Joel Shelton

Joel T. Shelton is an Associate Professor of Political Science & Public Policy at Elon University, where he teaches courses in international relations, comparative politics, and political theory, with a focus on political economy. He also teaches courses in the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) program, the International & Global Studies program, the Honors program, and the Core Curriculum.

Shelton currently serves as Faculty Fellow for National Campus Programs in Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences. In this role, he partners with colleagues across campus to increase opportunities for students and faculty at Elon's national campus locations.

From 2023-2026, Shelton served on Elon's Academic Council as an elected representative for the social and behavioral sciences division. From 2019-2026, he was the inaugural coordinator for Elon's PPE program. 

Shelton's research focuses on the history of Political Economy (PE), the relationship between economic ideas and governmental practices, and the social, cultural, and political dimensions of economic dynamics and processes.

In 2025, he co-authored Research and Writing in International Relations, 4th edition (Routledge), a text for undergraduates about conducting research and writing about international affairs. He also collaborated with co-authors Laura Roselle and Sharon Spray on the book's third edition, published in 2020. 

His most recent monograph, co-authored with Scott G. Nelson, is titled Statecraft and the Political Economy of Capitalism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023).

He is also the author of Conditionality and the Ambitions of Governance: Social Transformation in Southeastern Europe (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).

Other publications include:

"Teaching writing about political science research" in Teaching Undergraduate Political Methodology, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2022, with co-author Kaye Usry.

"The Delicate Order of Liberalism: Resentment Politics and the Public Trust" in Polity 53(4), 589-615 (October 2021), with co-author Scott G. Nelson. 

"The Public Purpose of Political Economy" in New Political Science 41(3), 400-422 (September 2019), with co-author Scott G. Nelson.

"Diagnosing Europe: Greece, Macedonia, and the Meaning of Crisis" in New Perspectives: Interdisciplinary Journal of Central & East European Politics and International Relations 25(2), 17-48 (September 2017).

 "Appropriating Adam Smith: Affirmation and Contestation in Discourses of Political Economy" in The Ashgate Research Companion to Modern Theory, Modern Power, World Politics: Critical Investigations, Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2016.

Prior to joining the faculty at Elon, Shelton was Visiting Assistant Professor of International Affairs (2015-2016) and Visiting Assistant Professor of Government & Law (2012-2015) at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. He is a two-time recipient of the Lafayette Student Government Superior Teaching Award (2015, 2016).

Shelton completed his Ph.D. in the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) at Virginia Tech in 2012 and holds an M.A. in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).