Joel Shelton

Joel T. Shelton is Associate Professor of Political Science & Public Policy and Coordinator of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) minor at Elon University. He teaches courses in international political economy, international relations, and comparative politics, as well as interdisciplinary courses in PPE, the International and Global Studies (IGS) program, and the core curriculum.

His research focuses on the history of Political Economy (PE), the relationship between economic ideas and governmental practices, and the social, cultural, and political dimensions of economic dynamics and processes.

His most recent book, co-authored with Scott G. Nelson, is titled Statecraft and the Political Economy of Capitalism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023).

He is also the author of Conditionality and the Ambitions of Governance: Social Transformation in Southeastern Europe (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015) and the co-author of Research and Writing in International Relations, 3rd ed. (Routledge, 2019).

A 4th edition of Research and Writing in International Relations is scheduled to be published in January 2025.

Other publications include:

"Teaching writing about political science research" in Teaching Undergraduate Political Methodology, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2022, with co-author Kaye Usry.

"The Delicate Order of Liberalism: Resentment Politics and the Public Trust" in Polity 53(4), 589-615 (October 2021), with co-author Scott G. Nelson. 

"The Public Purpose of Political Economy" in New Political Science 41(3), 400-422 (September 2019), with co-author Scott G. Nelson.

"Diagnosing Europe: Greece, Macedonia, and the Meaning of Crisis" in New Perspectives: Interdisciplinary Journal of Central & East European Politics and International Relations 25(2), 17-48 (September 2017).

 "Appropriating Adam Smith: Affirmation and Contestation in Discourses of Political Economy" in The Ashgate Research Companion to Modern Theory, Modern Power, World Politics: Critical Investigations, Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2016.

Prior to joining the faculty at Elon, Shelton was Visiting Assistant Professor of International Affairs (2015-2016) and Visiting Assistant Professor of Government & Law (2012-2015) at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. He is a two-time recipient of the Lafayette Student Government Superior Teaching Award (2015, 2016).

Shelton completed his Ph.D. in the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) at Virginia Tech in 2012 and holds an M.A. in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).