John Urry
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- For the 17th century English soldier also known as John Urry, see John Hurry.
John Urry is a Professor of Sociology at Lancaster University who is currently noted for his work in the fields of the sociology of tourism and mobility. He has previously written books on many other aspects of modern society including the transition away from 'organised capitalism', the sociology of nature and environmentalism, and social theory in general. Professor Urry is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Founding Academician of the UK Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences and a Visiting Professor at both Bristol and Roskilde Geography Departments.
Born in London, UK, and educated at the Haberdashers' Aske's Boys School, Urry gained his first degrees from Christ's College, Cambridge in 1967, a ‘double first' BA and MA in Economics, before going on to gain his PhD Sociology from the same insitution in 1972. He arrived at Lancaster University Sociology department as a Lecturer in 1970, becoming head of department in 1983 and a Professor in 1985.
[edit] Research interests
His original research interests were in the sociology of power and revolution and this resulted in the publication of Reference Groups and the Theory of Revolution (1973) and Power in Britain (1973).
Early work at Lancaster was in the area of social theory and the philosophy of the social sciences. This resulted in the jointly written Social Theory as Science, (1975, 1982), which set out the main features of the realist philosophy of science. Critical confrontation with a number of Marxist traditions, of Althusserian structuralism, German state theory, and neo-Gramscian, resulted in The Anatomy of Capitalist Societies (1981).
Research in the 1980s and 1990s over the last twenty years has focused on five main areas.
First, there was the urban and regional research mainly associated with the Lancaster Regionalism Group. Collaborative research resulted in Localities, Class and Gender (1985) and Restructuring. Place, Class and Gender (1990) Two particular themes have been pursued: the relationship between society and space (as in the Social Relations and Spatial Structures, co-edited with Derek Gregory, 1985); and the possibilities of developing local economic policies (as in Place, Policy and Politics, 1990).
The second area of research has been in the more general dimensions of economic and social change in western capitalist societies. This has resulted in three jointly written books, Capital, Labour and the Middle Classes (1983); The End of Organized Capitalism (1987); and Economies of Signs and Space (1994; latter two with Scott Lash).
Third, research focused upon one particular set of industries that are of particular significance in contemporary western societies, namely consumer services and especially tourist-related services. The economic, social, environmental and cultural implications of such developments can be seen in The Tourist Gaze (1990, 2002: 2nd edn.), Consuming Places (1995), Touring Cultures (1997, edited with Chris Rojek), Tourism Mobilities (2004, edited with Mimi Sheller), and Performing Tourist Places (with J-O Barenholdt, M Haldrup, J. Larsen). This concern was extended to issues of environmental change and the 'sociology of nature' see Contested Natures (1998) and Bodies of Nature (2001) (both with Phil Macnaghten).
Fourth, there are various research projects and publications relating to the changing nature of mobility. Publications include: Sociology Beyond Societies (2000), a special issue of Theory, Culture and Society, (Aug 2004 on Automobilities coedited with Mike Feathersone, Nigel Thrift); Mobile Technologies of the City (2006; coedited with Mimi Sheller). John Urry also directs the Centre for Mobilities Research.
Finally , John Urry has been exploring some implications of complexity theory for the social sciences. Publications here include Global Complexity (2003), and Complexity, a special double issue of Theory, Culture and Society (2005).
He is also one of the founding editors of the new journal Mobilities, and has been the editor of the International Library of Sociology since 1990 (Routledge).
[edit] Books published=
(excluding foreign language editions; books translated into 10+ languages)
1973 Reference Groups and the Theory of Revolution, Routledge and Kegan Paul
1973 Power in Britain, Heinemann Education (co edited with John Wakeford)
1975 Social Theory as Science, Routledge and Kegan Paul (with Russell Keat)
1981 The Anatomy of Capitalist Societies, Macmillan
1982 Social Theory as Science, Second Edition, Routledge and Kegan Paul (with Russell Keat)
1983 Capital, Labour and the Middle Classes, Allen and Unwin (with Nick Abercrombie)
1985 Social Relations and Spatial Structures, Macmillan (co edited with Derek Gregory)
1985 Localities, Class, and Gender, Pion (with Lancaster Regionalism Group)
1987 The End of Organized Capitalism, Polity (with Scott Lash)
1988 Contemporary British Society, Polity (with Nick Abercrombie, Alan Warde, Keith Soothill, Sylvia Walby).
1990 Localities, Policies, Politics. Do Localities Matter?, Hutchinson (co edited with Michael Harloe, Chris Pickvance).
1990 Restructuring. Place, Class and Gender, Sage (with other members of the Lancaster Regionalism Group).
1990 The Tourist Gaze, Sage.
1989-96 Schools of Thought in Sociology, General Editor of 18 vols, Edward Elgar.
1994 Economies of Signs and Space, Sage (with Scott Lash)
1994 Contemporary British Society, Second Edition, Polity (with Nick Abercrombie, Alan Warde, Keith Soothill, Sylvia Walby)
1994 Leisure Landscapes, Main Report and Background Papers, CPRE (with Gordon Clark, Jan Darrall, Robin Grove-White, Phil Macnaghten)
1995 Consuming Places, Routledge
1997 Touring Cultures, Routledge (co edited with Chris Rojek)
1998 Contested Natures, Sage (with Phil Macnaghten)
2000 Sociology for the New Millennium. Special issue of the British Journal of Sociology (commissioned: contributors include Castells, Wallerstein, Beck, Sassen, Therborn)
2000 Sociology beyond Societies, Routledge
2000 Contemporary British Society, Third Edition, Polity (with Nick Abercrombie, Alan Warde et al)
2000 Bodies of Nature. Special issue of Body and Society 6 (commissioned: co edited with Phil Macnaghten)
2001 Bodies of Nature. Sage (co edited with Phil Macnaghten)
2002 The Tourist Gaze. Second Edition, Sage
2003 Global Complexity, Polity
2004 Presence-Absence. Special issue of Environment and Planning A: Society and Space 22 (co edited with Michel Callon and John Law)
2004 Automobilities. Special issue of Theory, Culture and Society 21 (co edited with Mike Featherstone and Nigel Thrift)
2004 Tourism Mobilities. Places to Play, Places in Play, Routledge (co edited with Mimi Sheller)
2004 Performing Tourist Places, Ashgate (with Bærenholdt, J. O., Haldrup, M., Larsen, J.) 2005Complexity. Special Issue of Theory, Culture and Society 22 1- 270
2005 Automobilities. London: Sage (co edited with Featherstone, M., Thrift, N.) 285 pp.
2005 Sociologie de Mobilités: Une nouvelle frontiére pour la sociologie?, Paris, Armand Colin, 251pp.
2006 Mobilities and Materialities. Special issue of Environment and Planning A (co-edited with M. Sheller)
2006 Mobile Technologies of the City, London: Routledge (coedited with M. Sheller)
2006 Mobilities, Polity (in preparation)
2006 Mobilities, Geographies, Networks, London: Ashgate (with J. Larsen, K.Axhausen)
[edit] References
