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Leonard Seabrooke

Full-time Professor

Florence School of Transnational Governance

Office

Buontalenti - Casino Mediceo, BTC536

Administrative contact

Irina-Elena Rusu

Working languages

English, Danish

Leonard Seabrooke

Full-time Professor

Florence School of Transnational Governance

Biography

Leonard Seabrooke is the Chair of Political Economy and Economic Sociology in the Florence School of Transnational Governance at the European University Institute. Before joining the EUI he was the former Academic Director of the Bachelor and Masters in International Business and Politics degrees, the Chair of the Ethics Council, and lead for the Organizations, Markets, and Governance research group at the Copenhagen Business School. He has also previously held positions at the Australian National University, the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, and the University of Warwick.

Len’s research works across International Relations, Sociology, Political Economy, Public Administration, and Organization Studies. He has published across the areas, often focusing on the micro-foundations of macro-level outcomes through a range of qualitative and computational methodologies. Len is a former co-editor of Review of International Political Economy and International Studies Quarterly. His most recent books include the research monograph Making Global Norms: Politics versus Science in International Organizations (with Alexandros Kentikelenis, Oxford University Press, 2025) and the collection Global Wealth Chains: Asset Strategies in the World Economy (edited with Duncan Wigan, Oxford University Press, 2022).

Fields of expertise

Additional information

Books

Kentikelenis, A. and L. Seabrooke. 2025. Making Global Norms: Politics versus Science in International Organizations, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Winner of the 2025 ILASS Prize for Best Book on International Law and Social Science, American Society of International Law. Reviews in Global Policy, Perspectives on Politics, RIO.

Pevehouse, J. and L. Seabrooke, editors. 2025. The Oxford Handbook of International Political Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Seabrooke, L. and D. Wigan, editors. 2022. Global Wealth Chains: Asset Strategies in the World Economy, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Open Access.

Articles

Kentikelenis, A. and L. Seabrooke. 2027. ‘Dual Loyalties in International Organizations: How Politics and Expertise Shape the World Polity’, American Sociological Review, forthcoming.

Mangset, M. and L. Seabrooke. 2027. ‘Money Professionals: How Professionals in Economics, Finance, Tax, and Law Gain and Practice Expertise and Authority’, Journal of Professions and Organization, 13, forthcoming.

Robé, J.P., L. Seabrooke, and D. Wigan. 2026. ‘What's a Firm, What's a Corporation, and Why Does It Matter?’, Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 22: 313–30.

Seabrooke, L. and S. Stausholm. 2026. ‘How TaxTech rewires Global Wealth Chains’, Finance and Society, 12(2): 241-255.

Dugué, S., N. Haagensen, and L. Seabrooke. 2026. ‘Tracing Universals across Global Governance’, International Political Sociology, 20(2): olag019.

Castro, D.P. and L. Seabrooke. 2026. ‘Ownership Infinity Pools: Control Strategies in Multinational Corporate Enterprises’, Review of International Political Economy, 33(2): 993-1016.

Friedrich, J., T. Kunkel, L. Seabrooke, and K. L. Young. 2026. ‘Building a Trust Machine: The Importance of Fidelity Mechanisms in Organizations’, Organization Studies, 47(3): 419-447.

Frandsen, S.L., J.A. Hasselbalch, L. Seabrooke, and K.L. Young. 2026. ‘How Niche Construction Links Organizational Fields to Populations’, Journal of Organizational Sociology, 4(1): 51-80.

Seabrooke, L. 2026. 'Hvor kommer AI markeder fra?' [‘Where do AI markets come from?], Samfundsøkonomen, 1: 29-37.

Dugué, S. and L. Seabrooke. 2026. ‘Projecting Ambiguity in Transnational Environmental Accounting: Who and What Counts in Accounting Standards’, New Political Economy, 31(5): 840-863.

Linsi, L., S. Tanaka, F. Giumelli, and L. Seabrooke. 2026. ‘Governing through Guesstimates: Mock Precision in International Organizations’, Review of International Political Economy, 33(1): 284-317.

Dyrendahl Staven, H. and L. Seabrooke. 2026. ‘Gendered patterns in elite legal careers: men ascend through stability, women through mobility’, Journal of Professions and Organization, 13(1): 1-18.

