My name is Thomas (he/him) and I am an PhD student in Politics at Nuffield College at the University of Oxford. I study the provision of security by state and non-state actors (including customary institutions, self-defense groups, private security companies). My dissertation probes under what circumstances states tolerate, co-opt, or suppress non-state security providers. I introduce the concept of the “security equilibrium” to describe and theorize about the co-provision of security. I use a mix of cutting edge quantitative methods and formal theory to study these questions. My research is predominantly focused in Southern Africa; Namibia, South Africa, and Mozambique.

I am interested in public goods provision more broadly, political violence, and research transparency and reproducibility.

I received my MPhil in Comparative Government (with distinction) from the University of Oxford in 2024. I received a Bachelor of Science in political science and data analytics (summa cum laude) from UC San Diego in 2020. From 2020 to 2022, I served as a pre-doctoral fellow with J-PAL’s Payments and Governance Research Program. I have also served as a research assistant for the Center for the Study of African Political Economy and as a lab assistant for the Center for Peace and Security Studies.

CV

My CV can be found here.

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