Andy Merrifield
Background
He was born in Liverpool, UK.[1] Merrifield received his PhD from Oxford University in 1993.[1] He subsequently lived in France. [1]
In 2011–12 he was a Leverhulme Fellow at the University of Manchester.[2] As of 2015, he was Supernumerary Fellow in Human Geography at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge.[3]
Scholarship
Merrifield is a prolific writer, and was a leading proponent of the idea of 'The Right to the City', a phrase associated with Henri Lefebvre. In later work he supports the 'politics of the encounter' in a globalised world, rather than the more restrictive 'right' to urban space.[3][4] He draws heavily on the work of Lefebvre and his theories.[5]
Merrifield has published articles in various left-wing publications and mainstream magazines and newspapers, including New Left Review,[6] Adbusters and The Nation.[7]
A departure was signalled by his 2008 book, The Wisdom of Donkeys, completed after his departure from academia in the US. It offers insights into a slowing of life and having time for reflection, while undertaking a journey on foot with a donkey through France's Auvergne region. The book has proven popular worldwide: for example, copies are on display at the gift shop at the Grand Canyon Village in Arizona.[8] Subsequent books reflecting on life and people are listed below.
Awards and honors
- 2012 Bread and Roses Award, shortlist, Magical Marxism[9]
Books
- The Urbanization of Injustice (ed. with Erik Swyngedouw, NYU Press, 1997)
- Dialectical Urbanism (2002)
- Metromarxism: A Marxist Tale of the City (2002) (Turkish, Phoenix Yayinevi, 2012)
- Guy Debord (Reaktion Books, 2005) (Chinese, University of Beijing Press, 2011)
- Henri Lefebvre: A Critical Introduction (Routledge, 2006)
- The Wisdom of Donkeys: Finding Tranquility in a Chaotic World (Bloomsbury, 2008) (Die Weisheit der Esel Ruhe finden in einer chaotischen Welt. München Nymphenburger 2009; L'âne de Schubert. Actes Sud, 2008)
- Magical Marxism: Subversive Politics and the Imagination (Pluto Press, 2011)
- John Berger (Reaktion Books, 2012)
- The Politics of the Encounter: Urban Theory and Protest under Planetary Urbanization. (University of Georgia Press, 2013)
- The New Urban Question (Pluto Press, 2014)
- The Amateur: The Pleasures of Doing What You Love (Verso, 2017)
- What We Talk About When We Talk About Cities (and Love) (OR Books, 2018)
References
- Thwaite, Mark (25 November 2005). "Andrew Merrifield (interview)". readysteadybook.com. Ready Steady Book... for literature. Archived from the original on 20 August 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2009.
- "Staff profile: Andrew Merrifield". staffprofiles.humanities.manchester.ac.uk. University of Manchester.
- "Profile page: ANDY MERRIFIELD, D.Phil. (Oxon)". murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk. Murray Edwards College, Cambridge. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015.
- Staff writer (17 January 2013). "Author meets critics". International Journal of Urban and Regional Research Via Wiley-Blackwell.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) Pdf.
- Andy Merrifield (2012). Discussion: Whither Urban Studies. University of Manchester via YouTube.
- Merrifield, Andy (November–December 2000). "Chronicle of a city foretold". New Left Review. New Left Review. II (6).CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Review of the book Magical Urbanism: Latinos Reinvent the US Big City by Mike Davis.
- Staff writer. "Author bios: Andy Merrifield". thenation.com. The Nation. Archived from the original on 24 April 2010.
- Lewis, Roger (21 June 2008). "The Wisdom of Donkeys". The Daily Telegraph. London.
- Alison Flood (6 March 2012). "New prize for radical writing announces shortlist". The Guardian. London. Retrieved May 2, 2012.