Dr Franziska Paul

  • Lecturer in Political Economy (Management)

email: Franziska.Paul@glasgow.ac.uk

Room 316, Adam Smith Business School, 2 Discovery Place, Glasgow, G11 6EY

Import to contacts

ORCID iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153

Biography

Dr Franziska Paul is Lecturer in Political Economy. Franziska holds a PhD in Geography along with an MRes in Human Geography, both from the University of Glasgow, and an MA (Hons) in Geography-Sociology from the University of Aberdeen. Franziska’s research explores issues of ownership and transformation (social, economic, and ecological), with a specific interest in processes of de-privatisation and democratisation.

After completing her PhD on trade union movement building towards a new, radical labour environmentalism and energy democracy, Franziska worked as a postdoctoral researcher on the ERC-funded Global Remunicipalisation project. Franziska’s postdoctoral work investigated the public ownership, de-privatisation, and democratisation of key services, assets, and infrastructures, including energy, waste, local government, transport, and banking in the US and Germany.

Franziska currently works on a collaborative international research project with Norwegian partners, led by Dr Camilla Houeland at Fafo, Norway. The project is titled "Phasing in and phasing out: reworking labour in energy transition in the North Sea" (PHASE) (2024-2028).

Franziska is also involved with the Public Futures Database, a collaborative, knowledge exchange initiative and the first comprehensive collection of de-privatisation cases in the world. She is also an Associate on the Public Banking Project, led by Professor Thomas Marois at McMaster University, Canada, which aims to advance pro-public alternatives to finance green and just transitions.

At College level, Franziska is on the leadership team of the Political Economy Futures Forum (PEFF). 

Research interests

Franziska is a member of the School's Entrepreneurship, Development and Political Economy research cluster and on the leadership team of the college-wide Political Economy Futures Forum (PEFF) Interdisciplinary Research Theme.

Areas of expertise:

  • Critical political economy
  • Public and collective ownership
  • Economic democracy
  • Local and regional wealth building
  • Trade union environmentalism

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016
Number of items: 28.

2025

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 and Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 (2025) Roundtable: public banking. A radically open future? The US public banking movement and the creation of economic alternatives. Just Money, 5 Mar.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2025) Demanding ownership: energy democracy and environmental labour geographies. Area, 57(1), e12987. (doi: 10.1111/area.12987)

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2025) Creating Public Alternatives: New Public Banks, Economic Democracy, and Neoliberal Urban Governance. 7th Global Conference on Economic Geography (GCEG), Worcester, MA, USA, 4-8 June 2025.

2024

Paul, Franziska Christina ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2024) The contested politics of de-privatisation and the shifting terrain of the local state: The case of the Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany. Local Government Studies, 50(4), pp. 696-717. (doi: 10.1080/03003930.2023.2298292) (PMCID:PMC11295930)

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2024) Episode #211: The People's Bank - Dr Franziska Paul on Publicly-Owned Banking. [Audio]

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2024) From Frustrated Farmers, to Fuck Wallstreet, and Fairer Finance: The Public Banking Movement in the US. American Association of Geographers (AAG) 2024 Annual Meeting, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 16-20 Apr 2024.

2023

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 and Putri, Prathiwi (2023) Franziska Paul on the German trajectory of (neoliberal) governance, the locus of ‘local state’ and community movements. [Audio]

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 and Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 (2023) The People versus TINA: The Public Banking Movement in California, USA. International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy (IIPPE) 13th Annual Conference In Political Economy: The Chronicles of Multiple Crises Foretold, Madrid, Spain, 06-08 Sep 2023.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153, Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 and Brown, Grace ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9805-3466 (2023) People Power: Movements for Public Ownership and Energy Transition in the US. RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2023, London, UK, 29 Aug - 01 Sep 2023.

Paul, Franziska Christina ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 and Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 (2023) The return of the local state? Failing neoliberalism, remunicipalisation, and the role of the state in advanced capitalism. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 55(1), pp. 165-183. (doi: 10.1177/0308518X211050407)

2022

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2022) Exploring the Multifaceted Motivations Behind Remunicipalisation: The Case of the Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany. IGU Commission Geography of Governance International Conference: Local Governance in a Time of Global Emergencies, Mexico City, Mexico, 29-31 Aug 2022.

