Simon Springer

Affiliation: I am Professor of Human Geography, Head of Discipline for Geography and Environmental Studies, and Director of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of Newcastle, Australia.

Previously I was Professor (July 2018-Nov 2018), Associate Professor (July 2015-June 2018), and Assistant Professor (July 2012-June 2015) at the University of Victoria, Canada, Lecturer (Dec 2010-June 2012) at the University of Otago, New Zealand, and Assistant Professor (July 2009-Dec 2010) at the National University of Singapore.

(Source: AnarchistGeography.com.)

A Professor of Human Geography, Simon is the Director of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies at the UON. He works in the area of social and political geography, with a particular interest in anarchist philosophy.

He wants you to know that anarchy is not about burning banks or storming parliament.

“The way that the bulk of society interprets anarchism, and the motivations of anarchists, are entirely off base,” he says.

Instead, Simon argues that the history of anarchist theory and practice primarily centers on the promotion of cooperation and mutual aid through voluntary association and non-hierarchical organization.

Hence, his work is more about the power of community than revolutionary chaos. He even describes the focus of his work as the everyday practices of anarchism in mundane spaces.

“Agreeing to watch your neighbors kids, carpooling to work, sharing a meal with some friends. These are all routine practices of mutual aid, which is what the heart of anarchist practice is all about.”

(Source: newcastle.edu.au.)

Simon Springer is based at the University of Victoria, Canada in the Department of Geography. His research agenda explores the social and political exclusions that neoliberalism has engendered, particularly in post-transitional Cambodia, where he emphasizes the geographies of violence and power. He cultivates a cutting edge theoretical approach to his scholarship by foregrounding both poststructuralist critique and a radical revival of anarchist philosophy. Simon’s books include 'The Anarchist Roots of Geography: Towards Spatial Emancipation' (University of Minnesota Press, 2016), 'The Discourse of Neoliberalism: An Anatomy of a Powerful Idea' (Rowman & Littlefield), 'Violent Neoliberalism: Development, Discourse and Dispossession in Cambodia' (Palgrave Macmillan), and 'Cambodia’s Neoliberal Order: Violence, Authoritarianism, and the Contestation of Public Space' (Routledge). His edited books include 'The Handbook of Neoliberalism' (Routledge), 'The Handbook of Contemporary Cambodia' (Routledge) and the 'Anarchism, Geography and the Spirit of Revolt' trilogy (Rowman & Littlefield). He serves as Managing Editor of ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies and is coeditor of the Transforming Capitalism book series published by Rowman & Littlefield.

(Source: TheConversation.com.)