Dr Keir Milburn

Lecturer in Political Economy and Organisation

Contact details

Tel: +44 (0) 116 252 2008
Email: km256@le.ac.uk
Office: Room 610, Level 6, Ken Edwards building
Office hours: Friday 2.00 pm - 3.00 pm

Personal details

I hold a PhD in Politics, an MA in Cultural Studies and a BA in Political Studies. I joined the School of Management in April 2011, having previously taught at the University of Leeds.

I am currently the director of the Centre for Philosophy and Political Economy (CPPE).

In addition, I am a member of the writing collective The Free Association.

Teaching

MN1009 Foundations of Knowledge (core 1st-year module on BA Management Studies)
MN1015 Management Tutorials
MN2120 Business Environment (core 2nd-year module on BA Management Studies)
MN2125 Crisis/Management (optional 2nd-year module on BA Management Studies)
MN7263 Business Environment (core module on MSc Management)

Research

My research takes place on the boundaries between organisational theory, political theory and cultural studies.

My recent focus has been on social movement organisation. More technically, I am most well known for my research on how organisational structures are impacted by transformation in the subjectivities, values and desires that animate them.

Such problems are most obviously faced by organisations whose aims necessarily involve transformations in the subjectivities that people them. One example is social movement organisations, but I also have a growing interest in how organisations can transition in the face of climate change.

Supervision

I am interested in supervising students who share any of my research interests. I currently supervise two doctoral students:

Gareth Brown - 'Can a Knife of Shadows Cut Real Flesh from a Living Tree? The Organisation of Imaginal Commons'
Margherita Grazioli - 'The mobile commons of migrant communities'

Publications

Books

The Free Association [Harvie, D., Milburn, K. and Watts, D.] (2011) Moments of Excess: Movements, Protest and Everyday Life, Oakland, CA: PM Press.

Turbulence Collective (2010) eds, What Would it Mean to Win?, Oakland, CA: PM Press.

Harvie, David, Keir Milburn, Ben Trott and David Watts (2005) eds, Shut Them Down! The G8, Gleneagles 2005 and the Movement of Movements, Leeds: Dissent! and Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia.

Journal articles

Harvie, D. Milburn, K. (2013) ‘The Moral Economy of the English Crowd in the Twenty-First Century.’ South Atlantic Quarterly. 112(3): 559-567. Available here.

Brown, G. Dowling, E. Harvie, D. Milburn, K. (2013) ‘Careless Talk: Social Reproduction and Fault-Lines of the Crisis in the UK.’ Social Justice: a journal of crime, conflict and world order. 9(1): 68-85.

Milburn, K. (2012) ‘The August Riots, Shock and the Prohibition on Thought.’ Capital and Class. 36(3), pp 401–409.

Cromby, J. Harvie, D. Milburn, K., Papadopoulos, D., Watts, D. (2012) ‘Interpretations of Excess: An Interview with the Free Association.’ Subjectivity. 5: 438-463. Preprint available here.

Harvie, David and Keir Milburn (2011) 'How Organizations Value and How Value Organizes', Organization. 17(5), pp 631-636.

The Free Association [Harvie, D., Milburn, K. and Watts, D.] (2010) ‘Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast’, in Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography, 40(6), pp 1019–1033. A shorter preprint version available here.

Turbulence Collective [Harvie, D., Milburn, K. Mueller. T. Nunes, R. Osterweil, M. Summer, K. Trott, B.] (2007) ‘Move into the light? Postscript to a Turbulent 2007’, ephemera: theory and politics in organization, 7(4), pp. 588-600.

The Free Association [Harvie, D., Milburn, K. and Watts, D.] (2005) ‘Event Horizon’, ephemera: theory & politics in organization , 5(4), pp. 568-579.

Book chapters

Milburn K. (2014) ‘Beyond Assemblyism: The Processual Calling of the 21st Century Left. In Brincat S. (Ed)The Future of Communism: social movements, economic crisis and the re-imagination of communism. 3. Praeger.

Harvie, D. Milburn, K. Watts, D. (2013) ‘On Shock and Organisation.’ In Managing Democracy, Managing Dissent: Capitalism, Democracy and the Organisation of Consent. London: Corporate Watch, pp. 195-205. Preprint available here.

Harvie, D. Milburn, K. Watts, D. (2012) ‘Let England Shake’. In Birke, P. (Ed) Die Krise in Europa. Sozial Geschichte.

Harvie, D. Milburn, K. Watts, D. (2012) ‘On Fairy Dust and Rupture.’ In Lunghi, A. Wheeler, S. (Eds) Occupy Everything: Reflections on Why it is Kicking Off Everywhere. London: Minor Compositions, pp. 24-32. Available here.

Harvie, David and Keir Milburn (2011) 'Capitalism/anticapitalism'. In MacLaren, P. Parker, M. Parsons, L and Tadajewski, M. (eds) Key Concepts in Critical Management Studies (London: Sage). pp. 37-41.

Turbulence Collective [Harvie, D., Milburn, K. Mueller. T. Nunes, R. Osterweil, M. Summer, K. Trott, B.] (2010) ‘Move into the light? Postscript to a turbulent 2007’. In Turbulence Collective (ed.), What Would it Mean to Win?, Oakland, C.A.: PM Press, pp. 121--132. Available here.

The Free Association [Harvie, D., Milburn, K. and Watts, D.] (2010) ‘Worlds in Motion’, in The Turbulence Collective (eds) What Would it Mean to Win? ?, Oakland, C.A.: PM Press, pp. 98--104. Preprint available here.

