Dr James Cockayne

Dr James Cockayne is Professor of Global Politics & Anti-Slavery at the University of Nottingham, and a member of the World Economic Forum Global Futures Council on the New Agenda for Equity and Social Justice. Between 2013 and 2020 James led the New York-based team for United Nations University, where he advised the UN leadership on issues including technology and human rights, cyber governance, parliamentary ethics, private security and global drug policy.

Working with the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Liechtenstein and the Netherlands, James founded and ran the Liechtenstein Initiative for Finance Against Slavery & Trafficking (FAST).

Since returning to Australia in 2020, James has helped set up Investors Against Slavery and Trafficking Asia-Pacific and chaired the US Council on Foreign Relations Study Group on Human Trafficking.

His books include Developing Freedom: The Sustainable Development Case for Ending Modern Slavery (UNU, 2021), and Hidden Power: The Strategic Logic of Organized Crime (OUP, 2016).