Publications include articles in African Affairs, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Peace and Change, The Political Quarterly, Race and Class, The Round Table, and Telos.
His doctoral dissertation highlighted the problems confronting Queen's University Belfast in trying to maintain a liberal position in a deeply divided society and helped initiate the reform of sectarian employment practices in higher education in Northern Ireland.
This led him to propose a social transformation theory as a compelling way to bring about democratic peace in societies marked by racial and ethnic division – see his "Northern Ireland: Consociation or Social Transformation" chapter in John McGarry's Northern Ireland and the Divided World (Oxford University Press, 2001).
Taylor participated in a two-year international study of peace and conflict organisations in Northern Ireland, Israel/Palestine and South Africa.
Taylor has published two well-cited papers with Habib (Vice-Chancellor of Wits University) on opposition politics and the state of the South African nonprofit sector.
Taylor was placed on special leave by Wits University in 2013 following allegations of sexual harassment,[2][3][4] which he disputed, and was subsequently dismissed from his position.