Adam Tickell

FAcSS The Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences. Fellows were previously known as Academicians and used the ...

(born 1965) is a British economic geographer, whose work explores finance, English local governance, and the politics of ideas. He is Vice-Chancellor of the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

, and was formerly Vice-Chancellor of the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

. He also edited the ''

Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers The ''Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2019 impa ...

''.

Background

Adam Tickell obtained a first-class degree in Geography in 1987 from the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

and a PhD from the same institution on the social regulation of banking. Tickell moved jobs frequently, holding positions and professorships at the universities of Bristol, Leeds, Southampton, Birmingham and Royal Holloway, University of London. At the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, from 2000, he became research director of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law. Simultaneously, he was the Vice Chair of the Research Grants Board of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). He later joined

Royal Holloway Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

, becoming Dean and Vice-Principal. He joined the

in 2011, becoming Provost and Vice-Principal. He became the Vice-Chancellor of the

in 2016. He became Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham in January 2022. He is the current Chair of

Universities UK Universities UK (UUK) is an advocacy organisation for universities in the United Kingdom. It began life in the early 20th century through informal meetings of vice-chancellors of a number of universities and principals of university colleges and ...

Open Access Implementation Group.

Scholarship

Tickell is one a number of geographers active since the 1980s studying the spatial and economic expression of capital, finance, and global markets. Others with whom he has coauthored work include

Eric Sheppard Eric Sheppard (born 1 October 1950) is a British and American geographer, and Professor of Economic geography at UCLA. Background Sheppard grew up in Cambridge, England and studied geography at the University of Bristol under Peter Haggett (g ...

Nigel Thrift Sir Nigel John Thrift (born 12 October 1949 in Bath) is a British academic and geographer. In 2018 he was appointed as Chair of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management, a committee that gives independent scientific and technical advice ...

and Jamie Peck. In particular, he has explored the nature of

post-Fordism Post-Fordism is the dominant system of economic production, consumption, and associated socio-economic phenomena in most industrialized countries since the late 20th century. It is contrasted with Fordism, the system formulated in Henry Ford's a ...

and regional decentralisation in the UK. Tickell's most cited work is "Neoliberalizing space", an article with Jamie Peck in '' Antipode'' journal, published in 2002 and cited 4,600 times by 2018. He was editor of ''

'' in the mid 2000s and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Controversy

In 2018 Tickell attracted hostility from academics and students who felt his academic critiques of

neoliberalism Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

were at odds with the stance he took as a Vice Chancellor during the 2018 USS pension dispute over threats to academic pensions. Posters appeared saying "Critiques neoliberalism in academic articles, but privatises the university for cash". He told '' The Badger'' that the UCU strikes would achieve nothing, even though he was once a UCU member and rep; this proved incorrect. The University of Sussex financial statements 2016–17 state that Mr Tickell was paid £267,000 for the period of September 2016 to July 2017, plus £17,000 relocation costs and £9,000 in pension contributions. In December 2020, during his tenure as Vice-Chancellor, Tickell presided over the largest

rent strike A rent strike is a method of protest commonly employed against large landlords. In a rent strike, a group of tenants come together and agree to refuse to pay their rent ''en masse'' until a specific list of demands is met by the landlord. This ca ...

in the University's history. Involving over 750 students, it lasted seven months. It was led by the Sussex Renters’ Union in response to yearly increases in rent and poor mental health support and treatment by the University during the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

pandemic. In Autumn 2021, the Sussex branch of the University College Union (UCU) strongly criticised Tickell over a statement sent via email to all students enrolled at the University, regarding

academic freedom Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teac ...

and

Kathleen Stock Kathleen Mary Linn Stock is a British philosopher and writer. She was a professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex until 2021. She has published academic work on aesthetics, fiction, imagination, sexual objectification, and sexual ori ...

related to

transphobia Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger to ...

on the university campus. Sussex UCU claimed that Tickell had not upheld the dignity and respect of trans students and staff. UCU also called for an investigation into "institutional transphobia" at the University of Sussex in response to Tickell's statement.

Publications

*Thrift, N, A. Tickell, W.H, Rupp and S. Woolgar. (eds.) 2014. ''Globalization in Practice''. Oxford University Press. *Tickell A., E. Sheppard, J. Peck and T.Barnes (eds.). 2007. ''Politics and Practice in Economic Geography''. Sage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tickell, Adam British geographers Alumni of the University of Manchester Living people Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences Economic geographers 1965 births Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London