Dr Owen David Thomas (He/Him)

*Please note that Owen is away from the University on research leave until 1st July 2025*

Owen is Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations, with particular interests in Critical Security Studies (CSS) and Secrecy Studies 

Owen's research centres on issues of political accountability and knowledge production. His research explores how societies make sense, learn lessons, uncover truth, and seek justice in the wake of the crises, controversies and scandals that define the disorder, flux and fragmentation of contemporary global politics.

This research has included extensive work on public inquiries, freedom of information, state secrecy and, more recently, the democratisation of accountability through open-source investigations (OSI).

Owen is an accomplished interdisciplinary scholar, with collaborations in Law, History, Sociology and Criminology. Owen's research has appeared in journals such as the British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Current Sociology, International Political Sociology, Review of International Studies, Modern British History, and Security Dialogue. He has presented his work in venues including the European Parliament, the Houses of Parliament and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Read more in "Research Activities".

 Recent projects include:

• Warnings from the Archive: A Century of British Intervention in the Middle East (funded by Leverhulme Trust)
• A Tale of Two Cities? Elite and Everyday Narratives of Security and Responsibility in the Grenfell and London Bridge killings (funded by British Academy). Read about our findings here or listen to a podcast here.
• Righting corporate wrongs? Extractivism, corporate impunity, and strategic use of law (published in English and Spanish) 

Owen sits on the editorial board of Critical Military Studies and is a founding member of the Secrecy, Power, and Ignorance Network (SPIN)

Beyond academia, Owen has served as a Magistrate (Justice of the Peace) in the Adult Criminal Court since 2009.