I am a political economist born and raised in Los Angeles, California.
My work focuses on the politics of internationalism: how trade unions, social movements, and political parties coordinate across borders, and how international institutions aid or impede those efforts.
I currently serve as the Co-General Coordinator of the Progressive International, founded in May 2020 to unite, organize, and mobilize progressive forces around the world.
Previously, I served on the foreign policy advisory team for US Senator Bernie Sanders and directed policy for Yanis Varoufakis and the Democracy in Europe Movement (DiEM25).
My prior research focused on Europe, the United Kingdom, Mexico, South Africa, and India.
As a Policy Leader Fellow at the European University Institute, I investigated the crises of the Bretton Woods institutions and Europe’s role in resolving them.
As a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford, I examined the comparative political economy of property markets — and the place of housing in the story of “populism” in the United Kingdom.
As a Fulbright Scholar at the Colegio de México, I conducted research on self-help housing and the pursuit of Mexico’s constitutional right to “decent housing.”
At the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, I examined the competitive dynamics of South Africa’s 2016 municipal elections across communities in the township of Soweto.
And at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, I conducted fieldwork inside the Delhi Development Authority in order to articulate the role of bureaucracy in slum redevelopment.
My research and writing have been featured in the New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Foreign Affairs, among others.
davidrkadler@gmail.com @davidrkadler