Newcastle University

Research Interests

Economic Geography: cultural political economy; global commodity chains and networks; knowledges and economies; rethinking economy; transnational retailers and corporate responsibility; retailer-supplier relationships in the UK and USA; economic development in Kenya and South Africa; regulation and governance; ethical trade and business responsibility; the audit economy; learning networks; qualitative research methods.

Postgraduate Supervision

Research areas: economic geography and political economy; global commodity chains and networks; knowledges and economies; rethinking economy; retailer-supplier relationships; economic development in South Africa and Kenya; regulation and governance; ethical trade and business responsibility; the audit economy; learning networks.

Recent and current students:

Waziri Galadima (self-funded)
Rituparna Sarma (self-funded)
Jon Swords (ESRC/CASE)
Peter Thomas (ESRC)
David Phillips (ESRC/CASE with Traidcraft)

Funding

2010-2012: Leverhulme Trust, £180,722, "Ethical Production in South Africa: Advancing a Cultural Economy Approach” (Co-Investigator) with Dr Cheryl McEwan (Principal Investigator) and Dr David Bek (RA)

2011-2012: Faculty Research Fund, Newcastle University, £2,924, "Ethical Sourcing by the Public Sector: Institutional Responsibility in 'Austerity Britain'" 

2009-2011: The British Academy (SG-53960), £6778, "Managing Ethical Trade in a Global Economic Crisis: The Case of UK Retailers"

2007-2009: Economic and Social Research Council Impact Grant (RES-172-25-0048), £44,412, "Retailers and Corporate Social Responsibility: Developing and Promoting a Strategic Agenda" (Principal Investigator) with Professor Neil Wrigley

2005-2007: Economic and Social Research Council (RES-000-23-0830), £108,000, “Organising Ethical Trade: a UK-USA Comparison” (Principal Investigator) with Professor Neil Wrigley

2002-2003: The British Academy (SG-33442), £4914, "Learning to Account for Ethical Trade: Retailers, Knowledges and Social Audits"

2000: University of Newcastle upon Tyne Small Grants Panel Award, £1,632, "Organisational Geographies of Business Ethics: The Case of the Ethical Trading Initiative"

1999: The Nuffield Foundation Social Science Small Grants Scheme (SGS/LB/0270), £3,995, “Practising Corporate Responsibility: Evaluating ‘Codes of Practice’ in the Kenyan Cut Flower Industry"

1996-1997: University of Aberdeen Research Committee Grant (R818), £3,525, “The Production of Festival Consumption: The Case of the Cut Flower Trade”

Projects

• Developing Northumberland's Natural Heritage Cluster: Potentials, Problems and Pitfalls
• Ethical Production in South Africa
  Project Leader(s): Dr Cheryl McEwan; Dr Alex Hughes
• Fair Trade and Community Empowerment: The Case of Sugar Producers in Malawi
  Project Leader(s): Dr Alexandra Hughes
• Managing ethical trade in a global economy crisis
  Project Leader(s): Dr Alex Hughes
• Organising Ethical Trade: A UK-USA Comparison
  Project Leader(s): Dr Alexandra Hughes
• Retailers and Corporate Social Responsibility: Developing A Strategic Agenda
  Project Leader(s): Dr Alex Hughes

Undergraduate Teaching

GEO3041 Geographies of Commodities
GEO2099 Economic Geography
GEO2044 Advanced Study Skills
GEO3099 Dissertation module

