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Gareth

@gfearn.bsky.social
772 followers 3.4K following 75 posts

Researching the political economy of electricity, urban and environmental planning. garethfearn.com

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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
tribunemag.co.uk/2026/09/brit...
tribunemag.co.uk
British Academia is Dying. It’s Time for a National Industrial Response
Workers in higher education are fighting atomised struggles to save their jobs. A rank-and-file strategy is needed to unite them.
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People, Place and Energy Research Centre (PPERC) @pperc.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Check out Chapter 6 of our edited collection 'Navigating Persistent Energy and Climate Crises: Critical Reflections' by @gfearn.bsky.social @uomseed.bsky.social 👉 research.manchester.ac.uk/en/publicati...
Chapter 6 political economics of energy transitions by Gareth Fearn. PPERC Edited Collection 

“The extent to which the electricity sector can be expanded and simultaneously decarbonised will in large part determine whether we have an extended climate crisis or an epochal catastrophe…"
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Great new mini series on the history of energy crises in the UK, and what we can learn from them, by @neweconomics.bsky.social - which I had the pleasure of being interviewed for! open.spotify.com/episode/1s8F...
open.spotify.com
Shockwave: Britain's brutal winter and nationalisation in 1947
New Economics Podcast · Episode
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People, Place and Energy Research Centre (PPERC) @pperc.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Our 1st Policy Brief 👉 PUTTING POWER IN ITS PLACE: PPERC’s Local Power Plan Response research.manchester.ac.uk/en/publicati... @gfearn.bsky.social @stefanb23.bsky.social @hannahcknox.bsky.social @giuliamininni.bsky.social @uomhums.bsky.social @uomseed.bsky.social @uomsoss.bsky.social
Putting Power in its Place

