My research pursues a number of interrelated strands. One strand explores the sociology of colonialism and empires. I treat colonialism and empires as sociopolitical formations that have distinct logics and dynamics warranting social scientific investigation. As the international system today consists of former colonies or metropoles of colonies, and as formal colonies still exist, understanding the logics and dynamics of empire is imperative for understanding modern societies. As part of this strand of research, I also explore a variety of theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches to help us better study colonial and imperial logics. These include postcolonial theory, field theory, and the area of social science that I, along with my collaborators, theorize as “global historical sociology.” My substantive research along these lines has focused upon the US and British empires, with particular interest in macrohistorical dynamics as well as more microlevel processes.

A second related strand examines the impact of colonialism and imperialism upon present day societies. I think of colonialism and imperialism as social processes that have enduring effects upon present day societies, including metropolitan societies like the US or Britain. What happens in the peripheries of empire profoundly shape what happens in imperial centers; empires are felt at home. Much of my research – including recent work on policing, the history of sociology and knowledge production – explores the logics and processes by which this occurs, particularly in regards to the United States.

A third strand deals in postcolonial/decolonial thought and related questions of social theory, epistemology, and knowledge. Social science has long centered what I have theorized as the “imperial standpoint,” and I have explored both the history of social science’s imperial standpoint and alternative standpoints, such as the anticolonial standpoint, that might form the basis for new social theories. This is a project grounded in the philosophy of science sometimes known as “perspectival realism” and which I have modulated to apply to social theory. Accordingly, in my work I have sought to excavate the imperial unconscious of sociology while exploring the promise and perils of postcolonial theory, anticolonial thought and related social theories, such as the theory of racial capitalism.

My substantive research on the forms and logics of colonialism and empires has resulted in articles and books such as The American Colonial State in the Philippines: Global Perspectives (co-edited with Anne Foster, Duke University Press, 2003), American Empire and the Politics of Meaning (Duke University Press, 2008) and Patterns of Empire: the British and American Empires, 1688 to Present (Cambridge University Press, 2011). My work on global historical sociology and transnational field theory is found in articles and the books: Fielding Transnationalism (co-edited with Monika Krause, Wiley & Sons, 2016) and Global Historical Sociology, co-edited with George Lawson (Cambridge, 2016). My work on postcolonial/decolonial thought is seen in my book Postcolonial Thought and Social Theory, Oxford, 2016 and various articles (such as among others my article “Anticolonial Thought as Social Theory” in the British Journal of Sociology, which I first presented as the Annual Lecture of the British Journal of Sociology at the LSE.

My most recent book, Policing Empires: Militarization and Race in Britain and America, 1829-present (Oxford, 2023) explores imperialism’s impact upon police militarization in the US and Britain. I am also co-editing a book volume with Stuart Schrader on the Imperial Entanglements of Policing based upon a conference we arranged at the University of Chicago. and a book volume with Anaheed Al-Hardan on Anticolonialism and Social Thought based on a conference we held at the University of Chicago Center in Paris, France.