I am a political geographer whose work blends the study of geopolitics, policy, and transnationalism to investigate knowledge and power in national and transnational policy-making processes. Put simply, I examine how policy-making institutions, such as government agencies, international organizations, or civil society groups, know what they know, how they have come to know what they know, and how they persuade themselves and others that this is so. Empirically, my research examines transnational regulatory and diplomatic practices in contemporary Europe, but this empirical focus undergirds a broader interest in knowledge and power, structure and agency, in bureaucratic and policy-making settings. I have also worked on, and remain interested in, political identity, subject-formation, and center-periphery relations, especially in contemporary Europe. Further information is available on my personal website.
2019
KUUS, M. 2019 ‘The terroir of bureaucratic practice: Everyday life and scholarly method in the study of policy’ Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space 37(4), 617-633 https://doi.org/10.1177/0263774×18802954
2018
KUUS, M. 2018 ‘Transnational institutional fields: Positionality and generalization in the study of diplomacy’ Political Geography 67, 156-165 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2017.02.008
KUUS, M. 2018 ‘Political economies of transnational fields: harmonization and differentiation in European diplomacy’ Territory, Politics, Governance 6(2), 222-239 https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2016.1266960
2016
KUUS, M. 2016 ‘To Understand the Place: Geographical Knowledge and Diplomatic Practice’ The Professional Geographer 68(4), 546-553
KUUS, M. 2016 ‘Diplomacy and Audit: Technologies of Knowledge in Europe’ Geoforum 68(1), 39-47
2015
KUUS, M. 2015 ‘Symbolic Power in Diplomatic Practice: Matters of Style in Brussels’ in Diplomacy and Practice Theory ed V. Pouliot and J. Cornut (special issue: Cooperation and Conflict) 50(3), 368-384.
KUUS, M. 2015 ‘For Slow Research’ (short commentary) in Debates and Developments forum: Urban Policy Mobilities: Moving Forward ed C. Temenos and T. Baker International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 39(4), 838-840
KUUS, M. 2015 ‘Transnational Bureaucracies: How Do We Know What They Know?’ Progress in Human Geography 39(4), 432-448
GEOG220 Geopolitics Sections
Political geographic perspectives on todays interdependent world through three themes: borders, regions, and flows.
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GEOG391 Modern Europe: Places and Borders Sections
An introductory survey, focusing on the present-day human geography of the area between the Atlantic and the Ural Mountains.
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GEOG453 Political Geographic Analysis Sections
Political organization of space; territorial and spatial patterns of power and identity; contemporary geopolitical struggles.
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