Biography
Professor Simon Tormey is a highly experienced academic leader who has held senior management roles at the universities of Bristol, Sydney and Nottingham before arriving at Deakin in 2023 to take up the role of Dean of Arts and Education. A political theorist by training, he has made contributions to political sociology, organisational studies, social theory and the history of ideas. He has writte or co-written 7 books and over 60 articles which have been translated into 9 languages. He is a frequent media commentator on contemporary political and economic developments in the UK, Europe and EU, Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.
Read more on Simon's profileBiography summary
Successful academic leader and senior academic with significant international experience at some of the world's top universities.
Career highlights
Simon was previously Dean of Social Sciences and Law and Head of the new Business School, University of Bristol; inaugural Head of the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Sydney; Deputy Head and then Head of the School of Politics and IR at the University of Nottingham. Whilst at Nottingham Simon also set up and directed the Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ).
Research interests
Simon is interested in questions around the crisis of democracy - the rise of the far right and populism, the nature of protest and citizen mobilisation and the impact of digital commuincations on the political sphere broadly. He's also interested in developments in contemporary polical thought, especially discourse analysis, Lacanian and post-structuralist thought, and the legacy of Marx, Nietzsche and Freud generally.
Affiliations
Australian Political Studies Association
Teaching interests
Simon welcomes applications from research students where they intersect with his research and writing interests.
Units taught
Simon delivers guest lectures in the discipline of politics and international relations.
Knowledge areas
UK and European politics, populism, democracy and democratic theory, political economy, European thought and culture.
Expertise
- Politics
Media appearances
Simon appears regularly on the ABC, BBC, Bloomberg, Sky News, CNBC as well as regional, national and international radio.
Research groups
Simon is a CI for an ARC Discovery Project examining the nature of populism at the sub-national level.
Projects
Simon is currently holding an ARC Discovery Project on understanding populism at the sub-national level - with colleagues from ACU Melbourne and the ANU.
Publications
R Feenstra, S Tormey
(2023), Vol. 22, pp. 80-98, Social Movement Studies, London, Eng., C1-1
Stresses and Strains: Will We Ever Agree on What's Going Wrong with Democracy?
S Tormey
(2022), Vol. 58, pp. 13-26, Representations, London, Eng., C1-1
Challenges to political representation: participatory democracy, direct democracy and populism
S Tormey
(2020), pp. 70-80, Research Handbook on Political Representation, Cheltenham, Eng., B1
Visions of the Good Society: 17 European social movements in the age of ideologies and beyond
Simon Tormey
(2020), pp. 25-35, Routledge handbook of contemporary European social movements : protest in turbulent times, London, Eng., B1
A McConnell, S Tormey
(2020), Vol. 27, pp. 685-702, Journal of European Public Policy, London, Eng., C1-1
Passion, excess, and fear of the mob: Populism as ideology
S Tormey
(2019), pp. 148-161, Populism and Passions: Democratic Legitimacy after Austerity, London, Eng., B1-1
Populism: democracy's Pharmakon?
S Tormey
(2018), Vol. 39, pp. 260-273, Policy Studies, London, Eng., C1-1
Refiguring democracy: The Spanish political laboratory
R Feenstra, S Tormey, A Casero-Ripollés, J Keane
(2017), London, Eng., A1-1
Agnes Heller: 'Radical universalism' after the 'grand narrative'
S Tormey
(2016), pp. 169-191, Marxism's Ethical Thinkers, Berlin, Germany, B1-1
A Casero-Ripollés, R Feenstra, S Tormey
(2016), Vol. 21, pp. 378-397, International Journal of Press/Politics, London, Eng., C1-1
How realistic is 'reconstituting realism'?
