Kevin Ward

My research is motivated by a desire to explain and remove urban and economic injustices. Informed by the rich tradition of Marxian political economy work into uneven development and urbanization under capitalism, my own research focus is twofold. First, I have examined the changing geographies of the state, in particular with reference to urban and regional governance and economic and social well-being. Second, I have examined the changing geographies of work and employment, in particular with reference to the relationships between globalization, economic and social restructuring and the reorganization of labour markets. I approach my work as a geographer, while being committed to working in inter-disciplinary teams with academics from various disciplines, such as labour economics, management/business studies, political science, sociology and social policy. This is reflected in the disciplinary backgrounds of those with whom I have collaborated, and the profile of my research publications, which is largely but not exclusively in geography outlets.

I am currently working on four writing projects. First, together will Neil Coe (University of Manchester) and Jennifer Johns (University of Liverpool) I am writing up findings from our ESRC Globalization of Temporary Staffing project. Second, together with Eugene McCann (Simon Fraser University) I am editing a book entitled Assembling Urbanism: Mobilizing Knowledge and Shaping Cities in a Global Context which will be published in 2009 by Minnesota University Press, and more generally working on issues of the mobility of urban policies. Third, I am writing Entrepreneurial Urbanism, a research monograph for Routledge, which draws on work over the last 15 years. Fourth, I continue to work on issues of disciplinary identity and the rich and varied ways in which geographers constructs publics in and through their work.

Year 1

• GEOG12021: First year tutorials.

Year 2

• GE20820: Doing Geographical Research (with Jim Petch).
• GE 20662: Dissertation tutorials.
• New York Fieldcourse (with Mark Jayne, Eric Swyngedouw).

Year 3

• GE3100: Geographies of labour (with Neil Coe).
• GE30700: Third Year Team Projects.

Current and past postgraduate students

Jennifer Watts (2008-) The Institutional Context for Temporary Staffing: a European Cross-National Comparative Study (ESRC funded) (supervised jointly with Neil Coe).

Katharine Jones (2007-)  The role of temporary staffing agencies in facilitating ‘accession eight’ migration into the UK  (ESRC funded) (supervised jointly with Neil Coe).

Ross Jones (2005-) Local labour control regimes and South East Asia (University of Manchester funded) (supervised jointly with Neil Coe). 

Vinny Pattison (2004-) Living wage campaigns the North West of England's economy and society (ESRC funded) (supervised jointly with Neil Coe).

Ian Cook (2003-2008) Neoliberalism in action: state restructuring and urban development (ESRC funded) (supervised jointly with Neil Coe).

Katie May (2003-2006) Global production networks and local economic development: the case of retailing (ESRC funded) (supervised jointly with Neil Coe).

Ramon Ribera (2001-2005) Re-scaling urban governance in Europe (University of Manchester funded) (supervised jointly with Noel Castree).

Anthony Vigor (1999-2003) Resurgent regions? Rethinking regional development within a neoliberal economy (University of Manchester funded) (supervised jointly with Peter Dicken).

PhD topics

I welcome approaches from students about studying for a PhD with me at Manchester.  Please send me, by email, a copy of your CV and a 2 page research proposal which reviews the relevant literature, identifying some central research goals and some subsidiary questions, and outlines a methodology.  Some possible topics include:

• Estate agents and the business of housing supply and demand
• The work of UK cities: economic competitiveness and flexible urban labour
• Housing biographies and the construction of liveable places

2010 Ward K ‘Entrepreneurial urbanism and Business Improvement Districts in the State of Wisconsin: A cosmopolitan critique’, Annals of the Association of American Geographers 100 (forthcoming).

2009 Coe N, Johns J and Ward K ‘Agents of casualisation?  The temporary staffing industry and labour market restructuring in Australia’ 9 Journal of Economic Geography (forthcoming).

2009 Coe N, Johns J and Ward K ‘Managed flexibility: Labour regulation, corporate strategies and market dynamics in the Swedish temporary staffing industry’, European Urban and Regional Studies 16 (forthcoming).

2008 Coe N, Johns, J. and Ward K ‘Flexibility in action: the temporary staffing industry in the Czech Republic and Poland ' Environment and Planning A 40 (forthcoming).

