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My main areas of research specialism are psychoanalysis and social and political theory. My current work revolves around the study of utopias. I recently published a monograph on Routledge, entitled ‘Tocqueville’s Virus: Utopia and Dystopia in Western Social and Political Thought’, and I am currently in the process of writing another book, entitled ‘Planet Utopia’. The main objective of my ‘Tocqueville’s Virus’ monograph was to explore the relationship between utopias and dystopias in western social and political theory and explore how theoretical conceptualisations of utopia and dystopia related to particular historical social and political contexts. The central idea behind my current research is that recent declarations of the death of utopia are wide of the mark and that in actual fact it might be more accurate to call our contemporary global society a society of utopias. I set this thesis up in the first part of the book, which traces the social and political history of utopia / dystopia from the original theorist of globalisation, Plato, to the evolution of the American ideology, which takes in reference to Hobbes, Locke, Fukuyama, Huntington. In the second half of the book I test my thesis about the post-historical age of utopias through a number of case studies: the existence of highly polarised societies such as South Africa and Brazil, which rely on highly segregated utopian-dystopian spaces such as gated complexes and mega-slums to secure social order, the recent history of anti-capitalism, which has arisen as a response to the massive social, political, and economic inequalities that scar global society, the recent re-emergence of socialism in Latin America, and the endless war in Palestine-Israel, which fuses the ideas of utopia and dystopia together in a war over the landscape of the Holy land and Revelation. Apart from publication, my research activities also involve editorial duties with the journals, Sociological Review and Cultural Politics. I am Reviews Editor for both publications. I am also a regular reviewer for Theory, Culture and Society, Body and Society, Routledge, Oxford University Press, and University of Toronto. Regarding my teaching activities, I lead undergraduate options modules on globalisation, the sociology of utopia and dystopia, and the city in social and political thought. I also contribute to core modules in classical sociology (Marx, Weber, Durkheim), political sociology (the evolution of modernity, modern economy, modern legal subjectivity, modern democracy), and 20th century social theory (Simmel, Foucault, Baudrillard). Apart from teaching on the Sociology programme, I also contribute to the Media and Cultural Studies degree at Keele. My main contribution to this course is a module called Analysing Culture which considers the history of the idea of culture in social thought. Beyond my teaching at Keele, I am also Visiting Associate Professor at Ferris University, Yokohama, where I offer courses in British Sociology, Social and Political Thought, and Globalisation to both undergraduate and graduate students. TeachingTwentieth Century Social Theory ResearchMy research specialisms are psychoanalysis and critical theory. My current work revolves around the study of utopias and dystopias in social and political theory.
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