Julie Emilie Sharon Hoffmann

Julie Hoffmann is a PhD candidate in the Department of Development Studies at SOAS, University of London. Her doctoral research examines the structural limits of technical and financial responses to price volatility in global agricultural markets.

Through a combination of qualitative research methods—including interviews with farmers and industry actors, as well as a case study of an agricultural technology start-up—her work explores how market-based risk management tools, such as price protection mechanisms, are shaped by neoliberal frameworks.  By integrating complexity theory, risk analysis, and discourse analysis, she argues that volatility is not an occasional disruption but a structural feature of globalised agriculture, exacerbated by climate change and financialisation.  

Julie’s research is grounded in a political economy approach and contributes to ongoing debates about resilience, uncertainty, and the governance of agricultural risk. Her work aims to inform more inclusive and adaptive models of risk management that go beyond technical fixes to address deeper systemic challenges.  In addition to her research, Julie has extensive teaching experience. She served as a teaching assistant for the postgraduate course Theory, Policy and Practice of Development at SOAS, where she led seminars and supported students engaging with key debates in development theory. She also co-designed and co-convened an undergraduate course at Sciences Po in Paris, focusing on the practical dimensions of development, with a particular emphasis on agriculture, finance, and philanthropy. 

Her teaching draws on both academic research and field-based experience, with the aim of equipping students not only with critical perspectives, but also with useful questions and frameworks for navigating development challenges and entering the workforce.  Julie holds degrees in Economics and Anthropology and has professional experience in agricultural technology and the start-up sector.

• Political economy of agriculture and food systems 
• Risk and uncertainty in global agricultural markets 
• Financialisation and market-based risk management tools 
• Climate change, resilience, and complexity theory in agriculture 
• Alternative models of agricultural risk governance