Kevin Young earned his doctorate from the London School of Economics and joined UMass in 2012. He is a scholar of international political economy who specializes in the study of financial power, global governance, interest groups and elites, and whose publications profile methods ranging from qualitative interviewing and network analysis to fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis.

Several of his recent research efforts involve studies of the academic profession itself, a theme that connects him to ongoing efforts at ISSR to foster reflection among social scientists about their own field and discipline.

Young has a deep history with ISSR, having served Associate Director from 2018-19, and as a 2013-14 ISSR Scholar. His fellowship culminated in a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation and led to current collaborations in which he is developing multimillion-dollar grant proposals in the U.S. and Europe. In his tenure as ISSR Associate Director, he led ISSR's efforts to expand access to high-performance computing for UMass social scientists, and convened methodological and policy forums to connect graduate student and faculty across social science disciplines, including political science, economics and sociology. 

Courses Taught:

• Undergraduate: ‘International Political Economy’, ‘Corporate Lobbying in the Global Economy’, ‘Human Progress?’
• Graduate Courses: ‘Money and Power’, ‘Political Economy’

Recent Publications: 

• Kevin Young. 2014. “Losing Abroad but Winning at Home: European Financial Industry Groups in Global Financial Governance since the Crisis.” Journal of European Public Policy 21(3): 367-88.
• Stefano Pagliari and Kevin Young. 2014. “Leveraged Interests: Financial Industry Power and the Role of Private Sector Coalitions.” Review of International Political Economy 21(3): 575-610.