Dr. Jimena Valdez

Biography

Jimena Valdez joined the Department of European & International Studies at King’s College London as a Lecturer in Politics in September 2022. Prior to joining King’s, she was a Lecturer in Comparative Politics at City, University of London, and a postdoctoral fellow in Comparative Political Economy at the London School of Economics. She earned her PhD in Government from Cornell University in 2020. Her research focuses on comparative political economy, specifically the organization of capital and labor, and the political dynamics surrounding labor market reforms in the context of conservative policies during the Eurozone crisis. Her book project, 'Business Wants: Politics of Labor Reform in Portugal and Spain,' examines the challenges posed by employers’ associations to labor policy changes. She is also working on a theoretical framework called 'Über-State: Political Economy of Platform Capitalism,' which explores how platform firms interact with state functions and political power. Valdez is open to supervising PhD students on topics related to the politics of platform economies and Southern European politics.

Research Interests