Stausholm, S., R. Murphy and L. Seabrooke. 2025. ‘Big Four Offshore: Transparency Arbitrage across Legal and Geographical Boundaries’, Contemporary Accounting Research, 42(4): 2523-2594.

Ban, C. and L. Seabrooke. 2025. ‘Elite Fidelity in Europe’s Crisis Management Regime’, European Politics and Society, 26(1): 388-412.

Seabrooke, L. and D. Wigan. 2024. ‘Getting Action for Global Economic Justice: The Micro-Foundations of Transnational Activism’, Socio-Economic Review 22(3): 1313–1334.

Wigan, D., L. Seabrooke, S. Ponte, and J. Bair. 2024. ‘Global Value and Wealth Chains in Contemporary Capitalism: Editorial Introduction’, Environment and Planning A, 56(8): 2169-2173.

Seabrooke, L. and S. N. Stausholm. 2024. ‘The Firm-Territory Nexus in a Fragmented Economy: Scales of Global Value and Wealth Chain Entanglement’, Environment and Planning A, 56(8): 2213-2231.

Seabrooke, L. and A. Stenström. 2023. ‘Professional Ecologies in European Sustainable Finance’, Governance, 36(4): 1271-1292.

Kentikelenis, A., L. Seabrooke and O.J. Sending. 2023. 'Global Health Expertise in the Shadow of Hegemony', Studies in Comparative and International Development, 58(3): 347–368.

Bair, J., S. Ponte, L. Seabrooke and D. Wigan. 2023. 'Entangled Chains of Value and Wealth', Review of International Political Economy, 30(6): 2423-2439.

Hall, S., A. Leaver, L. Seabrooke, and D. Tischer. 2023. ‘The Changing Spatial Arrangements of Global Finance: Financial, Social and Legal Infrastructures’, Environment and Planning A 55(4): 923-930.

Grasten, M., L. Seabrooke, and D. Wigan. 2023. ‘Legal Affordances in Global Wealth Chains: How Platform Firms use Legal and Spatial Scaling’, Environment and Planning A, 55(4):1062-1079.

Christensen, R.C. and L. Seabrooke. 2022. ‘The Big 4 under Pressure: Scanning Work in Transnational Fields’, Contemporary Accounting Research, 39(4): 2941-2969.

Henriksen, L.F., L. Seabrooke, and K.L. Young. 2022. ‘Intellectual Rivalry in American Economics: Intergenerational Social Cohesion and the Rise of the Chicago School’, Socio-Economic Review, 20(3): 989–1013.

Seabrooke, L. and O. J. Sending. 2022. ‘Consultancies in Public Administration’, Public Administration, 100(3): 457-471.

Christensen, R.C. L. Seabrooke, and D. Wigan. 2022. 'Professional Action in Global Wealth Chains', Regulation & Governance, 16(3): 705–721.

Kentikelenis, A. and L. Seabrooke. 2022. ‘Governing and Measuring Health Security: The Global Push for Pandemic Preparedness Indicators’, Global Policy, 13(4): 571-578. 

Current 

Norwegian Research Council, 2026-2029 - ‘The Third Hand: Consultants in Global Policymaking How firms navigate de-risking regimes (#363357-3RDHAND), €1.01 million. Chief Scientist from the EUI.

Norwegian Research Council, 2025-2029 - ‘Trade-Offs in Blended Finance for Development’ (#352599-BLEND-OFF), €1.02 million. Co-author on application.

Norwegian Research Council, 2025-2028 - ‘DERISK: How firms navigate de-risking regimes (#352576-DE-RISK), €1.01 million.

European Commission Research and Innovation Action, Horizon 2020 Framework Program, 2023-2027 – ‘NAVIGATOR: The EU Navigating Multilateral Cooperation (#101094394)’, €2,992,512 million. Co-author on application.

Velux Foundation and Villum Foundation, 2021-2030 – ‘Algorithms, Data, and Democracy’ (#37102/#39017), €13,442,770. Co-author on application. CBS lead on Financial Transparency work stream held is Eleni Tsingou.

