Grahame Thompson is a Professor of Political Economy in the Department of Politics & International Studies (POLIS) at the Open University, serving also as a visiting professor at Copenhagen Business School.
Thompson was educated at the University of Birmingham where he obtained his MA in economics and also has a PhD from the University of Leicester.
Thompson trained as an economist and was originally employed by the Economics Department of the Open University. In 2000 he transferred to the Government and Politics department (which later be came POLIS). He has served as Head of Department from 2001 to 2003 and for 2007.
His most notable work has been on ‘globalization’. In his book, Globalization in Question, written first with Paul Hirst (and in the 2009 new edition with Simon Bromley) he takes a basically sceptical position on globalization as been something which is substantially new.
‘The fate of territorial engineering: mechanisms of territorial power and post-liberal forms of international governance’ International Politics, vol.44, 2007.
‘Exploring sameness and difference: fundamentalisms and the future of globalization’ Globalizations, vol.3, no.4, 2006,
‘Religious fundamentalisms, territories and “globalization”, Economy and Society, vol.36, no.1, 2007).