2008 Ward K ‘Editorial – towards a comparative (re)turn in urban studies? Some reflections, Urban Geography 405-410.

2007 Ward K ‘Creating a personality for downtown’: Business Improvement Districts in Milwaukee Urban Geography 28 781-808.

2007 Ward K “Public intellectuals’, geography, its representations and its publics’ Geoforum 38 1058-1064.

2007 Coe N, Johns J and Ward K ‘Mapping the globalization of the temporary staffing industry’ Professional Geographer 59 503-520.

2007 Ward K, ‘Geography and public policy: activist, participatory and policy geographies’ Progress in Human Geography 31 695-705.

2007 Jonas AEG and Ward K, ‘There’s more than one way to be ‘serious’ about city regions’ International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 31 647-656.

2007 Ward K ‘Casino blues’ Environment and Planning A 39 1534-1539.

2007 Ward K ‘Business Improvement Districts: policy origins, mobile policies and urban liveability’ Geography Compass 2 657-672.

2007 Jonas A and Ward K ‘City regions: new geographies of governance, democracy and social reproduction' International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 31 169-178.

2007 Ward K ‘Thinking geographically about work, employment and society’, Work, Employment and Society 21 265-276.

2007 Ward K, Fagan C, McDowell L, Perrons D and Ray K ‘Living and working in working class communities' Geoforum 38 312-325. 

2006 McDowell L, Perrons D, Ward K, Ray K and Fagan C ‘Place, class and local circuits of reproduction: exploring the social geography of middle class child-care in the capital' Urban Studies 43 2163-2182.

2006 Ward K 'Geography and public policy: towards public geographies' Progess in Human Geography 30 495-503.

2006 McDowell, L, Ward K, Fagan C, Perrons D and Ray, K 'Connecting time and spave: the significant of transformations in women's work in the city' (pdf, 120KB) International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 30 54-75.

2006 Ward K and McCann E '"The new path to a new city"? Urban politics twenty-one years after Castells' The City and the Grassroots' (PDF, 63KB) International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 30 189-193.

Authored books

2004 Castree N, Coe N, Ward K, Samers M Spaces of work: global capitalism and the geographies of labour. London: Sage

2002 Beynon H, Grimshaw D, Rubery J, Ward K Managing employment change: the realities of working in Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

2002 Savage M, Warde A, Ward K Urban sociology, modernity and capitalism. Basingstoke: Macmillan.

Edited books

2007 England K and Ward K (Eds.) Neoliberalization: states, networks, peoples. Oxford: Blackwell.

2006 Perrons D, Fagan C, McDowell L, Ray K, Ward K (Eds.) 'Gender Divisions and Working Time in the New Economy: Public Policy and Changing Patterns of Work in Europe and North America'. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

2002 Peck J, Ward K (Eds.) City of revolution: restructuring Manchester. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Qualifications

1998 PhD in Geography, Governing the city: A regime approach (Awarded ESRC Studentship, 1994-1997).

1995 Master of Arts in Social Research Methods.

1992 Master of Arts in Transport Economics (Awarded Rees Jeffreys Full Fellowship, 1991-1992).

Administrative positions

At the University of Manchester:

2008 - Undergraduate Dissertation Tutor, Geography, School of Environment and Development

Outside the University of Manchester:

2006 - Editor (Human Geography) of RGS-IBG book series, Blackwell.

2004 - Member of Antipode editorial board.

Recent research awards

2006-2008 Philip Leverhulme Prize (£50 000).

2004-2006 'The globalisation of the temporary staffing industry' Economic and Social Research Council (with Dr Neil Coe, University of Manchester) (£138 000).

Academic websites of interest

Research

• Geographies of Temporary Staffing Unit
• Geographical Political Economy.
• European Work and Employment Research Centre (EWERC).

Current research projects

• Imaging urban futures.

Organized conferences

• "The work of cities and regions: contemporary experiences of migrant workers".
• Summer Institute in Economic Geography (SIEG).

Editorial responsibilities

• Antipode: a radical journal of geography.
• RGS-IBG Book Series.