Dr Noel Longhurst
| Job Title | Contact | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Senior Research Associate |
N dot Longhurst at uea dot ac dot uk
Tel: +44 (0)1603 59 1385 |
ZICER Building 1.15 |
Biography
My PhD research was undertaken in the Geography department at the University of Liverpool (2006 – 2010). It was a study of how the town of Totnes in the UK emerged as a centre of ‘Alternative’ culture and the extent to which such places support the development of grassroots postcapitalist institutions. The thesis reveals the processes that led to the emergence of a countercultural milieu in the area and some of the effects that this has had. Ultimately it argues that such places can create the conditions for radical experimentation and innovation but that it is not necessarily any easier to construct long-lasting and viable postcapitalist economic institutions. The thesis has a strong ethnographic core due to the fact that I lived in the field for two years and undertook participatory research with the emerging Transition Towns movement.
My current research project is Grassroots Innovation: Complementary Currencies is exploring the field of complementary currencies using insights from innovation theory, in particular from the Sustainability Transitions literature. We are interested in whether such theories can help explain the innovation trajectory of different system types but also how these particular forms of non-market innovation can inform theory which is often focused on the scaling up of market based innovation.
Before I returned to academia to undertake my PhD I had a career in economic and community development. I was Director of Operations at Keystone Development Trust in Thetford, Norfolk where I helped to lead a successful transition from reliance on government funding to becoming an economically self-sustaining entity. I have also been a Senior Regeneration Consultant and Director of a workers’ co-operative that provided specialist advice to social enterprises and ethical businesses. My first degree was in Communication Studies and Politics (University of Leeds, 1997) and I have a Masters degree in European Political Economy (University of Sheffield, 2000).
Key Research Interests
The first is Political Economy. I am interested in the theorisation of capitalism, as well as the development of practical and theoretical alternatives. Given that my PhD was within human geography I often have a particular interest in the economic geographies of such alternatives. In particular I am interested in New Economics, postcapitalism, sustainable consumption, the impacts of energy depletion, Cultural Political Economy, the social economy, post-consumerism, steady-state economics, community economic development and the solidarity economy.
The second area of interest is Innovation Studies. My current work draws on the sustainability innovation literature and the evolution of complex socio-technical systems. I am also interested in theories of technological change and transition, social innovation, and grassroots innovation: Innovation from civil society and social movements.
The third theme is alternative space and place. I am interested in the production of ‘alternative’ or countercultural space and place and how this can be theorised and understood. Empirical examples include alternative quarters, eco-villages, low impact communities, utopian communities and bohemian enclaves.
Significant Publications
(forthcoming) North P. and Longhurst, N. Grassroots localisation: the potential of and limits of the ‘Transition’ approach to climate change and resource constraint. [under review for an Urban Studies special edition]
(forthcoming) Hargreaves, T., Haxeltine, A., Longhurst, N. and Seyfang, G. Putting civil society into sustainability transitions: the multi-level perspective and social practice theory. [under review)
(forthcoming) Longhurst, N. The Totnes Pound: A grassroots technological niche in Enterpising Communities: Grassroots sustainability innovations. Edited by A. Davies. Bingley: Emerald. [peer reviewed and accepted for publication]
(2011) Stott, N. and Longhurst, N. Big Society and Poor Places. In The Big Society Challenge Edited by Stott, M., Thetford: Keystone Development Trust Publications.
(2010) Longhurst, N. Twinned with Narnia? The postcapitalist possibilities of a countercultural place. PhD Thesis, University of Liverpool. Available from http://scr.bi/j9c0fS
(2010) O’Neill, D., Scott Cato, M., Mellor, M. and Longhurst, N. Enough Debt: Reforming the Monetary System. In Enough is Enough: Ideas for a sustainable economy in a world of finite resources. The report of the Steady State Economy Conference Edited by O’Neill, D., Deitz, R., and Jones, N. Leeds: Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy and Economic Justice for All.
(2009) Longhurst, N., The Totnes Pound in North, P. The Transition Guide to Money Dartington: Green Books.
