Professor Simon Tormey
BA PhD (Wales)
A26 - R.C. Mills Building
The University of Sydney
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Biographical details
Professor Simon Tormey works in the fields of political theory, European politics, social critique and continental thought. He was appointed to Sydney in 2009 as inaugural Head of the newly created School of Social and Political Sciences. Previously he had been Head of the School of Politics and International Relations and founding Director of the Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ) at the University of Nottingham in the UK.
Simon is the author of numerous books and articles including Making Sense of Tyranny: Interpretations of Totalitarianism (Manchester University Press, 1995), Politics at the Edge (co-edited with C Pierson) Agnes Heller: Socialism, Autonomy and the Postmodern (Manchester University Press, 2001), Anti-Capitalism (Oxford: Oneworld, 2004, revised edition 2013), and Key Thinkers from Critical Theory to Post-Marxism (London: Sage, 2006). His most recent books are The End of Representative Politics (Cambridge: Polity, 2015) and The Refiguring of Democracy (London: Routledge, 2017). He has published articles in journals such as Radical Philosophy, Thesis Eleven, The Journal of Political Ideologies, Political Studies, Critique of Anthropology and Historical Materialism. His work has been translated into Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Turkish, Polish, Spanish, Italian, French, Hungarian and German. His current research concerns the nature of the crisis confronting democratic societies, the rise of populism and the impact of ICT on participation and mobilisation.
Simon is co-editor of 'Reappraising the Political' a monograph series with Manchester University Press (with Jon Simons). For many years he was an editor of Contemporary Political Theory, one of the leading theory journals in the world.
Simon is on sabbatical for 2018 but can still be contacted via the usual channels.
Research interests
Chief interests: Political Theory; Political Sociology; European Politics; Critical Theory; Social Movements; Philosophy and Methodology of Social Enquiry.
Teaching and supervision
Simon is always pleased to consider taking on new research students wishing to work in fields allied to his own work and interests. Feel free to contact him directly regarding opportunities.
Current projects
Current projects include:
The Crisis of Representative Politics -Political and philosophical aspects of the erosion of representation (voting, party membership, political trust, collective identities and ideologies). What are the causes and normative consequences of the crisis? Is the rise of populism a cause or an effect of the crisis?
Connective Politics and Governance– various projects looking at the mechanisms by which decentralised social movements mobilise using ICT (Twitter, Facebook, Reddit). What are the consequences of the shift from traditional forms of collective action based around asymetric organisational forms to networks? How can we measure the effectiveness of new political organisations? How does connective politics translate into effective participatory governance?
Digitisation, new media logics and the Political– The current epoch is increasingly framed in terms of the digital revolution. (“the second machine age” etc) What is the impact of the digital in terms of our understanding of how politics works, for whom? What is the impact of new ‘media logics’ (Web.2 etc) on our understanding of political needs and capacities? Does communicative abundance and hyper-mediation reinforce distance, anomie or create new kinds of immediacy in political terms?
In the media
Simon appears regularly in the media commenting in particular on British, EU and European politics for Sky Business, Sky News, ABC News, Bloomberg, CNBC and the BBC. He has a particular interest in Brexit and populism in the European context, and is happy to consider public speaking engagements and talks for schools and colleges on these topics.
Selected grants
2015
- Everyday Social Media Network; Goggin G, Vromen A, Martin F, Bednarek M, Bollmer G, Brevini B, Calvo R, Chen P, Chesher C, Driscoll C, Dwyer T, Elliot A, Hutchinson J, Mann A, Martin G, Michael M, Navarria G, Race K, Rolph D, Tormey S, Weatherall K; Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/FASS Collaborative Research Scheme.
2012
- The Sydney Social Justice Project; Carney T, Celermajer D, Connell R, Freebody P, Goodwin S, Graycar R, Ivison D, Keane J, Kinley D, Meagher G, Schlosberg D, Sluga G, Tormey S; DVC Research/Research Network Scheme (SyReNS).
2011
- Political effects of Cyber-protest in China; Sullivan J, Tormey S; DVC Research/Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Scheme.
2007
- Social Movements in the Developing World; Tormey S; University of Nottingham/Research Support.
2006
- Dean's Fund - to support the development of taught postgraduate programmes on the theme of global; Tormey S; University of Nottingham/Research Support.
- Feasibility Study to investigate developing the global dimension in Education with specific referenc; Tormey S; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)/Research Grant.
- University of Nottingham Graduate School - course development fund; Tormey S; University of Nottingham/Research Support.
- principal applicant for three five year postdoctoral fellowships on the theme 'China, gloabalisati; Tormey S; Research Councils UK (RCUK)/Research Pilot Study.
- 'Global Civil Society' scoping project; Tormey S; University of Nottingham/Research Support.
2005
- University of Nottingham Research Committee funding for a Centre for the Study of Social and Global; Tormey S; University of Nottingham/Research Support.
- Travel Grant - ECPR Joint Workshops, Granada, Spain; Tormey S; University of Nottingham/Travel Grant.
- University of Nottingham Research Leave Enhancement Scheme; Tormey S; University of Nottingham/Research Support.
2004
- Travel Grant - Conference on 'Intensities', Ontario, Canada; Tormey S; University of Nottingham/Travel Grant.
2002
- Travel Grant - international symposium on the work of Agnes Heller, Budapest, Hungary; Tormey S; University of Nottingham/Travel Grant.
Selected publications
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Refiguring Democracy: The Spanish Political Laboratory (Routledge, 2017)
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La reconfiguracion de la democracia: el laboratorio politico espanol (Editorial Comares, 2016)
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The End of Representative Politics (Polity Press, 2015)
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Anti-Capitalism: A Beginners Guide [revised edition] (Oneworld, 2013)
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Key Thinkers from Critical Theory to Post-Marxism (Sage Publications, 2006)
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Anti-Capitalism: A Beginner's Guide (Oneworld, 2004)
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Agnes Heller: Socialism, Autonomy and the Postmodern (Manchester University Press, 2001)
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Politics at the Edge: The PSA Yearbook 1999 (Macmillan Press, 2001)
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Making Sense of Tyranny: Interpretations of Totalitarianism (Manchester University Press, 1995)
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