School of Social and Political Science

Research interests

My research lies at the intersection of political theory, history of political thought, and political economy. I apply critical political theory to examine contemporary anti-capitalist resistance movements, focusing specifically on the role the capitalist state plays in both enabling and suppressing such movements. I am trained as both a political theorist and a social science researcher, with a particular focus on qualitative methods. My most recent publications adopt an empirically grounded approach to political theorising. 

My thesis presents an answer to one of the most pressing questions of our time: how to transition out of the capitalist political economy, to a more just and sustainable alternative? In answering that question, I combine empirical insights drawn from an original case study of the Scottish social enterprise movement – a movement of businesses predicated on the assumption that economic activity should exclusively serve social and environmental needs, and marked by an ‘asset lock’ that socialises any wealth generated through economic activity – with the analytic and interpretative tools introduced by (neo)ordoliberal and prefigurative theory. Prefigurative politics, rooted in anarchist and certain strands of Marxist thought, aims to organise social movements in the image of the new society it wants to build. In my thesis, I interpret certain elements of the Scottish social enterprise movement as prefigurative and push against widespread assumption that the capitalist state can only threaten prefigurative movements' emancipatory potential. Drawing on the original empirical data, I argue that prefigurative movements do, can, and should strategically use the capitalist state to co-produce enabling discursive, financial and policy infrastructures, and to institutionalise the practices and values associated with alternative forms of economic organisation, to challenge the dominant capitalist system.

I defended my PhD thesis in December 2025 with no corrections (examined by Dr Mathijs van de Sande and Professor Mihaela Mihai), and was nominated for the Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award at the School of Social and Political Science in January 2026. 

I held numerous research roles over the last 8 years. My most recent roles at SPS include working on INSPIRE (Intersectional Spaces of Participation: Inclusive, Resilient, Embedded, Horizon Europe and UKRI) and the Times of a Just Transition (British Academy). Before my doctoral studies, I worked for 3-years as a Research Analyst at a London-based strategic communications and international development agency and a B-corp. 

Alongside my research, I have 5 years of teaching experience at both undergraduate level, on large first-year courses (Political Thinkers (600 students); Politics in a Changing World (200+ students)) and postgraduate level on Digital Democratic Innovations at Edinburgh Futures Institute. I hold an Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) and received multiple Teaching Awards nominations. 

PUBLICATIONS:

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• Pagirenaite, A. (2026) ‘Resisting Capitalism through the Capitalist State: Prefigurative Politics as a Strategy’, Political Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/00323217261428302

Book Chapters

• Pagirenaite, A. (forthcoming) ‘Scottish social enterprise: a neoliberal policy tool or a pathway to a wellbeing economy?’, Spearheading Sustainability, eds. Duncanson, C., Bomberg, E., Parry, S., Cleary, C., Garland, G. (Edinburgh University Press).

Blog posts

• Pagirenaite, A. (2018) The EU as a Normative Power: The Issue of Eurocentric Approaches to EU Action Analysis. Crossroads Europe. 

Articles in-progress

• Pagirenaite, A. ‘Identifying ‘Cracks’ in Capitalism: Neoliberal Social Policy and Community Economies’. Under review.

TEACHING ROLES

2024-Present    Senior Tutor, University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Science (UG courses Politics in a Changing World and Political Thinkers)

2021-Present    Tutor, University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Science (UG courses Politics in a Changing World and Political Thinkers)

2022-2023        Teaching Assistant, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Futures Institute (MA course Digital Democratic Innovations)

RESEARCH ROLES

• 2026 Research Assistant, University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Science. The Times of a Just Transition (British Academy). Project lead: Dr Andrew Hom.
• 2026 Research Assistant, University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Science. INSPIRE (Intersectional Spaces of Participation: Inclusive, Resilient, Embedded, Horizon Europe and UKRI). Project leads: Dr Lucy Parry and Professor Oliver Escobar.
• 2022 Research Assistant, University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Science. Commons initiatives in Scotland. Project lead: Professor Oliver Escobar. 
• 2021 Research Assistant, University of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Science. Social enterprise and investment strategy at the University of Edinburgh report. Project leads: Dr Juli Huang and Dave Gorman.
• 2018-2021 Research Analyst, Zinc Network, London. 

INVITED PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSHOPS

• 05/2026 ‘Real Utopias’ under Neoliberal Governance’. Political Theory Research Cluster, Newcastle University.
• 07/2025 ‘Resisting Capitalism through the Capitalist State: Prefigurative Politics as a Strategy’. The inaugural Scottish Political Theory Network workshop, University of Glasgow.
• 11/2024 ‘Problem-driven theorising’. Knowledge & Scepticism in Political Theory workshop, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh.
• 10/2021 ‘EU Development Policy and Global Distributive Justice’. Media and Politics in the EU workshop, Sciences Po, Paris.

CONFERENCE & SEMINAR PRESENTATIONS

• 07/2026 Association for Social and Political Philosophy Annual Conference, University of St Andrews, ‘Between Capture and Resistance: Alternative Economies under Neoliberal Governance’
• 05/2026 Critical Emancipations conference, KU Leuven, Belgium, ‘Resisting Capitalism through the Capitalist State: Prefigurative Politics as a Strategy’
• 04/2026 Political Theory Research Group, University of Edinburgh, ‘Real Utopias under Neoliberal Governance’, pre-read seminar presentation.
• 01/2026 Britain and Ireland Association for Political Thought Conference, University of Edinburgh, ‘Resisting Capitalism through the Capitalist State: Prefigurative Politics as a Strategy’
• 11/2025 Twenty-Second Annual Historical Materialism conference, SOAS University of London, ‘Resisting Capitalism through the Capitalist State: Prefigurative Politics as a Strategy’
• 07/2025 Association for Social and Political Philosophy Annual Conference, Anarchism and Agonism panel, University of Glasgow, ‘Resisting Capitalism through the Capitalist State: Prefigurative Politics as a Strategy’
• 04/2025 Political Theory Research Group, University of Edinburgh, ‘Resisting Capitalism through the Capitalist State: Prefigurative Politics as a Strategy’, pre-read seminar presentation
• 04/2024 Political Theory Research Group, University of Edinburgh, ‘Depoliticisation in the Neoliberal Moral Economy’, pre-read seminar presentation
• 10/2024 Political Theory Research Group, University of Edinburgh, ‘Prefigurative Practice in a Neoliberal Age’, pre-read seminar presentation
• 03/2024 Political Studies Association Annual International Conference, University of Glasgow, ‘Scottish Social Enterprises: A Path to Radical Renewal or Neoliberal Expansion?’                               

MEMBERSHIPS

• Political Thought Specialist Group, Political Studies Association
• Political Theory Research Group (PTRG), University of Edinburgh
• Centre for Ethics and Critical Thought (CRITIQUE), University of Edinburgh
• Scottish Political Theory Network
• Utopias Reading Group, Newcastle Law School 
• Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE)