Gareth Fearn

JMW Turner – Rain, Steam and Speed

Biography

I am a writer and researcher based in Manchester, UK. I write about politics, energy, environmental and urban planning and the state. I focus on the UK and largely on England, relating what is happening here to more global changes. I am currently working on a project on the UK electricity system and the energy crisis, as a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Manchester.

I have published academic journal articles as well as articles for publications such as Tribune, London Review of Books and New Socialist. I will happily consider commissions on the areas which my research and experience cover.

Email: gareth.fearn-2@manchester.ac.uk

Twitter: @g_f_red

Academic Papers

Fearn, G (2024) Housing the Historical Bloc: Civil society contestation of authoritarian neoliberalism in England, Urban Studies, forthcoming

Fearn, G. (2024). Planning incapacitated: Environmental planning and the political ecology of austerity. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X241238880

Fearn, G. (2023) New management, old energy: The UK Labour party’s revanchist energy policy, Soundings, 2023(83), 34-52, available: https://journals.lwbooks.co.uk/soundings/vol-2023-issue-83/abstract-9733/

Fearn, G. (2023). The end of the experiment? The energy crisis, neoliberal energy, and the limits to a  socio-ecological fix. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/25148486231172844

Fearn, G.& Davoudi, S. (2022) ‘From post-political to authoritarian planning in England, a crisis of legitimacy’ Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 00, 1– 16. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12501

Fearn, G. (2022), ‘The age of the manager is over? Shale gas fracking and the challenge to the post-political regime for English planning’ Political Geography,
Volume 93 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102550

Podcasts

TrashFuture Podcast: ‘Honk if you’re Honu ft Dr Gareth Fearn’ https://trashfuturepodcast.podbean.com/e/honk-if-you-re-honu-feat-dr-gareth-fearn/

Bartlett Planning Podcast: ‘From post-political to authoritarian planning in England with Dr Gareth Fearn’ https://soundcloud.com/user-569374150/from-post-political-to-authoritarian-planning-in-england-with-dr-gareth-fearn

Policy

‘Planning for the Public: Why Labour should support a public planning system’ : https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/planning/news/2023/jul/new-policy-paper-calls-labour-party-embrace-reinvigorated-public-planning-system

Online publications

‘Liberalism without accountability’ London Review of Books Gareth Fearn | Liberalism without Accountability (lrb.co.uk)

‘To tackle climate change Labour must rebuild the planning system – not ‘bulldoze’ it’ The Conversation To tackle climate change Labour must rebuild the planning system – not ‘bulldoze’ it (theconversation.com)

‘Planning and the Left’, Greater Manchester Housing Action, http://www.gmhousingaction.com/planning-and-the-left/

‘Like Sunak, Starmer must recognise net zero trade-offs – but make the rich pay’ Labourlist https://labourlist.org/2023/09/net-zero-rishi-sunak-speech-cars-boilers-heat-labour-response/

‘Labour must be radical fixing Tory crises – or risk sharing blame for them’ LabourList https://labourlist.org/2023/06/labour-missions-policy-crisis-economy-housing-energy-fiscal-discipline/

‘Neoliberalism in a Coma’, New Socialist, https://newsocialist.org.uk/neoliberalism-coma/

‘Tory Levelling Up Doesn’t Exist’, Tribune https://tribunemag.co.uk/2022/09/levelling-up-bill-funding-planning-history

‘Ransom Capitalism’, London Review of Books https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2022/august/ransom-capitalism

‘Fracking is not the Future’ Tribune https://tribunemag.co.uk/2022/03/fracking-shale-gas-energy-crisis-russia-ukraine-oil-conservatives

Sonali Dhanpal & Gareth Fearn, ‘Newcastle – ‘The Stottie Principles’ Vittles https://vittles.substack.com/p/newcastle-the-stottie-principles

‘Why Capitalism Loves Corruption’ Tribune https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/11/corruption-sleaze-mps-parliament-owen-paterson-second-jobs-history-colonialism-east-india-company

‘Planning Reforms Are Turning the Tories on Each Other’ Tribune https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/09/planning-reforms-are-turning-the-tories-on-each-other

‘How Public Ownership Helped the Tories in Tees Valley’ Tribune https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/05/how-public-ownership-helped-the-tories-in-tees-valley

‘Labour must challenge the ‘Red Wall’ framing – or risk a ‘balancing the books’ trap’ Labourlist https://labourlist.org/2020/08/labour-must-challenge-the-red-wall-framing-or-risk-a-balancing-the-books-trap/

‘Fracking bans, Election Giveaways and the Fight for the Future’ New Socialist
https://newsocialist.org.uk/fracking-bans-election-giveaways-and-fight-future/

‘Coal is the past: time to plan for the future’ New Socialist https://newsocialist.org.uk/coal-future/

‘Labour and the Planning System: Lessons from Fracking’ New Socialist https://newsocialist.org.uk/labour-and-planning-system-lessons-fracking/