Derek Scott Denman

Derek Scott Denman is a postdoctoral researcher and CRIC Guest Researcher in the Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen. His work focuses on political theory, particularly examining the spatial dimensions of politics and power structures.

His research interests include:

• Contemporary Political Theory
• Democratic Theory
• Postcolonial Theory
• Critical Border and Migration Studies
• Architecture and Design in Democracy
• History of Space, Place, and Scale in Political Thought

Denman's current research project, "Fortress Power and the Politics of Spatial Control," examines fortification as a technique of power, tracing practices from early modern fortress architecture to contemporary applications in urban policing and border control. His publications consistently explore intersections between spatial politics, police power, and democratic theory, with significant contributions to understanding how physical structures and spatial arrangements shape political power. Recent work addresses timely issues including pandemic governance, environmental politics, and the representation of policing in media culture.

His notable scholarly contributions include:

• Analysis of police power and colonial legacies in "The Logistics of Police Power" (2020)
• Examination of pandemic politics in "Democratic politics in virulent times" (2022)
• Critical analysis of media representations of policing in "The cinematic universe of copaganda" (2023)

Prior to his position at the University of Copenhagen, Denman was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Göttingen, Germany. He received his PhD in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University in 2015 and served as assistant editor at "Political Theory" from 2012-2015.

Denman actively contributes to scholarly discourse through manuscript reviews for Contemporary Political Theory, Perspectives on Politics, Political Theory, and Pluto Press, demonstrating his engagement with multiple dimensions of contemporary political thought.