Weghmann, Vera, Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 and Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 (2022) Struggles for Democratic Participation in the German Post-Remunicipalisation Process. Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) Conference: Fractious Connections: Anarchy, Activism, Coordination, and Control, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 9-11 Jul 2022.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2022) Nation-building and Local Government in Germany: Daseinsvorsorge. Shifting Narratives: The Political Economy Of Public Spending, Services, and Production (PSSP) Conference, Online, 27-30 Jun 2022.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 and Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 (2022) The Return of the Local State? Failing Neoliberalism, Remunicipalisation, and the Role of the State in Advanced Capitalism. 6th Global Conference on Economic Geography (GCEG): Territorial Development: Evolution, Innovation, Disruption and Marginalisation under the Anthropocene and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Dublin, Ireland, 07-10 Jun 2022.

Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241, Pearson, Bethia ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0817-8423, Stegemann, Laura and Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2022) Mapping Remunicipalisation: Emergent Trends in the Global Deprivatisation Process. Project Report. University of Glasgow.

Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 and Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2022) Remunicipalisation, mutating neoliberalism, and the conjuncture. Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography, 54(1), pp. 197-217. (doi: 10.1111/anti.12761)

2021

Pearson, Bethia ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0817-8423, Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153, Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 and Stegemann, Laura (2021) Public Futures Database Report. Technical Report. University of Glasgow, Glasgow.

Paul, Franziska Christina ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2021) Das globale phänomen der rekommunalisierung: zwischen mutierendem neoliberalismus und der politisierung öffentlicher güter. Kurswechsel, 2021(4),

2020

Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 and Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2020) Adapting to the political moment and diverse terrain of 'actually existing municipalisms'. Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture, 74, pp. 40-53. (doi: 10.3898/SOUN.74.03.2020)

Paul, Franziska Christina ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2020) Exploring the role of ‘the public’ in social economics: public ownership and the solidarity city? Space and Polity, 24(3), pp. 314-316. (doi: 10.1080/13562576.2020.1787138)

2019

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 and Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 (2019) Democratisation by Design or Default? Global Remunicipalisation and the Post-Neoliberal Turn. Royal Geographical Society with IBG (RGS-IBG) Annual International Conference, London, UK, 27-30 Aug 2019.

2018

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2018) “No jobs on a dead planet”: energy democracy, public ownership and union opposition to mega-energy projects. Renewal: a Journal of Social Democracy, 26(3), pp. 21-29.

Paul, Franziska Christina ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2018) Deep entanglements: history, space and (energy) struggle in the German Energiewende. Geoforum, 91, pp. 1-9. (doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.02.017)

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2018) Power to the People: Energy Democracy, Labour Environmentalism, and the Struggle for Public Ownership. American Association of Geographers (AAG) 2018 Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 10-14 Apr 2018.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2018) Calling for Just Transition: Trade Unions and the Fight for Energy Democracy. The Just Transition 2018 Conference: The Just Transition towards a Low-Carbon Economy – Integrating Climate, Energy and Environmental Justice, Edinburgh, UK, 01-02 Mar 2018.

2017

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2017) “Resist! Reclaim! Restructure!”: Labour’s Involvement in Energy Democracy Struggles. Beyond Oil Conference 2017: Mobilizing alternative futures, Bergen, Norway, 24-27 Oct 2017.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2017) From Global Kinds of Knowledge to Frontline Struggles: Labour Environmentalism and the Fight for Energy Democracy. Royal Geographical Society with IBG (RGS-IBG) Annual International Conference 2017, London, UK, 29 Aug- 01 Sep 2017.

2016

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2016) The State and Its Others: Proposing Energy Democracy as a Framework for Relational Energy Politics in the German Energiewende. Royal Geographical Society with IBG (RGS-IBG) Annual International Conference 2016, London, UK, 30 Aug- 02 Sep 2016.

