Mathew Humphrey

Contact

• workRoom C23 Law and Social Sciences
  University Park
  Nottingham
  NG7 2RD
  UK
• work0115 95 14864
• fax0115 95 14859
• mathew.humphrey@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

Professor of Political Theory and Co-Director, Centre for the Study of Political Ideologies.

I left school at 16 and joined what was then British Rail, on the footplate. After a decade or so I'd had enough of driving trains around the Kent countryside, and couldn't imagine doing it for another forty years without succumbing to some kind of madness. Education seemed like a way out, so I took some part-time A-levels, applied to go to university, and eleven years after joining BR I left, heading for Bath to read Economics and Politics as a mature student. It was culture shock, but I adapted rather better than I ever expected to, and came out with a good enough degree to then go to Oxford for an MPhil. If Bath was like going to another country, Oxford was like interplanetary travel. Deeply weird but, after some deep breaths, also very inspiring.

Now Professor of Political Theory and (from Jan 1st 2021) Editor of the Journal of Political Ideologies.

DPhil, Nuffield College, Oxford 1998

MPhil, Nuffield College, Oxford, 1995

BSc. Economics and Politics (1st Class Hons), Bath, 1993

Expertise Summary

Theories of Ideology

Environmental Political Theory

Riders' Rights and the Politics of Motorcycling

Research Summary

My current research involves the conceptual analysis of ideological discourse, in particular the study of political ideas as they operate at the 'everyday' level. Recent work in this field includes a… read more

Recent Publications

• ANDERSSON-HUDSON, JESSICA, ROSE, JONATHAN, HUMPHREY, MATHEW, KNIGHT, WIL and O'HARA, SARAH, 2019. The Structure of Attitudes Towards shale Gas Extraction in the United Kingdom Energy Policy. 129, 693-697
• HUMPHREY, MATHEW, UMBACH, MAIKEN and CLULOW, ZEYNEP, 2019. The political is personal: an analysis of crowd-sourced political ideas and images from a Massive Open Online Course Journal of Political Ideologies. 24(2), 121-138
• MAIKEN UMBACH and MATHEW HUMPHREY, 2018. Authenticity: The Cultural History of a Political Concept Palgrave Pivot.
• EVENSEN, DARRICK, STEDMAN, RICHARD, O'HARA, SARAH, HUMPHREY, MATHEW and ANDERSSON-HUDSON, JESSICA, 2017. Variation in Beliefs About 'Fracking' Between the UK and the US Environmental Research Letters. 12, 124004

• View all publications

Current Research

My current research involves the conceptual analysis of ideological discourse, in particular the study of political ideas as they operate at the 'everyday' level. Recent work in this field includes a conceptual history of the idea of 'authenticity' across various domains, and an analysis of crowd-sourced comments and images on key political concepts such as justice, freedom, and community. Publications include:

1. Humphrey, M., Umbach, M & Clulow, Z. (forthcoming 2019) 'The Political is Personal: An Analysis of Crowd-Sourced Political Ideas and Images from a Massive Open Online Course' Journal of Political Ideologies 24(2)
2. Authenticity: The Cultural History of a Political Concept London: Palgrave Pivot (Jan 2018) ISBN: 978-3-319-68565-6 (50% with M. Umbach).

From 2015-2017 I was also a lead-educator on a 'Massive Open Online Course' Propaganda and Ideology in Everyday Life, convened in conjunction with The British Library.

My other main area of interest is in environmental politics. I currently have two projects running in this area.

1. I lead the UoN Social Science strand for 'ENOS: Enabling Onshore CO2 Storage in Europe'. This is a multidisciplinary Euro12.3m Horizon 2020 funded project working with partners in The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic and elsewhere, working to test the viability of onshore CO2 storage technology, from experimental work to pilot sites.

2. The second area of work explores public attitudes to shale gas in the UK. University of Nottingham surveys on public attitudes to shale gas have been running since 2012 and have featured prominently media stories about shale gas development.

I am Co-director of The Centre for the Study of Political Ideologies (CSPI), established with Michael Freeden and Maiken Umbach in 2013. Viewing ideology as neither (necessarily) a form of false consciousness, nor as rigid, doctrinaire political thinking, but rather as a term for structured patterns of political concepts that help people to make sense of the world around them, we are engaged with a number of research projects relating to 'vernacular' forms of political thinking. This includes comparative work with colleagues in the North America and China.

• ANDERSSON-HUDSON, JESSICA, ROSE, JONATHAN, HUMPHREY, MATHEW, KNIGHT, WIL and O'HARA, SARAH, 2019. The Structure of Attitudes Towards shale Gas Extraction in the United Kingdom Energy Policy. 129, 693-697
• HUMPHREY, MATHEW, UMBACH, MAIKEN and CLULOW, ZEYNEP, 2019. The political is personal: an analysis of crowd-sourced political ideas and images from a Massive Open Online Course Journal of Political Ideologies. 24(2), 121-138
• MAIKEN UMBACH and MATHEW HUMPHREY, 2018. Authenticity: The Cultural History of a Political Concept Palgrave Pivot.
• EVENSEN, DARRICK, STEDMAN, RICHARD, O'HARA, SARAH, HUMPHREY, MATHEW and ANDERSSON-HUDSON, JESSICA, 2017. Variation in Beliefs About 'Fracking' Between the UK and the US Environmental Research Letters. 12, 124004
• ANDERSSON-HUDSON, JESSICA, KNIGHT, WILLIAM, HUMPHREY, MATHEW and O'HARA, SARAH, 2016. Exploring support for shale gas extraction in the United Kingdom Energy Policy. 98(November), 582-589
• STEDMAN, R.C.,, EVESEN, D, O'HARA, S.L. and HUMPHREY, M., 2016. Comparing the relationship between knowledge and support for hydraulic fracturing between residents of the United States and the United Kingdom Energy Research and Social Science. 20, 142-148
• HUMPHREY, M., 2012. Getting 'real' about political ideas: conceptual morphology and the realist critique of Anglo-American political philosophy. In: JACKSON, B. and STEARS, M., eds., Liberalism as ideology: essays in honour of Michael Freeden Oxford University Press. 241-258
• STEARS, M. and HUMPHREY, M., 2012. Public reason and political action: justifying citizen behavior in actually existing democracies The Review of Politics. 74(2), 285-306
• HUMPHREY, MATHEW, 2010. Green Political Theory. In: BELL, DUNCAN, ed., Ethics and World Politics Oxford University Press. 181-199
• HUMPHREY, M I, 2009. Mapping the Moral Future: Environmental Problems and What We Owe to Future Generations Res Publica. 15(1), 85-95
• HUMPHREY, M., 2009. Rational irrationality and simulation in environmental politics: the example of climate change Government and Opposition. 44(2), 146-166
• HUMPHREY, M I, 2008. Seeing is Believing?: Aesthetics and the Politics of the Environment Environmental Politics. 17(1), 138-146
• HUMPHREY, M., 2008. Environmentalism, fairness, and public reasons Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy. 11(2), 177-192
• HUMPHREY, M. I., 2008. Rational Irrationality and the 'Paradox' of Climate Change BC Journal of International Affairs. Fall, 117-126
• HUMPHREY, M., 2007. `Imagined Autonomy': or, Any Colour You Like, as Long as it's Green CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL THEORY. VOL 6(NUMB 2), 246-261
• HUMPHREY, M.I., 2007. Ecological politics and democratic theory: the challenge to the deliberative ideal London: Routledge.
• HUMPHREY, M.I., ed., 2006. Taking Ideology Seriously: 21st Century Reconfigurations Routledge, London and New York.
• HUMPHREY, M. and STEARS, M., 2006. Animal rights protest and the challenge to deliberative democracy Economy and Society. 35(3), 400-422
• HUMPHREY, M., 2006. Democratic legitimacy, public justification and environmental direct action Political Studies. 54(2), 310-327
• HUMPHREY, M., 2005. (De)Contesting Ideology: The Struggle over the Meaning of the Struggle over Meaning Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy. VOL 8(NUMB 2), 225-246
• HUMPHREY, M.I., 2004. ÄEcology, Democracy and Autonomy: a Problem of Wishful Thinking. In: Liberal Democracy and Environmentalism Routledge, London and New York. 115-126
• HUMPHREY, M.I., 2003. Nonbasic environmental goods and social justice. In: BELL, D.A. and DE-SHALIT, A., eds., Forms of Justice: Critical Responses to David Millers Political Philosophy. Rowman and Littlefield, Inc, Boulder. 331-46
• HUMPHREY, M.I., 2003. Environmental policy. In: DUNLEAVY, P ET AL., ed., Developments in British Politics 7 Palgrave Macmillan Ltd, Basingstoke, UK. 302-20
• HUMPHREY, M.I., 2003. Intuition, reason, and environmental argument. In: LIGHT, A. and DE-SHALIT, A., eds., Moral and Political Reasoning in Environmental Practice. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.. 45-76
• HUMPHREY, M.I., 2002. The ideologies of green welfare. In: FITZPATRICK, T. and CAHILL, M., eds., Environment and welfare: towards a green social policy Palgrave Macmillan Ltd, Basingstoke, UK. 43-60
• HUMPHREY, M.I., 2002. Preservation versus the people? Nature, humanity, and political philosophy Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• HUMPHREY, M., 2001. Three Conceptions of Irreversibility and Environmental Ethics: Some Problems Environmental Politics. VOL 10(PART 1), 138-154
• HUMPHREY, M., 2001. Reassessing Ecology and Political Theory Environmental Politics. VOL 10(PART 1), 1-6
• HUMPHREY, M.I., ed., 2001. Political Theory and the Environment: a Reassessment Cass (Frank) & Co. Ltd, Liford, Essex, UK.
• HUMPHREY, M., 2000. `Nature' in deep ecology and social ecology: contesting the core Journal of Political Ideologies. VOL 5(PART 2), 247-268
• 2000. Ontological Determinism and Deep Ecology: Evading the Moral Questions?. In: Beneath the Surface: Critical Essays in the Philosophy of Deep Ecology MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.. 85-105
• HUMPHREY, M., 1999. Deep Ecology and the Irrelevance of Morality Environmental Ethics. VOL 21(NUMBER 1), 75-80
• HUMPHREY, M., 1997. The "Self-Realization Thesis" in Deep Ecology: Beyond Politics. In: Contemporary Political Studies 1997 Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom, Belfast, UK. 598-606