DR Jon Phillips
| Biography | I am a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Development in the Department of Development Studies at SOAS. Originally trained in the natural sciences, I now research and teach on the politics of social and environmental change, including low carbon economies and energy resources. Before joining SOAS in 2021, I worked as a Lecturer in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge and a postdoctoral researcher in Geography at the University of Exeter. My doctoral research was in Geography at King's College London. |
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| Research Interests | My research analyses how nature matters in the exercise and contestation of social power, and how inequalities are produced through the management of environmental change. I am particularly interested in how the inequalities of fossil fuel economies are reproduced, reduced, or reconfigured in low carbon economies. I use political economy and geographical ideas to analyse the uneven spatial development of energy and resources, and their political alternatives. Past and current research has analysed oil production in Ghana, electricity generation in Kenya, carbon markets in India, urban infrastructure in South Africa, and charcoal in Uganda. This work has contributed to understanding the political economy of energy transitions, power in climate governance, and contestation of extractive frontiers. The research I have enjoyed most has been collaborative, including working with community organisers and municipal governments |
| Teaching and Learning | I teach on campus and online programmes in the Department of Development Studies, including core topics in political economy and sociology of development, as well as specialisms in climate change mitigation, energy transitions, poverty, and urban change. Much of my teaching emphasises geographical theory and the importance of geographical concepts such as space and place in understanding development processes and politics. I convene the MSc International Development (Online) and have a particular interest in online pedagogies and curriculum design. |
| PhD Supervision Availability | Yes |
| PhD Topics | I welcome PhD proposals on a wide range of topics and conceptual approaches to understanding environmental politics, including the politics and social change associated with low carbon energy, fossil fuels, extractive industries, infrastructure, conservation or climate change mitigation |