Professor Andrew Walter1
1University of Melbourne, University of Melbourne, Australia
Biography:
Andrew is a Professor of International Relations in the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne. He specialise in the political economy of international money and finance, including their governance among and within countries. Here is a video launching his most recent book, The Wealth Effect (Cambridge, 2019), co-authored with Jeffrey Chwieroth at the LSE: http://www.systemicrisk.ac.uk/events/wealth-effect-how-great-expectations-middle-class-have-changed-politics-banking-crises.
Prior to joining UoM in 2012, Andrew was Reader in International Political Economy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he was also Academic Director of the TRIUM Global Executive MBA Programme, an alliance between the LSE, NYU Stern School of Business, and the HEC School of Management (Paris), and Research Associate in the Department of Management at the LSE. Externally, he was a member of the Council of Chatham House, a leading British think-tank of international affairs. He also sat on the editorial board of the Review of International Studies, the house journal of the British International Studies Association, from 2011-2015. Over 1990-1997 Andrew was a Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford, and University Lecturer in International Relations at Oxford University. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Melbourne, The Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (Singapore), University of British Columbia, International University of Japan, and the Pacific Council on International Policy (University of Southern California, Los Angeles).
Abstract:
This panel explores the interplay between digital authoritarianism, political economy, and democratic decline, focusing on how emerging technologies and institutional practices are shaping contemporary authoritarian dynamics. Through diverse case studies spanning Iran, Southeast Asia, and international financial institutions, the panel examines how digital and economic dimensions of governance intersect to influence authoritarian resilience and democratic erosion. The first paper investigates the political economy of digital authoritarianism in Iran, highlighting the continuities between traditional authoritarian economic structures and the implementation of digital surveillance and control. The second paper explores potential anti-authoritarian biases in the surveillance practices of international financial institutions, analysing how regime type and democratic backsliding are addressed in economic oversight. The third paper focuses on Southeast Asia, examining how digital news organizations navigate state repression and self-censorship, while continuing to report on politically sensitive issues under the constant threat of surveillance. Finally, the fourth paper analyses the political economy of professional election campaigns in Southeast Asia, revealing how opaque networks of PR firms and new digital tools are reshaping electoral politics to bolster neo-authoritarian leaders. Together, these papers provide a comprehensive look at how digital technologies and economic structures interact to entrench authoritarianism and undermine democratic norms, offering critical insights into the challenges of promoting accountability and transparency in increasingly repressive political environments.