Keith Taylor (25 March 1949 - 3 January 2006) was a British political scientist who was an authority on the politics of Utopian socialism, about which he wrote and convened an academic seminar in the 1980s when the area was of little academic interest in Britain. In 2000 he founded

Kidney Cancer UK Kidney Cancer UK is a British charity established in 2000 to support "kidney cancer patients, their carers, medical professionals and scientific researchers."Manchester Grammar School and read Politics at the University of Kent after which he completed his master's degree at the University of Leicester.Keith Taylor.
Vincent McKee, '' The Independent'', 2 April 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2015.

Career

Taylor taught first at Ealing Technical College, then at

Coventry Polytechnic , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = , type = Public , endowment = £28 million (2015) , budget = £787.5 million , chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford , vice_chancellor = John Latham , students = () , underg ...

(now Coventry University) from 1975 to 1991, and finally at the University of Westminster until he retired in 2002. He was an authority on the politics of Utopian socialism and in the early 1980s convened a study group on Utopian thought when the area was of little academic interest in Britain. His 1982 book, ''The political ideas of Utopian socialists'', is still regarded as one of the key modern works on the topic. His later book with Barbara Goodwin, ''The politics of Utopia: A study in theory and practice'' (1983), looked at the significance of Utopias for political theory and practiceLevitas, p. 201.
/ref> and argued that the political function of Utopias was to imaginatively transcend "the ubiquitous, seemingly unassailable present."Davis, Laurence, "History, politics, and Utopia: Toward a synthesis of social theory and practice" in

Family

Taylor married twice and had one son. His wife Dinah died in 2003.

Charitable work

In January 2000, Taylor founded Kidney Cancer UK, a support organisation for kidney cancer patients and their carers and the first such organisation in Britain. He founded the organisation after he himself was diagnosed with the disease.

Death

Taylor died in Coventry on 3 January 2006.

Selected publications

*''Henri Saint Simon 1760-1825: Selected writings on science, industry and social organization''. Holmes and Meier, New York, 1975. (Translator and editor) *''The political ideas of Utopian socialists''. Cass, London, 1982. *''The politics of Utopia: A study in theory and practice''.

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

, New York, 1982. (With Barbara Goodwin) (Reissued 2009 with new preface) *"The micropolitics of medicine: Doctors, patients and their power relations". 2001. (Journal article)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Keith 1949 births 2006 deaths Academics from Greater Manchester Academics of Coventry University British political scientists Deaths from kidney cancer Academics of the University of Westminster Alumni of the University of Kent Alumni of the University of Leicester People educated at Manchester Grammar School 20th-century political scientists