Completed

Independent Research Fund Denmark, Thematic Research on the Green Transition, 2021-2025 - ‘TIME MIRROR: Accounting for the Green Transition’ (#0217-00380B), €1,569,072. Lead author on application.

Norwegian Research Council, 2021-2025 – ‘TAXLAW: The authority of expertise in professional tax law practice’ (#3148259), €1,160,000. Co-author and CBS partner.

Independent Research Fund Denmark, Thematic Research on People and Society, 2020-2024 – ‘NEST: Nested Ethnographies of Skills Transfer’ (#8091-00076A), €425,771. Co-author on application.

Velux Foundation, 2019-2022 –‘Ekspertnicher: Hvordan lokale netværk påvirker markeder - Expert Niches: How Local Networks Leverage Markets - (#00021820-NICHE)’, €764,513. Co-investigators: Leonard Seabrooke and Eleni Tsingou.

Norwegian Research Council, 2018-2023 - ‘The Market for Anarchy: Systems of Risk Control in Transnational Governance’ (#274740-ANARCHY), €1.01 million. Co-author on application.

European Research Council Advanced Researcher Grant, 2016-2021 – ‘Corporate Arbitrage and CPL Maps: Hidden Structures of Control in the Global Economy (#694943-CORPLINK)’, €1.73 million. Co-author on application with Chief Investigator Ronen Palan.

European Commission Research and Innovation Action, Horizon 2020 Framework Program, 2016-2019 - ‘Combating Fiscal Fraud and Empowering Regulators (#727145-COFFERS)’, €4,987 million. Grant co-authored with Duncan Wigan.

European Commission Research and Innovation Action, Horizon 2020 Framework Program, 2015-2018 - ‘European Legitimacy in Governing through Hard Times (#649456-ENLIGHTEN)’, €2.48 million. Author and Chief Scientist.

Norwegian Research Council, NORGLOBAL Taxation, Capital and Development Programme, 2016-2018 – NOK 3 million (€315,000), for ‘SkattJakt Network’. Vice Director.

Transparency International-EU, 2016-2018 - ‘Networks in European Economic Governance’, €30,000. Chief Scientist.

Institute for New Economic Thinking, 2015-2016 - ‘Embedding GroupThink: Assessing the Spread of Neoliberal Ideas and Influence’ (#INO1500030), €89,000. Chief Scientist.

International Financial Reform: Ideational Emergence at Jackson Hole’, $30,000. Chief Scientist: Eleni Tsingou.

Norwegian Research Council, NORGLOBAL Taxation, Capital and Development Programme, 2012-2016 – NOK 7 million (€820,000), for ‘STEAL – Systems of Tax Evasion and Laundering’ (#212210/H30-STEAL), Chief Scientist.

European Research Council Starting Independent Researcher Grant, 2011-2014 – €1.2 million, for ‘PIPES – Professions in International Political Economies’ (#263741-PIPES), Chief Scientist.

European Commission Research Director General Framework Program 7, 2011-2014 - €10.4 million, for ‘GREEN – Global Reordering: Evolution through European Networks’ (#266809-GR:EEN). Co-author of grant application.

Copenhagen Business School, 2009-2013 – DKK 5,000,000 (€670,000). Awarded for ‘SONIC: Sources of National Institutional Competitiveness’ team project under CBS World Class Research Environment funding scheme (five-year term), co-author and co-investigator.

Faroese Research Council, 2008-2011 – DKK 780,000 (€105,000). Awarded for ‘Why No Tax Haven in the Faroes? A Comparative Investigation of Tax Systems in Micro States’. Co-author on application.

Danish Independent Research Council’s Young Elite Researcher Prize, 2007 - DKK 240,000 research award for demonstration of research excellence and innovation.

Independent Research Fund Denmark – Research Council for Society and Business Grant (Det Frie Forskningsråd - Samfund og Erhverv (FSE)), 2006-2009 – DKK 1,004,000 (€135,000). Awarded for project ‘Legitimacy Gaps in Global Economic Governance: The International Monetary Fund and Tax Reform’. Chief Scientist.