People, Place and Energy Research Centre (PPERC) Local Power Plan Response 

June 2026
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Ian Bruff @ianbruff.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
A great piece by the reliably excellent @gfearn.bsky.social
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Thank you so much, Ian!
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Wrote for @tribunemagazine.bsky.social on the failures of Starmerism and the potential and limits of the 'productive state'.
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Sonali Dhanpal @sonalidhanpal.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
@gfearn.bsky.social on the bus man and Manchesterism tribunemag.co.uk/2026/07/the-...
tribunemag.co.uk
Towards the Productive State
Andy Burnham’s plans for economic reform will undoubtedly face resistance from entrenched interests. The politician must act defiantly, and rebuild relations with the constituencies Starmer ostracised...
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
What the govt usually mean by 'decoupling' is expanding renewables and its national pricing reforms, they havent yet comitted to something more structural, as far as im aware.
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Yeh thats a very good way of putting it, especially given the use of assets given away so cheaply in the first place.
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
And do drop me a message or email if something isnt clear/to share your thoughts if you like!
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Thank you so much, thats very kind of you to say! Most relevant (non academic) piece from that discussion is probably this: www.common-wealth.org/perspectives...
common-wealth.org
Private Power, Public Crisis | Perspectives
On Britain’s energy contradictions.
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
✍️New essay for @the-breakdown.bsky.social which attempts an analysis of the energy transition as one between two competing fractions of capital - fossil and electric - and the conflicts and struggles which will lead towards an 'electro-capitalism' (or not!) www.break-down.org/electro-capi...
break-down.org
Electro-Capitalism
Ours is the age of transition: from fossil capital to electricity capital. The future that emerges will be determined by the fierce struggles of the present.
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Mamdani needs to learn from what happened to Corbyn. He conceded an inch on the first story about his wife, as soon as you show that weakness theyll go after that relentlessly.
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Better to send children to prison for no reason, i guess.
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isaac @sevier.io · 10/03/2026
Anxious and angry about forever wars over energy? Want to do something to make a better world happen sooner? i have good news. Electricity is the backbone for everything in our future, and you can do something now. Instead of feeling hopeless, you can join in with others to change everything.
isaacsevier.com
Why public power campaigns win
Electricity affordability is an urgent, widely felt problem that public power can solve. Anger alone isn't enough to win. Sarahana Shrestha talks to me about the organizing model in Fabian Holt's book...
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
This has been a known problem for the best part of a decade, but even a major world energy crisis was not enough for the government to take action because the answer probably means some form of public ownership/funding.
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John Merrick @johnmerrick.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
A brilliant and provocative essay by Gareth Fearn, on the emerging conflict between fossil and electric capital
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Adrienne Buller @adriennebuller.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
A provocative piece of analysis from @gfearn.bsky.social on the likely shape of the energy transition and the conflicts that really define it for @the-breakdown.bsky.social recommended read!
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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
NEW: Gareth Fearn lays out the stakes of "electro-capitalism". "The economic basis of this transition is not simply between technologies of energy production. Rather, it is between two different fractions of capital." www.break-down.org/electro-capi...
break-down.org
Electro-Capitalism
Ours is the age of transition: from fossil capital to electricity capital. The future that emerges will be determined by the fierce struggles of the present.
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Many thanks to @adriennebuller.bsky.social & @johnmerrick.bsky.social for their excellent editing!
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
✍️New essay for @the-breakdown.bsky.social which attempts an analysis of the energy transition as one between two competing fractions of capital - fossil and electric - and the conflicts and struggles which will lead towards an 'electro-capitalism' (or not!) www.break-down.org/electro-capi...
break-down.org
Electro-Capitalism
Ours is the age of transition: from fossil capital to electricity capital. The future that emerges will be determined by the fierce struggles of the present.
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
this feels like a Roger Bannister four minute mile moment for "reactionary centrism". a level of reactionary centrism doctors (of political science) assured us was impossible but that training, dedication, ingenuity, and the Indomitable human spirit were determined to overcome
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AAUP @aaup.org · 06/02/2026
"As AI trans­forms academic labor, much more is at stake than the terms & conditions of our employment. At stake is the very integrity of the teaching & learning process & the notion that all humanity—not just a few individuals—should benefit from the production of knowledge at our universities."
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Annie McClanahan @anniemcc.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
My book is now available for pre-order!
zonebooks.org
Beneath The Wage: Tips, Tasks, and Gigs in the Age of Service Work - Zone Books
Zone Books
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The Whale Pod @thewhale1851.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
The first episode of The Whale Pod is delivered ashore tomorrow. A chapter-by-chapter analysis of Herman Melville's 'Moby-Dick' with @leighsus.bsky.social and @pdkmitchell.bsky.social. Follow for free on Patreon or wherever you get your podcasts... 🐳 patreon.com/thewhalepod
patreon.com
The Whale Pod | Patreon
The Moby Dick podcast
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
The reset was in 2015. Labour blew their chance to change, got lucky in 2024, and now the decline is back on track.
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
You can read more about these issues in our special issue: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
journals.sagepub.com
Neoliberal crises and the city: Wrestling with authoritarian neoliberal urbanism(s) - Güldem Özatağan, Gareth Fearn, Ayda Eraydin, 2025
This Special Issue presents ‘authoritarian neoliberal urbanism’ as an empirical marker and a concept that signposts the ascendence of a new constellation in whi...
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
🎧Final episode for @urbanpolitical.bsky.social in our series on authoritarian urbanism w/ @jluger.bsky.social, Miklós Dürr, Ayşegül Can & Oksana Zaporozhets We discuss whether contemporary urbanism continues to be 'neoliberal', and how the leading tendency is towards something more autocratic:
