Understanding the global politics of a changing urban world.

Research at the intersection of cities and world politics.
I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
My research examines the changing politics of global environmental governance, focusing on cities, transnational networks, and the institutional dynamics of climate action. I am interested in how authority is constructed, exercised, and contested across local and global scales.
Across my work, I explore how cities become global political actors, how networks shape policy and political possibilities, and when governance initiatives reproduce or transform existing relations of power.
UCSC faculty profile ↗Questions that drive my work.
Transparency, accountability & legitimacy ↗
Policy diffusion & the Global South ↗
Emerging urban infrastructures ↗
Selected writing.

Cities on the World Stage
The Politics of Global Urban Climate Governance
View at Cambridge University Press ↗Theorizing the globally engaged city in world politics
What three decades of city networks tell us about city diplomacy’s potential for climate action
Political economy of just urban transition
Explaining policy teaching versus learning in environmental transnational municipal networks: The case of the Kitakyushu Initiative
Teaching politics across scales.
My courses connect international relations theory with the politics of global environmental change, urban governance, and transnational authority. Students examine how political institutions and actors shape collective responses to challenges that cross borders.
I teach undergraduate and graduate courses at UC Santa Cruz and supervise graduate research in international relations, environmental politics, and urban governance.
Courses, teaching interests & graduate mentorship ↗POLI 70 · Global Politics
POLI 160A · Theories of International and World Politics
POLI 174 · Global Political Ecology
POLI 190F · Cities in World Politics
POLI 213 · Who Governs the Globe? Shifting Authority in Contemporary World Politics
Interested in a conversation?
For academic collaboration, research inquiries, speaking engagements, or graduate research interests, please get in touch.
dagordon@ucsc.edu ↗