This list was generated on Mon Jul 7 18:20:42 2025 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Research Reports or Papers | Conference or Workshop Item | Audio
Number of items: 28.

Articles

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 and Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 (2025) Roundtable: public banking. A radically open future? The US public banking movement and the creation of economic alternatives. Just Money, 5 Mar.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2025) Demanding ownership: energy democracy and environmental labour geographies. Area, 57(1), e12987. (doi: 10.1111/area.12987)

Paul, Franziska Christina ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2024) The contested politics of de-privatisation and the shifting terrain of the local state: The case of the Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany. Local Government Studies, 50(4), pp. 696-717. (doi: 10.1080/03003930.2023.2298292) (PMCID:PMC11295930)

Paul, Franziska Christina ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 and Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 (2023) The return of the local state? Failing neoliberalism, remunicipalisation, and the role of the state in advanced capitalism. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 55(1), pp. 165-183. (doi: 10.1177/0308518X211050407)

Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 and Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2022) Remunicipalisation, mutating neoliberalism, and the conjuncture. Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography, 54(1), pp. 197-217. (doi: 10.1111/anti.12761)

Paul, Franziska Christina ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2021) Das globale phänomen der rekommunalisierung: zwischen mutierendem neoliberalismus und der politisierung öffentlicher güter. Kurswechsel, 2021(4),

Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 and Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2020) Adapting to the political moment and diverse terrain of 'actually existing municipalisms'. Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture, 74, pp. 40-53. (doi: 10.3898/SOUN.74.03.2020)

Paul, Franziska Christina ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2020) Exploring the role of ‘the public’ in social economics: public ownership and the solidarity city? Space and Polity, 24(3), pp. 314-316. (doi: 10.1080/13562576.2020.1787138)

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2018) “No jobs on a dead planet”: energy democracy, public ownership and union opposition to mega-energy projects. Renewal: a Journal of Social Democracy, 26(3), pp. 21-29.

Paul, Franziska Christina ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2018) Deep entanglements: history, space and (energy) struggle in the German Energiewende. Geoforum, 91, pp. 1-9. (doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.02.017)

Research Reports or Papers

Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241, Pearson, Bethia ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0817-8423, Stegemann, Laura and Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2022) Mapping Remunicipalisation: Emergent Trends in the Global Deprivatisation Process. Project Report. University of Glasgow.

Pearson, Bethia ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0817-8423, Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153, Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 and Stegemann, Laura (2021) Public Futures Database Report. Technical Report. University of Glasgow, Glasgow.

Conference or Workshop Item

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2025) Creating Public Alternatives: New Public Banks, Economic Democracy, and Neoliberal Urban Governance. 7th Global Conference on Economic Geography (GCEG), Worcester, MA, USA, 4-8 June 2025.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2024) From Frustrated Farmers, to Fuck Wallstreet, and Fairer Finance: The Public Banking Movement in the US. American Association of Geographers (AAG) 2024 Annual Meeting, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 16-20 Apr 2024.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 and Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 (2023) The People versus TINA: The Public Banking Movement in California, USA. International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy (IIPPE) 13th Annual Conference In Political Economy: The Chronicles of Multiple Crises Foretold, Madrid, Spain, 06-08 Sep 2023.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153, Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 and Brown, Grace ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9805-3466 (2023) People Power: Movements for Public Ownership and Energy Transition in the US. RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2023, London, UK, 29 Aug - 01 Sep 2023.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2022) Exploring the Multifaceted Motivations Behind Remunicipalisation: The Case of the Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany. IGU Commission Geography of Governance International Conference: Local Governance in a Time of Global Emergencies, Mexico City, Mexico, 29-31 Aug 2022.