urbanpolitical.podigee.io
103 – Beyond Neoliberal Urbanism?
Are we seeing the emergence of a new conjuncture for urbanism? The final part of our mini series asks whether authoritarian neoliberalism has created the conditions for a more illiberal and distinct t...
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Eco-Socialist Horizon @ecosoc-horizon.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
📰Read Chris Saltmarsh for @jacobinmag.bsky.social on how Your Party remains an important opportunity for the left, amidst a Labour collapse and a Green surge... jacobin.com/2026/02/uk-l...
jacobin.com
Your Party Can Realign the British Left
Britain’s new left-wing force Your Party has got off to a troubled start. But faced with the historic decline of working-class organization, it’s vital that it makes good on its promise to rebuild gra...
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
I think there will be about 30 guys in West Bridgeford excitedly sharing this, but theyre probably all in the same two whatsapp groups.
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
He constantly makes the mistake of thinking that people who want to see less immigration (which is alot of people) are also into all the other right wing stuff on e.g trans people, anti-socialism etc, which they arent at all.
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Genuinely think selecting Goodwin will make it alot harder for Reform to win. He is far too deep into the online, far right ecosystem to not say multiple weird and offputting things that will limit Reforms appeal to the more comitted.
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Eco-Socialist Horizon @ecosoc-horizon.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
🎧Listen to Chris Saltmarsh on @newpartypod.bsky.social, speaking with Tom Williams about why we need Your Party to become the party of eco-socialism, what distinguishes us from the Greens, and more! open.spotify.com/episode/3Z3M...
open.spotify.com
#14 Eco-socialism w/ Chris Saltmash
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Eco-Socialist Horizon @ecosoc-horizon.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
🗳️Endorsements are now open for the Your Party CEC elections! Our own Chris Saltmarsh explains why he is standing (in Yorkshire and Humber), and why we need to elect the Grassroots Left slate to lead Your Party to fight for an eco-socialist future: theecosocialist.co.uk/2026/01/21/c...
theecosocialist.co.uk
Chris Saltmarsh: Why I’m Standing for Your Party’s CEC
The British Left urgently needs a mass socialist party if it is to make anything close to a significant impact in the coming years and decades. Socialists have long been weaker for our distribution…
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
🔊🔊 Episode 2 of our mini-series on authoritarian urbanism is out with @urbanpolitical.bsky.social. I discuss emergent and intensifying authoritarian practices w/ @nitin-bathla.bsky.social @alkejenss.bsky.social @sdwolfe.bsky.social @ebrukurtozman.bsky.social open.spotify.com/show/5PaTdRP...
open.spotify.com
102 - Authoritarian Practices in Urban Government
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
You can also find episode 1 (and other excellent podcasts!) here: urbanpolitical.podigee.io
urbanpolitical.podigee.io
Urban Political Podcast
The **Urban Political** delves into contemporary urban issues with activists, scholars and policy-makers from around the world. Providing informed views, state-of-the-art knowledge, and unusual insig...
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
The series builds on a special issue for @urbanstudiesjournal.com which you can read here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
journals.sagepub.com
Neoliberal crises and the city: Wrestling with authoritarian neoliberal urbanism(s) - Güldem Özatağan, Gareth Fearn, Ayda Eraydin, 2025
This Special Issue presents ‘authoritarian neoliberal urbanism’ as an empirical marker and a concept that signposts the ascendence of a new constellation in whi...
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
🔊🔊 Episode 2 of our mini-series on authoritarian urbanism is out with @urbanpolitical.bsky.social. I discuss emergent and intensifying authoritarian practices w/ @nitin-bathla.bsky.social @alkejenss.bsky.social @sdwolfe.bsky.social @ebrukurtozman.bsky.social open.spotify.com/show/5PaTdRP...
open.spotify.com
102 - Authoritarian Practices in Urban Government
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ECIU @eciu.net · 17/01/2026
Commenting on the news that day-ahead wholesale gas prices have reached a six-month high in the UK, @jessralston.bsky.social, @eciu.net said: "The North Sea is continuing to run out of gas and won't help to lower bills or provide security of supply." eciu.net/media/press...
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Probably have to start reckoning with the reality that most social science disciplines int he UK wont fuctionally exist in 10-20 years. No such thing as a permanent job (not thay they exist!) if your departments in terminal decline!
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
European gas price surging. Evidence for Labour's view that we need to reduce gas reliance, but could also kill their govt before that happens as they have failed to get on top of energy bills. If this carries on the '£150 bill cut' isnt going to happen.
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Seems like every quango in Britain has been weaponised in defence of Israeli genocide.
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Urban Political Podcast @urbanpolitical.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Just before the year 2025 comes to an end, we are starting with a new series on Authoritarian Urbanism, acknowledging and thematising a worldwide rightward populist turn through the lens of urban thinkers, researchers and activists. urbanpolitical.online/101-authorit...
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Federica Genovese @fgenovese.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
“What a century, uh?” “Captain, it’s just one quarter”
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
When interest rates get cut and the govt caves into the indsutries demand for demand-side stimulus, we will see how nuch "saner" the property market is i guess!
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Oscar Berglund @berglundoscar.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
We (@crossdale.bsky.social, Christina Pantazis, @roxana-pessoa.bsky.social, Tiê Franco Brotto and I) present the first academic peer-reviewed article, studying the criminalisation and repression of climate and environmental protest as a global phenomenon. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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Urban Political Podcast @urbanpolitical.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
In this episode, you will hear: Natalie Koch, @maliniranga.bsky.social and Leonardo Fontes, as well as the host @gfearn.bsky.social.
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
Was a privilege to host this episode on authoritarian populism with these excellent scholars - drawing linkages and differences across the US, UK, India and Brazil in
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Gareth @gfearn.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
The Tories have done far more damage to this country than Reform ever will be able to, it just didnt impact Starmer and his mates personally so he slept soundly.
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