Prof. Leslie Holmes
Professor Leslie Holmes
Background
Leslie Holmes was born in London, and educated at the Universities of Hull (where he studied modern languages), Essex, Berlin (Free) and Leningrad. He has been Professor of Political Science at the University of Melbourne since 1988. He was President of the International Council for Central and East European Studies (ICCEES) 2000-2005, President of the Australasian Association for Communist and Post-communist Studies (AACaPS) 2005-2007, and Co-President of the Contemporary European Studies Association of Australia (CESAA) 2001-2. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 1995.
Research
Post-communism, especially in Central and Eastern Europe; comparative corruption, organised crime and corporate crime; human trafficking; legitimation theories.
- The corruption-organised crime nexus in four European states, with particular reference to people.
- Official Corruption and the Corporate Sector: Two European Case-Studies
The primary aims of this pilot project are twofold. The first is to provide concrete evidence on and analysis of improper collusion between representatives of major transnational corporations and state officials. The second, on the basis of two case-studies (Siemens in Slovakia; Unilever in Bulgaria), is to begin to formulate detailed theoretical hypotheses on the nature of and reasons for such collusion, and why some corporations resist the temptation. The theorisation will critically engage with rational choice and neo-liberal theories.
Subjects Taught
- Comparative Politics
- International and Comparative Politics
- Corruption in Today's World
Supervision
Post-communism, especially in Central and Eastern Europe; comparative corruption, organised crime and corporate crime; human trafficking; legitimation theories.
Recent Publications
Books
L. Holmes, Rotten States?: Corruption, Post-Communism, and Neoliberalism (Hardback and Paperback)(Durham NC: Duke University Press: 2006), 419 pp. plus xvi.
L. Holmes (ed.) Terrorism, Organised Crime and Corruption: Networks and Linkages (Cheltenham: Elgar, 2007), 302 pp. plus xvi.
Book Chapters
L. Holmes, ‘Vietnam from a Comparative Communist and Post-Communist Perspective’ in S. Balme and M. Sidel (eds.), Vietnam’s New Order: International Perspectives on the State and Reform in Vietnam (New York: Palgrave Macmillan: 2007): 11-27.
L. Holmes, ‘Menschenhandel und Korruption in Mittel - und Osteuropa’ (‘Trafficking and Corruption in Central and Eastern Europe’)(in German) in J. Nautz and B. Sauer (eds.), Frauenhandel: Diskurse und Praktiken (G?ttingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht Unipress, 2008): 69-83.
L. Holmes, ‘Political Corruption Scandals and Public Attitudes towards Party Financing: Poland and Germany Compared’ in S. Eliaeson (ed.), Building Civil Society and Democracy in New Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2008): 314-335.
Journal Articles
L. Holmes, ‘Lithuania’s Prospects after Joining NATO and the EU’, Lithuanian Papers, 18 (2004): 5-9.