Weghmann, Vera, Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 and Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 (2022) Struggles for Democratic Participation in the German Post-Remunicipalisation Process. Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) Conference: Fractious Connections: Anarchy, Activism, Coordination, and Control, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 9-11 Jul 2022.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2022) Nation-building and Local Government in Germany: Daseinsvorsorge. Shifting Narratives: The Political Economy Of Public Spending, Services, and Production (PSSP) Conference, Online, 27-30 Jun 2022.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 and Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 (2022) The Return of the Local State? Failing Neoliberalism, Remunicipalisation, and the Role of the State in Advanced Capitalism. 6th Global Conference on Economic Geography (GCEG): Territorial Development: Evolution, Innovation, Disruption and Marginalisation under the Anthropocene and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Dublin, Ireland, 07-10 Jun 2022.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 and Cumbers, Andrew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-5241 (2019) Democratisation by Design or Default? Global Remunicipalisation and the Post-Neoliberal Turn. Royal Geographical Society with IBG (RGS-IBG) Annual International Conference, London, UK, 27-30 Aug 2019.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2018) Power to the People: Energy Democracy, Labour Environmentalism, and the Struggle for Public Ownership. American Association of Geographers (AAG) 2018 Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 10-14 Apr 2018.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2018) Calling for Just Transition: Trade Unions and the Fight for Energy Democracy. The Just Transition 2018 Conference: The Just Transition towards a Low-Carbon Economy – Integrating Climate, Energy and Environmental Justice, Edinburgh, UK, 01-02 Mar 2018.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2017) “Resist! Reclaim! Restructure!”: Labour’s Involvement in Energy Democracy Struggles. Beyond Oil Conference 2017: Mobilizing alternative futures, Bergen, Norway, 24-27 Oct 2017.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2017) From Global Kinds of Knowledge to Frontline Struggles: Labour Environmentalism and the Fight for Energy Democracy. Royal Geographical Society with IBG (RGS-IBG) Annual International Conference 2017, London, UK, 29 Aug- 01 Sep 2017.

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2016) The State and Its Others: Proposing Energy Democracy as a Framework for Relational Energy Politics in the German Energiewende. Royal Geographical Society with IBG (RGS-IBG) Annual International Conference 2016, London, UK, 30 Aug- 02 Sep 2016.

Audio

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 (2024) Episode #211: The People's Bank - Dr Franziska Paul on Publicly-Owned Banking. [Audio]

Paul, Franziska ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0206-6153 and Putri, Prathiwi (2023) Franziska Paul on the German trajectory of (neoliberal) governance, the locus of ‘local state’ and community movements. [Audio]

This list was generated on Mon Jul 7 18:20:42 2025 BST.

Grants

  • Norges Forskningsråd/ Research Council of Norway (£46,000 for Glasgow team; full award: £883,000): “Phasing in and phasing out: Reworking labour in energy transitions in the North Sea” (PHASE). Co-I (/PI Glasgow team). Project Lead: Dr Camilla Houeland at Fafo, Norway, 2024-2028
  • New Interdisciplinary Research Theme, College of Social Sciences (£30,000): “Political Economy Futures Forum” (PEFF), Co-Lead/ IRT Leadership Team, 2024-2027
  • International Partnership Development Fund (£4,710): “Establishing a Transnational Research Network on Public Banking”, PI, 2023-2024
  • Glasgow Knowledge Exchange Flexible Fund (£12,600): “Building a Global Database on Remunicipalisation”, Co-I with Prof Andrew Cumbers, 2020-2021

Supervision

Franziska is interested in supervising doctoral research that relates to alternative economic approaches as well as research into contemporary labour issues.

Specific areas of interest include:

  • Public, collective and/or cooperative ownership
  • Economic democracy
  • Local or regional wealth building, including community wealth building
  • Trade union environmentalism and just transition
  • Decent work

Teaching

2025-26

  • Democratising the Economy (MGT4116, UG Hons)
  • Economic Crisis and Depressions (MGT4063, UG Hons)
  • Entrepreneurship (MGT2014, UG)

Franziska also supervises undergraduate and postgraduate taught dissertation projects.

Additional information

Awards

  • Top Cited Article Award (2022-2023), Wiley. For Antipode paper (Cumbers and Paul 2022)
  • Winner of Engagement Through Research Award (2024), Adam Smith Business School. Category: ‘Outstanding Community Engagement’ for work on the Public Futures Database.

Guest speaking and lecturing

2024

2023

2022

 


Profile photo of Dr Franziska Paul