DAVID BEWLEY-TAYLOR is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political and Cultural Studies.  He gained his PhD from the University of Wales in 1996, was appointed as a lecturer at Swansea University in 2000 and has been a visiting lecturer at a number of Universities in the US, including the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. In the spring of 2006, he was a Visiting Scholar at the Australian Health Policy Institute at the University of Sydney.  David has written two major research monographs - The United States and International Drug Control, 1909-1997 (Continuum, 2001) and International Drug Control: Consensus Fractured (Cambridge University Press, 2012)  - a number of book chapters and published in a wide range of academic journals including Diplomacy and Statecraft, Crime, Law and Social Change, The International Journal of Drug Policy, Intelligence and National Security, Drug and Alcohol Review, Contemporary Drug Problems; An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, Drugs and Alcohol Today, Addiction Research and Theory and the Journal of Transatlantic Studies. He has given papers in Europe, North American and Australia and is frequently a speaker or invited participant at civil society and government drug policy dialogues, colloquia and symposiums.

David was the founding secretary of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (2006-7), is currently on the Editorial Board of The International Journal of Drug Policy and the International Journal on Human Rights and Drug Policy, is a member of the International Advisory Committee of the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug policy and a technical advisor to the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy.  He has collaborated with and produced policy reports for a range of drug policy organizations beyond academia, including the Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme, and at present is an Associate of the International Drug Policy Consortium and a Research Fellow of the Transnational Institute’s Drugs and Democracy Programme.  

Current Research

David is currently engaged in a number of projects relating to various aspects of drug policy.  These include the future of the UN drug control conventions and the issue of policy transfer in relation to drug control policies in both Colombia and Afghanistan. Funded by the Open Society Foundations’ Global Drug Policy Program, his Afghan project has involved research in the United States and Afghanistan and collaboration with the International Institute for Strategic Studies.  

Selected Recent Publications (Academic)

• (2012) International Drug Control: Consensus Fractured, Cambridge University Press, March 2012, pp. 344. ISBN 978-1-107-01497-8 (Hb), ISBN 978-1-107-64128-0 (Pb) (link)
• (2012) With Martin Jelsma, ‘Regime change: Re-visiting the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs’, The International Journal of Drug Policy, Volume 23, Issue 1, January 2012, pp. 72-81.  ISSN: 0955-3959 (link)
• (2010) With Christopher Hallam, Editorial, “Mapping the world drug problem: Science and Politics in the United Nations drug control system,” The International Journal of Drug Policy, Volume 21, Issue 1, 2010, pp. 1-3. ISSN: 0955-3959 (link)
• (2009) “The 2009 Commission on Narcotic Drugs and its High Level Segment; more cracks in the Vienna consensus,” Drugs and Alcohol Today (Pavilon), Vol. 9, Issue 2, June 2009, pp. 7-11 (link).
• (2008) With Peter Reuter and Martin Elvins, Editors’ Introduction: Rethinking Drug Markets and Societal Reactions to Them: Contributions in Drug Policy Research, Contemporary Drug Problems; An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, Vol. 35, Nos. 2 & 3, Summer-Fall 2008.
• (2008) 'Crack in the Lens: Hollywood, the CIA and the African-American Response to the "Dark Alliance" series,' Intelligence and National Security, Volume 23, Number 1, February 2008, pp. 81-103 (link).
• (2007) With Martin Jelsma, ‘The War on Drugs: Illicit Drugs as a Moral Evil and Useful Enemy’ in Achin VAnaik (Ed.), Selling US Wars, (Olive Branch Press, an imprint of Interlink Publishers, 2007, ISBN – 13:978-1-56656-668-1), pp. 269-298 (link). Published in India as Masks of Empire (Tulika Books, 2007, ISBN – 81-89487-22-1).  Spanish version – ebook and pdf (link)

Selected research publications (Policy Reports)

• (2012) Towards revision of the UN drug control conventions: The logic and dilemmas of Like-Minded Groups, Transnational Institute and International Drug Policy Consortium, Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies, Nr. 19, March 2012,  (link)
• (2012) With Martin Jelsma, The UN drug control conventions: The Limits of Latitude, Transnational Institute and International Drug Policy Consortium, Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies, Nr. 18, March 2012,  (link)
• (2010) The Need for Increased Transparency: The Country Correspondence of the International Narcotics Control Board, (London: International Drug Policy Consortium, 2010) (link)

Selected research awards, fellowships and prizes

• 2012 Open Society Foundations' Global Drug Policy Programme, Project Grant ($369, 000)
• 2011 Open Society Foundations’ Global Drug Policy Programme, Project Grant ($72,000)
• 2007 J. Paul Getty Jr. Charitable Trust, Research Grant (£32,021)
• 2005 Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship. (Oct 2005- Oct 2006) (£21,853)
• 2004 University of Wales Swansea Distinguished Teaching Award
• 2004 Elsevier International Journal of Drug Policy Young Writer of the Year Award

Professional memberships

• Fellow – Royal Society of Medicine
• Fellow – Royal Society of Arts
• Member – International Society for the Study of Drug Policy
• Member – American Politics Group

PhD/MPhil Supervision

David currently supervises students exploring a range of topics from American cultural identities and representations in post 9/11 television fictions to various aspects of international drug control policy including counter narcotics strategies in Afghanistan and the securitization of drugs policy.  Enquiries are welcome from strong candidates interested in any of his research areas.

Administrative Duties

Department: Member of PCS Programme Coordinating Committee.