

Biography

I completed an MSc in Physics at the University of Bristol (2001) before pursuing studies in Economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies where I completed a Diploma in Economics (2004), MSc in Development Economics (2005), and PhD in Economics (2009).

After completing my PhD, I worked at the Corporate Development and Industrial Development (CSID) research program based at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg where I researched industrial policy to support policy development of the Department of Trade and Industry. I was also part of the team that developed a Capacity Building Programme in Economic Development and Industrial Policy in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry.

Before joining the Open University as Professor and Head of Economics (2020-2024), I was Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in International Economics at the Institute of Social Studies, University of Rotterdam (2010-2014) and Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Economics at the University of the West of England (2015-2020).

Research interests

Much of my research has been on the political economy of commodity provisioning systems. I have studied the structure and functioning of global supply chains, processes of commodification, corporate restructuring and financialisation, pricing, unequal exchange, and income distribution in coffee, cotton, and dairy systems, and infant feeding and human milk provisioning.

I also have research interests in social reproduction and feminist political economies of work, the political economy of industrialisation and industrial policy with a geographical focus on Southern and East Africa, and the political economy of international development policy.

In my research, I employ both qualitative and quantitative methods. Recently, I have been exploring arts-based methods in the articulation and theorising of value in contemporary capitalist societies and as the basis for participatory action-oriented research in my role as PI on the collaborative interdisciplinary Open Societal Challenges funded project “This is essential work: towards a holistic valuation of breastfeeding in society.”

I am co-I on the interdisciplinary, Danish Ministry of Education and Research, Global Innovation Network Programme, funded project, “Wealth and Value in the Lithium-ion Battery Chain” (2024-2025)

I am a member of the Review of Radical Political Economics editorial board.

Research Supervision

I would be interested in supervising students who wish to work on any topic relating to my research interests.

I have supervised/am currently supervising or co-supervising research students working on the political economy of international financial institutions, the historical political economy of economic development in Southern Africa, technology and structural change, and the political economy of regionalism in Southern Africa.

Teaching

I have designed and taught courses on Global Political Economy, Contemporary Issues in Economics, Development Theory and Practice, Applied Econometrics, and Research Methods at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. I have led and contributed to the development of several MSc programs.

I am committed to economics education and capacity building outside of academic spaces and have engaged in economics education with trade unionists, social and environmental activists, and campaigners. I worked on the design, development, and delivery of courses aimed at building capacity for staff in government (National, Provincial, District, and Local level NGOs and organised Labour responsible for the analysis, development, implementation, and monitoring of economic and development policy in South Africa.

I was appointed co-deputy chair of the QAA Benchmarking Statement Review for Economics in 2021-22.

Advocacy and Media work

Beyond academia, I have been involved in a range of advocacy and media work with the aim of intervening in the public understanding of economics and policy debates. This has included collaborations in open letters that have critiqued the economics reporting of the BBC, particularly in relation to the problematic comparison of government with household debt and responses to government policy in the UK.

I was one of the academic advisors for the two-part BBC documentary, “The Decade the Rich Won” (2022) and a panelist on Radio 4’s Start the Week program on Wealth, Inequality, and The Global Elite (2022)

In 2022, I co-curated the online feminist art exhibition “This is Essential Work”.