Bristol academic elected British Academy Fellow

Professor Richard Little

Press release issued: 26 July 2010

Emeritus Professor Richard Little, in the University's Department of Politics, has achieved the rare distinction of being elected a Fellow of the British Academy.

An academic from the University of Bristol has achieved the rare distinction of being elected a Fellow of the British Academy, the national academy for the humanities and the social sciences responsible for promoting research and scholarship in all branches of humane and social studies.

Emeritus Professor Richard Little of the Department of Politics has been elected in recognition of his outstanding contributions to international relations theory. His most recent book provides a reassessment of the role played by the balance of power in international politics and he is currently working on a book that examines the historical evolution of the international society.

His research interests over the past 40 years have ranged from an analysis of foreign aid allocation to an historical investigation of external interventions into civil wars. For the past 20 years his research orientation has primarily focused on the examination of international relations from a world historical perspective.

Professor Little said: “To be elected as a Fellow of the British Academy is a great honour and privilege. My next major project is to reassess and revise the Eurocentric implications of the English school account of the global expansion of the international society.

“I am optimistic that this could be the most significant project I have attempted so far and so becoming a Fellow of the British Academy at this point in time will spur me on in the attempt to realise the full potential of this next venture.”

All Fellows will be formally admitted to the Academy at a ceremony in September.

Further information

Election to Fellowship of the British Academy is the culmination of a rigorous selection process in which each of the Academy’s 18 Sections is involved. The number of Ordinary Fellows elected in each year is limited to 35. There are currently 751 Ordinary Fellows, 310 Corresponding Fellows (scholars of international distinction), and 15 Honorary Fellows.

This latest election brings to ten the number of academics currently at Bristol University whose work has been honoured in this way.

Professor Richard Little will work with Professor Barry Buzan at the London School of Economics and Political Science, on his next research project.

Please contact Joanne Fryer for further information.