Adam B. Lerner

Expertise

International Relations; International Political Theory; International Ethics

Research Interests

My research sits at the intersection of International Relations and Political Theory. I am primarily interested in the legacy of historical injustices in international politics, as well as varied approaches to global reconciliation, repair, and redress.

Education

• Ph.D.: Politics and International Studies, (2020), University of Cambridge
• M.Phil.: Modern South Asian Studies, (2016), University of Cambridge
• B.A: English, (2009), Cornell University

Biosketch

I was born in Washington, DC, and have lived in five countries. I previously worked as a journalist in Delhi, India, and Washington, DC, before completing my MPhil and PhD at the University of Cambridge in the UK. In my free time, I enjoy running, basketball, guitar, and stand-up comedy.

Selected Awards and Honors

• Heinz I. Eulau Award from APSA for Best Article in Perspectives on Politics, 2024
• Edgar S. Furniss Award for best first book from the Mershon Center at Ohio State University, 2023 
• Peter Katzenstein Prize from Cornell University for best first book in IR, comparative politics, and IPE, 2023 
• APSA Ideas, Knowledge, and Politics best book award, 2023 
• Hedley Bull Prize, 2023 (honourable mention) 
• Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, 2023-present 
• ISA International Ethics Section Book Award, 2023 
• ISA Theory Section Book Award, 2023 (honorable mention) 
• ISA Online Media Caucus Award for Best Blog Post by a Junior Scholar, 2022 
• Fellowship with the Higher Education Academy of the United Kingdom (FHEA), 2021-present 
• College Excellence Teaching Commendation, Royal Holloway, University of London, 2021 
• American Political Science Association (APSA) Public Scholar, 2019-2020 
• Emanuel Miller Prize for Philosophy of Social Science, University of Cambridge, 2018 
• Northedge Prize, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 2018 
• Cambridge International Trust Scholarship (£93,591), 2016-2020 
• St. John’s College Scholarship, 2016-2020 
• Henry Luce Scholar, 2013-2014

Selected Publications

1. Lerner, Adam B. and Heinrichs, Pauline. “The Paradox of International Reparations” Review of International Political Economy (2024, accepted, forthcoming)
2. Lerner Adam B. “Cognitive Entanglement and Individual Responsibility for Structural Injustice” Polity (2024, online ahead of print): 1-28.
3. Lerner, Adam B. “Global Injustice and the Production of Ontological Insecurity.” European Journal of International Relations, online first. 
4. Lerner, Adam B. From the Ashes of History: Collective Trauma and the Making of International Politics (Oxford University Press, March 2022) ISBN 13: 9780197623596
5. Lerner, Adam B. and O’Loughlin, Ben. “Strategic Ontologies and Meso-Level Theoretical Innovation in International Politics” International Studies Quarterly, 67, no. 3: 1-13.
6. Lerner, Adam B. “Harnessing Intuition and Disciplining Abstraction: Thought Experiments in International Relations” International Studies Quarterly, 67, no. 1: 1-10. 
7. Lerner, Adam B. “Pathological Nationalism? The Legacy of Crowd Psychology in International Theory.” International Affairs, 38, no. 3 (2022): 995-1012.
8. Lerner, Adam B. “Blurring the Boundaries of War: PTSD in American Foreign Policy Discourse.” Perspectives on Politics, December 22, 2020: 1–18.
9. Lerner, Adam B. “Theorizing Unpredictability in International Politics: A New Approach to Trump and the Trump Doctrine.” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 34, no. 3 (May 4, 2021): 360–82.
10. Lerner, Adam B. “What’s It like to Be a State? An Argument for State Consciousness.” International Theory 13, no. 2 (July 2021): 260–86.
11. Lerner, Adam B. “The Uses and Abuses of Victimhood Nationalism in International Politics.” European Journal of International Relations 26, no. 1 (March 2020): 62–87.
12. Lerner, Adam B. “Theorizing Collective Trauma in International Political Economy.” International Studies Review 21, no. 4 (December 1, 2019): 549–71.
13. Lerner, Adam B. “Collective Trauma and the Evolution of Nehru’s Worldview: Uncovering the Roots of Nehruvian Non-Alignment.” International History Review 41, no. 6 (November 2, 2019): 1276–1300.
14. Lerner, Adam B. “Political Neo-Malthusianism and the Progression of India’s Green Revolution.” Journal of Contemporary Asia 48, no. 3 (May 27, 2018): 485–507.
15. Lerner, Adam B. “Manufactured Silence: Political Economy and Management Of The Bhopal Disaster.” Economic and Political Weekly 52, no. 30 (July 29, 2017): 57-65.