EUI Masters in Transnational Governance courses

Policies and Processes of Transnational Governance

Markets in Transnational Governance

Policy Advisory and Consulting

Previous core courses @ CBS

Applied International Political Economy

Comparative Political Economy

Introduction to Economic Sociology

Thesis Research Design

Stenström, Annika. 2021-2026. ‘Expert battles in financing the green transition’ (CBS), now Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School.

Dugué, Salomé. 2021-2025. ‘The Politics of Suspension: Transnational Governance Without Resolution in Environmental Accounting’ (CBS), now Specialist at Value Balancing Alliance.

Gamerdinger, Alexander. 2022-2025. ‘Professionals, Morals and Markets: The Uneven Algorithmization of Behavioral Life Insurance’ (CBS), now Postdoctoral fellow at Aalborg University.

Bellezza, Isabella. 2020-2025. ‘Exporting Homeland Security: Network Politics and the Globalization of Border Control’ (Brown University, with Peter Andreas and Mark Blyth), now Assistant Professor position in Political Science at Northwestern University.

Gjesvik, Lars. 2020-2023. ‘Digital Markets and Power in International Politics: Theorizing Processes of Mobilization and How Digital Markets Structure the Exercise of Power’ (University of Oslo, chair was Ole Jacob Sending). Now Senior Fellow at Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.

Laage-Thomsen, Jakob. 2019-2022. ‘Nudging Leviathan, Protecting Demos: A Comparative Sociology of Public Administration and Expertise in the Nordics’ (CBS), now Post-Doctoral Fellow at National Center for AI in society, University of Copenhagen and Department of Management, Danish Technical University.

Stausholm, Saila N. 2017-2022. ‘Maximum Capital, Minimum Tax: Enablers and Facilitators of Corporate Tax Minimization’ (CBS, chair was Duncan Wigan), now Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School

Willers, Ole Johann. 2018-2021. ‘Expert and Markets in Cybersecurity’ (CBS), now Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School.

Haagensen, Nicholas. 2016-2020. ‘European Legal Networks in Crisis’ (CBS/UIB), now Assistant Professor in Sociology of Law at iCourts, University of Copenhagen.

Christensen, Rasmus Corlin. 2016-2019. ‘Politics and Professionals: Transnational Struggles to Change International Taxation’ (CBS), now Associate Professor, Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School.

Kortendiek, Nele. 2012-2019. ‘Making Global Migration Governance - International Practitioners in IOs and NGOs’ (Technische Universität Darmstadt, chair was Jens Steffek), now Lecturer in International Relations at the Institute of Political Science, Leiden University.

Hasselbalch, Jacob. 2013-2017. ‘The Contentions Politics of Disruptive Innovation: Vaping and Fracking in the European Union’ (Warwick/ULB, chair was André Broome), now Associate Professor, Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School.

Folke, Lasse Folke. 2010-2014. ‘Knowing Networks: Refiguring Expertise in Transnational Governance‘ (CBS), now Professor of Sociology at University of Copenhagen.

Karlsrud, John. 2010-2014. ‘Linked Ecologies and Norm Change in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations’ (Warwick), now Research Professor at Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.

Kohl, Sebastian. 2012-2014. ‘Homeowner Nations or Nations of Tenants: How Historical Institutions in Urban Politics, Housing Finance and Construction Set Germany, France and the US on Different Housing Paths’ (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies and Sciences Po, chair was Jens Beckert), now Professor in Sociology at Berlin's Free University.

Mühlen-Schulte, Arthur. 2007-2010. ‘Producing Development: Power and Organisational Reform in the United Nations Development Programme’ (CBS, chair was Hans Krause Hansen), now consultant in United Nations system.

Broome, André. 2004-2007. ‘Seeing Like the IMF: Institutional Change in Frontier Economies’ (ANU, chair was John Ravenhill), now freelance.

Speed, Taylor Marie. 2004-2007. ‘Japanese Corporate Strategy on Technological Capture in East Asia’ (ANU, chair was John Ravenhill), now Director of WordCircus Limited.

Thompson, Edwina A. 2003-2007. ‘Moral Authority within Multiple Sovereignties: The Politics of Illicit Activity in Offshore Space’ (ANU), now CEO of Amanacard.