Urban Geographies of Acid Communism
Funding period: 1 April 2020 – 1 April 2023
Type of funding:
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
Callum is a Postdoctoral Fellow working in The University of Glasgow’s Geography Department. His current work focusses on urban expressions of affective politics. By interrogating the emergent theoretical and activist movement of Acid Communism – a term coined by the late Mark Fisher – he will conduct mixed-method qualitative research across the UK that explores the role of desire in urban activism. Through documentary analysis, participatory action research, and interviews with prominent activist academics, he will explore the utility of Acid Communism as a way of framing urban activist praxis. Building on his previous work on postsecularity, this research will critically assess the libidinal politics of Acid Communism; alert to the importance of ethically-testing any politics of desire on one hand and sketching out tools and techniques for a politics of hope on the other.