Rate My Professor Alex Hughes

Professor Alexandra Hughes is Professor of International Business and Management at Newcastle University Business School. She earned her PhD in Geography from the University of Southampton in 1996. Her academic career includes positions as Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Southampton (1998-1999) and the University of Aberdeen (1995-1998), followed by Lecturer in Human Geography at Newcastle University (1999-2006), Senior Lecturer (2006-2012), Reader in Economic Geography (2012-2017), and Professor of Economic Geography (2017 onwards), before assuming her current role. Hughes serves as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) and has held leadership positions such as Acting Dean of Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and Domain Leader for Inclusive Work and Employment in the Re-imagining Economies research theme. She is a member of editorial boards including the Journal of Economic Geography and the RGS-IBG Book Series published by Wiley-Blackwell.

Hughes specializes in economic geographies, with research focusing on social justice and environmental sustainability in global supply chains, corporate responsibility, sustainable production and consumption, labour standards including forced labour and modern slavery, and antimicrobial resistance in food supply chains. Her work spans sectors such as food, horticulture, textiles, and personal protective equipment, involving interdisciplinary collaborations in countries including Kenya, South Africa, Malawi, Pakistan, Malaysia, Brazil, China, the UK, and the USA. As Principal Investigator of the SCArFEthics project, she has advanced postcolonial perspectives on consumption from the Global South. Key publications include 'Retailers, knowledges and changing commodity networks: the case of the cut flower trade' (2003, 394 citations), 'Geographies of commodity chains' (2004, 345 citations), 'Rethinking governance and value in commodity chains through global recycling networks' (2013, 302 citations), 'Global value chains for medical gloves during the COVID-19 pandemic: Confronting forced labour through public procurement and crisis' (2023), 'The challenges of implementing antibiotic stewardship in diverse poultry value chains in Kenya' (2024), and 'Sustainable Food Consumption in China: Changing Foodscapes, Values and Practices' (2026). Her research has influenced policy on ethical trade, public procurement, and AMR governance.