S Tormey
(2015), Vol. 14, pp. 305-310, Contemporary Political Theory, C1-1
Reinventing the political party in Spain: the case of 15M and the Spanish mobilisations
S Tormey, R Feenstra
(2015), Vol. 36, pp. 590-606, Policy Studies, C1-1
V Ordóñez, R Feenstra, S Tormey
(2015), Vol. 17, pp. 133-154, Araucaria, C1-1
Between Modernism and Postmodernism: Castoriadis and the Politics of Heterodox Marxism
Simon Tormey
(2014), pp. 177-195, Cornelius Castoriadis and Radical Democracy, Leiden, The Netherlands, B1-1
Rethinking populism: Politics, mediatisation and political style
B Moffitt, S Tormey
(2014), Vol. 62, pp. 381-397, Political Studies, C1-1
The contemporary crisis of representative democracy
S Tormey
(2014), Vol. 1, pp. 104-112, Democratic Theory, C1-1
Discourse theories and post-structuralism
Simon Tormey
(2012), pp. 46-55, Contemporary Australian Politics, Cambridge, Eng., B1-1
Beyond the state: Anthropology and 'actually-existing-anarchism'
A Robinson, S Tormey
(2012), Vol. 32, pp. 143-157, Critique of Anthropology, C1-1
Resisting 'global justice': Disrupting the colonial emancipatory logic of the West
A Robinson, S Tormey
(2011), pp. 61-74, Social Justice, Global Dynamics: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives, London, Eng., B1-1
Living in smooth space: Deleuze, postcolonialism and the subaltern
A Robinson, S Tormey
(2010), pp. 20-40, Deleuze and the Postcolonial, Edinburgh, Scotland, B1-1
Utopias without transcendence? Post-left anarchy, immediacy and utopian energy
A Robinson, S Tormey
(2009), pp. 156-175, Globalization and Utopia: Critical Essays, Berlin, Germany, B1-1
Simon Tormey
(2009), pp. 45-62, Engaging Agnes Heller A Critical Companion, B1-1
Is 'Another World' Possible? Laclau, Mouffe and Social Movements
Simon Tormey, Andrew Robinson
(2009), pp. 133-157, The Politics of Radical Democracy, Edinburgh, Scotland, B1-1
Resisting 'Global Justice': Disrupting the colonial 'emancipatory' logic of the west
A Robinson, S Tormey
(2009), Vol. 30, pp. 1395-1409, Third World Quarterly, C1-1
Consumption, resistance and everyday life: Ruptures and continuities
S Tormey
(2007), Vol. 30, pp. 263-280, Journal of Consumer Policy, C1-1
Beyond representation? A rejoinder
A Robinson, S Tormey
(2007), Vol. 60, pp. 127-137, Parliamentary Affairs, C1-1
Žižek's Marx: 'Sublime object' or a 'plague of fantasies'?
A Robinson, S Tormey
(2006), Vol. 14, pp. 145-174, Historical Materialism, C1-1
'Not in my name': Deleuze, Zapatismo and the critique of representation
S Tormey
(2006), Vol. 59, pp. 138-154, Parliamentary Affairs, C1-1
What is "Tyranny"? Considering the Contested Discourse of Domination in the Twenty-First Century
Simon Tormey
(2005), pp. 67-80, Confronting Tyranny: Ancient Lessons for Global Politics, Lanham, Md., B1-1
Simon Tormey
(2005), pp. 337-349, Shut Them Down! The G8, Gleneagles 2005 and the Movement of Movements, B1-1
Horizontals, verticals and the conflicting logics of transformative politics
Simon Tormey, Andrew Robinson
(2005), pp. 208-226, Confronting globalization : Humanity, justice and the renewal of politics, London, Eng., B1-1
A Ticklish Subject? Žižek and the Future of Left Radicalism
A Robinson, S Tormey
(2005), Vol. 80, pp. 94-107, Thesis Eleven, C1-1
Jean-Frangois Lyotard (1924-98)
Simon Tormey
(2004), pp. 152-167, Contemporary Critical Theorists From Lacan to Said, Edinburgh, Scotland, B1-1
The 2003 European Social Forum: Where next for the anti-capitalist movement?
S Tormey
(2004), Vol. 28, pp. 149-157, Capital & Class, C1-1
Simon Tormey
(2002), pp. 50-64, From Kant to Lévi-Strauss The Background to Contemporary Critical Theory, Edinburgh, Scotland, B1-1
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)
Simon Tormey
(2002), pp. 197-212, From Kant to Lévi-Strauss The Background to Contemporary Critical Theory, Edinburgh, Scotland, B1-1
Post-Marxism, Democracy and the Future of Radical Politics
Simon Tormey
(2001), Vol. 7, pp. 119-134, Democracy and Nature, Abingdon, Oxon, C1
The Post-Marxist critique of Marxism: The Case of Agnes Heller
Simon Tormey
(2000), pp. 280-298, Marxism, the Millennium and Beyond, London, Eng., B1-1
Simon Tormey
(2000), Vol. 52, pp. 217-249, Sinn und Form, Berlin, Germany, C1-1
Gespräch mit Agnes Heller (II)
Simon Tormey
(2000), Vol. 52, pp. 657-682, Sinn und Form, Berlin, Germany, C1-1
Simon Tormey
(1998), Vol. 17, pp. 133-149, Daimon: Revista de Filosofia, C1
The vicissitudes of 'radical centrism': The case of Agnes Heller, radical centristavant la lettre
Simon Tormey
(1998), Vol. 3, pp. 147-167, Journal of Political Ideologies, C1-1
Liberalism : "The Problem with "Problems": Popper, negative utility and the Open Society
Simon Tormey
(1996), Vol. 2, pp. 642-653, Proceedings of the 1996 Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom Conference, Glasgow, Scotland, E1-1
Making sense of tyranny : interpretations of totalitarianism
Simon Tormey
(1995), Manchester, Eng., A1-1
Democracy Will Never be the Same Again: 21st Century Protest and the Transformation of Politics
Simon Tormey
(), pp. 107-128, RECERCA. Revista de Pensament i Anàlisi, C1
Funded Projects at Deakin
No Funded Projects at Deakin found
Supervisions
No completed student supervisions to report