David Held was born in 1951 in Britain where he spent most of his childhood. He was educated in Britain, France, Germany and the United States. He has held numerous Visiting Appointments in the United States, Australia, Canada and Spain, among other places. In the last five years he has lectured regularly on questions of democracy, international justice and globalization to audiences in many countries. 

Eighteen years ago David Held co-founded Polity, which is now a major presence in social science and humanities publishing.

David Held's main research interests include rethinking democracy at transnational and international levels and the study of globalization and global governance. He has strong interests both in political theory and in the more empirical dimensions of political analysis.