Lecturer in Political Science

School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
University of California, Merced
5200 North Lake Rd.
Merced, CA 95343

Research Interests

• International Relations
• Globalization & Governance
• Democraticization & Culture
• World-Systems Analysis

Carlson studies International Relations, with a focus on globalization, development, and democracy. Carlson tends to focus on frontiers or edges of 'systems' or networks (knowledge systems, cultural groupings, or socio-economic networks), in order to understand how those systems work and interact. This translates into research on social norm and value formation (e.g., democratic values and cultural variance) as well as long-term systemic change and the governance of extra-territorial arenas (e.g., ocean politics, maritime piracy). He also is concerned with ontological challenges with IR Theory and is currently working on two book projects (Columbia University Press, Lexington Books) related to non-Western political thought, in part as a means of addressing these challenges.

Carlson's interdisciplinary work won the Terence K. Hopkins award of the Political Economy of the World System (PEWS) section of ASA, and is forthcoming as Myths, State Expansion, and the Birth of Globalization (Palgrave, 2012). He has contributed chapters to Theory and Application of the ‘Generation’ in International Relations and Politics (Palgrave, 2011) and Handbook of World-Systems Analysis: Theory and Research (Routledge, 2011). Additional work has appeared in International Studies Perspectives, Political Communication, The Journal of World Systems Research and Public Integrity. He has previously served as Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Rockford College and as a Lecturer in the International Relations Program at UC Davis.

Education

• Ph.D., Political Science, 2002, Arizona State University
• M.A., Political Science, 1993, Claremont Graduate University
• B.A., Political Science, 1991, Tulane University (International Relations)