Skip navigation

Dr Paul Griffin

Assistant Professor

Department: Geography and Environmental Sciences

Paul is an Assistant Professor in Human Geography and has worked at Northumbria University since 2016. His research interests primarily connect with the sub-field of labour geography. In practice, his work has engaged with historical geographies of labour activism and work related experiences. His research has engaged closely with ideas of spatial politics through the histories of 'Red Clydeside'. He has also been working on a project to consider collective and community responses to UK unemployment since the late 1970s. Most recently, he has began to develop research connections with credit unions to think through their role as alternative economic providers, and links with ideas of solidarity economies. Through these engagements and wider conversations, Paul has also developed a wider interest in the role of archives in maintaining and providing access to 'usable pasts'. 

Paul is also the Historical Geography Section Editor for Geography Compass.

Paul Griffin

My research and teaching interests can be found across political and economic geography and more specifically labour geography. I am interested in the ways in which economic geography is experienced from below and how workers, and non-workers, can shape and reshape their material conditions. I am keen to develop this research interest in both historical and contemporary settings. My doctoral research was largely archival and as a result of this I have developed a further research interest in historical geography, particularly debates regarding the archive and the production of usable pasts.

Summary of current research interests:

  1. Labour geography
  2. Histories of labour activism and internationalism
  3. Unemployment - linking with ideas of community, support and resistance
  4. Credit unions and alternative economies

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Solidarity on the Move: Imaginaries and Infrastructures within The People’s March for Jobs (1981), Griffin, P. 11 Sep 2023, In: Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers
  • Unemployed Workers’ Centres (1978–): Spatial Politics,“Non-Movement”, and the Making of Centres, Griffin, P. Mar 2023, In: Antipode
  • The 1919 ‘race riots’ – within and beyond exceptional moments in South Shields and Glasgow, Griffin, P., Martin, H. 1 Jun 2021, In: Political Geography
  • Expanding labour geographies: resourcefulness and organising amongst ‘unemployed workers’, Griffin, P. 1 Jan 2021, In: Geoforum
  • Labour, carcerality and punishment: ‘less-than-human’ labour landscapes, Cassidy, K., Griffin, P., Wray, F. 1 Dec 2020, In: Progress in Human Geography
  • Experiencing (dis)comforting pedagogies: learning critical geography beyond the here and now, Clayton, J., Griffin, P., Mowl, G. 2 Apr 2023, In: Journal of Geography in Higher Education

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Co-Producing usable pasts: hidden histories of unemployment, Griffin, P. (Principal Investigator), British Academy, 31/08/20 - 26/08/22, 0.00
  • More-than a 'reserve army of labour' - historicising UK unemployment (1978), Griffin, P. (Principal Investigator), The Economic History Society, 01/03/20 - 28/02/21, 0.00

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Oral presentation: Care, support and activism: historical geographies of Unemployed Workers’ Centres 2019
  • Oral presentation: Politicising unemployment:volunteering, support and activism in UK Unemployed Workers’ Centres 2019
  • Oral presentation: New forms of community unionism and the spatial politics of labour organising 2018
  • Oral presentation: Labour, carcerality and punishment: ‘less than human’ labour landscapes 2017
  • Oral presentation: ‘Clydeside’s Working-Class Presence: Political Identities and International Connections’ 2017
  • Editorial work: Geography Compass (Journal) 2017
  • Oral presentation: Space, Place and Solidarity: Towards a Conversation Between Labour Geography and Labour History 2016

  • Olivia Robinson Haunting, Heritage, and Justice: Archiving Industrial Trauma for the Future Start Date: 01/10/2023
  • Hannah Martin The Intersection of Race, Class and Politics in the North East of England, 1919-1939. Start Date: 01/10/2017 End Date: 28/09/2021
  • Hannah Martin The Intersection of Race, Class and Politics in the North East of England, 1919-1939. Start Date: 01/10/2017 End Date: 18/11/2020

Geography PhD September 01 2015


a sign in front of a crowd
+

Northumbria Open Days

Open Days are a great way for you to get a feel of the University, the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the course(s) you are interested in.

Research at Northumbria
+

Research at Northumbria

Research is the life blood of a University and at Northumbria University we pride ourselves on research that makes a difference; research that has application and affects people's lives.

NU World
+

Explore NU World

Find out what life here is all about. From studying to socialising, term time to downtime, we’ve got it covered.


Latest News and Features

academic Jennifer Aston pictured in a law library holding an open book
Launch of The Regeneration Shop in Chopwell. Sarah Cotton, Senior Programmes Manager at Chopwell Regeneration Group; Jennine Wilson, Lecturer in Fashion and Senior Technician at Northumbria University; Hal Convery, Shop Manager at The Regeneration Shop; Crystal Hicks, Executive Director of Chopwell Regeneration Group; Gayle Cantrell, Assistant Professor BA Fashion Communication at Northumbria University; Sophie Wetherell, Assistant Professor BA Fashion / MA Fashion Design at Northumbria University; Emma Jane Goldsmith Assistant Professor BA Fashion / MA Fashion Design at Northumbria University; Professor Anne Peirson-Smith, Head of Fashion at Northumbria University.
Mooting
A new toolkit has been developed to support rural communities with the development of renewable energy projects. Photo: Adobe Stock
From left to right: Natalie Winchester, Subject Lead Health and Social Care and Post-16 Raising Standard Leader at Bede Academy, Dr Julie Derbyshire – Director of Apprenticeships and Assistant Professor in Nursing at Northumbria University, Andrew Thelwell – Principal at Bede Academy, Professor Alison Machin, Head of Department of Nursing, Midwifery and Health at Northumbria University and pupils from Bede Academy.
British Military Uniform
More news

Back to top