• Crang M, Hughes A, Gregson N, Norris L, Ahamed F. Rethinking governance and value in commodity chains through global recycling networks. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 2013, Early View (Online Version of Record published before inclusion in an issue).
• Hughes A. Corporate Ethical Trading in an Economic Downturn: Recessionary Pressures and Refracted Responsibilities. Journal of Economic Geography 2012, 12(1), 33-45.
• Pollard J, McEwan C, Hughes A, ed. Postcolonial Economies. London, UK: Zed Books, 2011.
• Hughes A. Flowers. In: Thrift, N., Tickell, A., Woolgar, S, ed. Globalisation in Practice. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2012. In Press.
• Hughes A, Wrigley N, Buttle M. Ethical campaigning and buyer-driven commodity chains: transforming retailers’ purchasing practices?. In: Goodman D, Goodman M and Redclift M, ed. Consuming Space: Placing Consumption in Perspective. Surrey: Ashgate, 2010, pp. 123-146.
• Hughes A, Wray F. Corporate responsibilities. In: Kitchin, R; Thrift, N, ed. Encyclopedia of Human Geography. Oxford, UK: Elsevier Ltd., 2009, pp. 292-297.
• Hughes A, Wrigley N, Buttle M. Global production networks, ethical campaigning, and the embeddedness of responsible governance. Journal of Economic Geography 2008, 8(3), 345-367.
• Hughes A. Geographies of exchange and circulation: Flows and networks of knowledgeable capitalism. Progress in Human Geography 2007, 31(4), 527-535.
• Hughes A, Buttle M, Wrigley N. Organisational geographies of corporate responsibility: A UK-US comparison of retailers' ethical trading initiatives. Journal of Economic Geography 2007, 7(4), 491-513.
• Hughes A. Supermarkets and the ethical/fair trade movement: making space for alternatives in mainstream economies?. In: Burch D; Lawrence G, ed. Supermarkets and Agri-food Supply Chains. Elgar, 2007, pp. 173-191.
• Hughes A. Geographies of exchange and circulation: Transnational trade and governance. Progress in Human Geography 2006. , 30(5), 635-643.
• Hughes A. Learning to trade ethically: Knowledgeable capitalism, retailers and contested commodity chains. Geoforum 2006, 37(6), 1008-1020.
• Hughes A. Corporate strategy and the management of ethical trade: The case of the UK food and clothing retailers. Environment and Planning A 2005, 37(7), 1145-1163.
• Hughes A. Geographies of exchange and circulation: Alternative trading spaces. Progress in Human Geography 2005, 29(4), 496-504.
• Hughes A, Reimer S. Guest editorial: publishing commodity chains. Geoforum 2005, 36(3), 273-275.
• Hughes A, Reimer S. Publishing commodity chains. Geoforum 2005. , 36(3), 273-275.
• Hughes A. Accounting for ethical trade: global commodity networks, virtualism and the audit economy. In: Hughes A and Reimer S, ed. Geographies of Commodity Chains. London: Routledge, 2004, pp. 215-232.
• Hughes A, Reimer S. Geographies of Commodity Chains. London: Routledge, 2004.
• Hughes A. Global commodity networks, ethical trade and governmentality: Organizing business responsibility in the Kenyan cut flower industry. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 2001, 26(4), 390-406.
• Hughes A. Multi-stakeholder approaches to ethical trade: Towards a reorganisation of UK retailers' global supply chains?. Journal of Economic Geography 2001, 1(4), 421-437.
• Hughes A. Shelf life: Supermarkets and the changing cultures of consumption. Journal of Historical Geography 2001. , 27(1), 131-132.
• Hughes A. Retailers, knowledges and changing commodity networks: The case of the cut flower trade. Geoforum 2000, 31(2), 175-190.
• Hughes A. Constructing competitive spaces:on the corporate practice of British retailer- supplier relationships. Environment and Planning A 1999, 31(5), 819-839.
• Hughes A. Constructing economic geographies from corporate interviews: insights from a cross-country comparison of retailer-supplier relationships. Geoforum 1999, 30(4), 363-374.
• Cormode L, Hughes A. Editorial introduction: the economic geographer as a situated researcher of elites. Geoforum 1999, 30(4), 299-300.
• Hughes A, Cormode L. Editorial: researching elites and elite spaces. Environment and Planning A 1998. , 30, 2098-2100.
• Hughes A. The changing organization of new product development for retailers’ private labels: a UK-USA comparison. Agribusiness 1997, 13, 169-184.
• Hughes A. Forging new cultures of retailer-manufacturer relations. In: Wrigley, N; Lowe, M, ed. Retailing, Consumption and Capital: Towards the New Retail Geography. Harlow: Longman, 1996, pp. 90-115.
• Hughes A. Retail restructuring and the strategic significance of food retailers’ own-labels: a UK-USA comparison. Environment and Planning A 1996, 28, 2201-2226.