Leeds May Day Group [Dennis, A., Harvie, D. Humphries, N. Milburn, K. and Watts, D.] (2008), ‘Anti-Capitalist Movements’, in Bonefeld, W. (ed.), Subverting The Present - Imagining The Future: Insurrection, Movement, Commons, Brooklyn, N.Y.: Autonomedia, pp. 127–138. Preprint available here.

The Free Association [Harvie, D., Milburn, K. and Watts, D.] (2005) ‘On the Road’, in Harvie, D., Milburn, K., Trott, B. and Watts, D. (eds), Shut Them Down! The G8, Gleneagles 2005 and the Movement of Movements , Leeds: Dissent! and Brooklyn, N.Y.: Autonomedia, pp. 17-26. PDF available here.

Milburn, K. (2004) ‘Italy’s Disobedients: Return of the Tortoise, Italy’s Anti-Empire Multitudes’, in Solnit, D. (ed.) Globalize Liberation San Francisco, City Lights, pp.469-480. Preprint available here.

Media commentary

Harvie, D. Layng, B. Milburn, K. (2014) ‘Republicans at Burning Man, Tories at Glastonbury – what does it mean?’ Comment piece in Comment is Free, The Guardian (Online version), 18/9/14.

Milburn, K. (2014) ‘Why popular music lost its political edge.’ Comment piece in the Leicester Mercury, 1/7/14.

Harvie, D. Layng, B. Milburn, K. (2014) ‘Why are comedians, not musicians, talking 'bout a revolution? Comment piece in Comment is Free, The Guardian (Online version), 12/5/2014.

Harvie, D. Milburn, K. (2011) ‘The Zombie of Neoliberalism can be Beaten’. Comment piece in The Guardian, 4/8/2011.

Harvie, D. Milburn, K. (2011) ‘Ed Miliband's 'Quiet Crisis' is Down to Capitalism’. Comment piece in Comment is Free, The Guardian (Online version), 27/9/2011.

The Free Association [Harvie, D., Milburn, K. and Watts, D.] (2007) ‘G8 protest: does it really work?’ In The Big Issue (Scotland), 633, 31 May–6 June: 15.

Other publications

Harvie, D. Milburn, K. (June 2014) On the Uses of Fairy Dust: Contagion, Sorcery and the Crafting of Other Worlds. In conference proceedings for Myth and the Market, County Lough Ireland.

Milburn, K. (June 2014) ‘The Problem with Social Movements: a reply to Fournier’. Global Discourse: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Current Affairs and Applied Contemporary Thought 4, (2-3). 179-181.

Milburn, K. (2013) ‘Nomad Citizenship, Free-Market Communism and the Slow Motion General Strike – Book Review’. Socialism and Democracy. 27(3).

Harvie, D. Milburn, K. Watts, D. (2013) Up We Rise: Reflections on Global Rebellion Westfield, NJ: Zuccotti Park Press.

Harvie, D. Milburn, K. Watts, D. (2012) ‘Auf Feenstaub und Rupture [On Fairy Dust and Rupture].’ LuXemburg: Gesellschaftsanalyse und Linke Praxis, 1, pp. 144–153.

Harvie, D. Milburn, K. Watts, D. (2012) ‘Re:Generation: Soziale Bewegungen jenseits von Partei und Subkultur.’ Arranca! 45, pp 40-45.

Milburn, K. Russel, B. (2011) From the Defence of the Present to the Control of the Future, Shift Magazine, 11.
The Free Association [Harvie, D., Milburn, K. and Watts, D.] (2009) ‘Speculating on the Crisis’, Shift Magazine, 5.

Turbulence Collective [Harvie, D., Milburn, K. Mueller. T. Nunes, R. Osterweil, M. Summer, K. Trott, B.] (2008) Move into the Light: Postscript to a turbulent 2007, San Francisco: PM Press.

Turbulence Collective [Harvie, D., Milburn, K. Mueller. T. Nunes, R. Osterweil, M. Summer, K. Trott, B.] (2008) ‘Em direção à luz?’ [Move into the Light?], Le Monde Diplomatique Brasil, 16 July.

Turbulence Collective [Harvie, D., Milburn, K. Mueller. T. Nunes, R. Osterweil, M. Summer, K. Trott, B.] (2008) ‘Ins Licht hinein? Epilog zu einem turbulenten Jahr 2007′ [‘Move into the Light’], AK - Analyse & Kritik. January. Also published in Grundrisse: zeitschrift fuer linke theorie und debatte, 25.

Evans, B. and Milburn, K. (2007) ‘The Untimely Event’, Re-public: Time and Governance II

The Free Association [Harvie, D., Milburn, K. and Watts, D.] (2007) ‘G8 protest: does it really work?’ In The Big Issue (Scotland), 633, 31 May–6 June: 15.

Evans, B. and Milburn, K. (2006) ‘Autonomous Voices’, The Anomalist 2

Milburn, K. (2005) ‘The Multitude in the Crowd’, The Anomalist 1

Evans, B. and Milburn, K. (2005) ‘The Multitude Continent’, The Anomalist 1

Leeds Mayday Group [Dennis, A., Harvie, D. Humphries, N. Milburn, K. and Watts, D.] (2002) ‘Che cos’è il movimento?’ [What is the movement?], Derive Approdi, pp. 74–77.

Leeds May Day Group [Dennis, A. Harvie, D. Humphries, N. Milburn, K. and Watts, D.] (2002) ‘England - What is the Movement?’ [in German], arranca!, 25: Grand Prix d’Eurovision - Politische Bewegungen in Europa (FelS - Fuer eine linke Stroemung): pp. 26–29.

K. Milburn (2000) ‘DIY Culture - A Review’, Capital and Class; 72, pp. 223-225.