Chris Grocott

Broadly, I am interested in political economy and the history of economic thought. My research brings together traditional archival approaches to history and combines them with theoretical insights derived from the social sciences.

Present projects include:

Friedrich Hayek and the History of British Economic Thought. This work draws out new perspectives on Hayek’s political economy by examining his interactions with British colonial government in the 1940s; the disconnect between Hayek’s liberal views and social democratic ideas inspired by Keynes and Beveridge is explored. By doing so, this work allows for a re-examination of Hayek’s work in later years. In particular, Hayek’s commitment to his own beliefs, used as a justification for government policy in the 1980s and beyond, is questioned.

Re-examining labour organisation in the British Empire. This work examines the export of British-style trade union activity to British colonies and its impact upon indigenous forms of labour organisation. Working with Jo Grady, at the University of Sheffield School of Management, and Gareth Stockey, at the University of Nottingham Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American studies, we have already published on anarchism in Gibraltar and the surrounding Spanish hinterland. And we have also examined the role of the Transport and General Workers’ Union displacing anarchist organisation in Gibraltar, speculating at the possibility of the existence of a form of ‘industrial relations imperialism’.

The imperialism and free trade, historical and contemporary perspectives. This work ties together my research on imperialism with conceptual approaches to neoliberalism. A co-edited volume addressing themes of imperialism, both historical and contemporary is forthcoming later this year and which brings together fourteen contributors drawn from the academy, the labour movement, and NGOs.

Drawing upon my expertise in political economy, I have contributed scripts to popular videos on the life and work of Friedrich Hayek and John Maynard Keynes. And My extensive expertise on the history, politics and economy of Gibraltar has been called upon by radio programmes, periodicals such as the New Statesman, and by government.