Academy Fellow

Kanishka Jayasuriya is Professor of Politics and International Studies at Murdoch University. Prior to his current appointment in 2016, he was Professor of Politics and International Studies, and the founding Director of Indo-Pacific Governance Research Centre (IPGRC) at the University of Adelaide. Between 2004 and 2009 he was Principal Senior Research Fellow, Asia Research Centre, at Murdoch University. He has held several teaching and research appointments at universities in Australia and Asia. These universities are Griffith University, Australian National University (ANU), the University of Sydney, Murdoch University, National University of Singapore (NUS), and City University of Hong Kong. 

An enduring theme in his work relates to the analysis of the state and its transformation after the 1970s, particularly in governance, political regime, and social policy in both developed and developing countries with special reference to the emergence of the regulatory state. His research is in four broad areas. First, he has worked extensively on issues of regulation, rule of law, and regional governance with reference to Asia. This work included leadership roles in research projects on the politics and political economy of law reform. His work on ‘rule of law’ and the notions of statist legalism has been influential in studies of law and politics in Asia. Second, his work has focused on issues of regulation, law, and trade policy. He has analysed the link between regional governance, trade policy, and domestic politics and interests, especially through the concept of embedded mercantilism and regulatory regionalism. This work has had a wide influence in shaping research directions and agendas on regionalism, transnational law, and economic policy institutions in the Asia Pacific. Third, his more recent research agenda is focused on the relationship between international forces, regulation, market-based social policy, and the rise of the higher education regulatory state via the concept of market citizenship. His current research builds on this framework to explore the politics of higher education and its ongoing crisis as a result of COVID-19. Finally, a persistent focus in his work over the last few decades has been on the relationship between democratic politics, political regime transformation, and patterns of capitalist transformation. His most recent work explores the nature of democratic crisis and the rise of rightwing politics and authoritarian populism with special reference to its impact on the politics and governance of higher education. 

Professor of Politics and International Studies, Murdoch University (2016-Present) 

Professor of Politics, University of Adelaide and Director of the Indo-Pacific Governance research centre (2010-2016) 

Principal Senior Research Fellow, Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University (2004-2009) 

1. Jayasuriya, K. ( 2020). Covid-19, Markets and the Crisis of the Higher Education Regulatory state: The Case of Australia. Globalizations (online ahead of print) DOI:10.1080/14747731.2020.1815461

2 Jayasuriya K (2018) Authoritarian statism and the New Right in Asia’s conservative Democracies. Journal of Contemporary Asia 48(4): 584-605

3. Chacko P and Jayasuriya 2018 A Capitalising Foreign Policy. Regulatory Geographies and Trans nationalised State Projects. European Journal of International Relations 24 (1) 82-105

4.Chacko, P and Jayasuriya (2018) with P. Chacko) Asia’s Conservative Moment: Understanding the Rise of the Right’. Journal of Contemporary Asia 48(4): 529-541

5. Jayasuriya K (2015) Constituting Market Citizenship: Regulatory State, Market Making and Higher Education. Higher Education Journal 70 (6): 973-985.