Besnik Pula

Besnik Pula (Ph.D., University of Michigan) is Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the International Studies Program. He specializes in international political economy, social theory, and the history of social science, and is recognized for his research on economic globalization in Central and Eastern Europe and the foundations of interpretive social science.

Dr. Pula’s first book, Globalization Under and After Socialism (Stanford, 2018), draws on archival research and fieldwork across five countries. The book challenges prevailing views on how post-socialist European economies transformed after the fall of communism. His latest work, Alfred Schutz, Phenomenology, and the Renewal of Interpretive Social Science (Routledge, 2024), re-examines the legacy of philosopher Alfred Schutz and explores how phenomenology can revitalize social science today.

His research has appeared in leading journals, including the International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society; New Political Economy; Government and Opposition; Comparative Studies in Society and History; Theory and Society; Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior; and East European Politics.

Currently, Dr. Pula is studying how expert and everyday knowledge shaped the spread of computing technology during and after the Cold War. His project investigates the global diffusion of civilian computing through the lens of technology governance, revealing how knowledge practices have shaped the social adoption of computing since the 1940s.

Before joining Virginia Tech, Dr. Pula held academic appointments at Princeton University, New York University, Binghamton University, and Haverford College. He has received fellowships from organizations such as the National Science Foundation, Fulbright-Hays, the International Research and Exchanges Board, the National Council for East European and Eurasian Research, and the American Council for Learned Societies. Most recently, he advised the Government of Kosovo on establishing its sovereign wealth fund. In Spring 2026, Dr. Pula will serve as Visiting Professor of Social Science at the University of Vienna.