Gavin Kitching is a British author and professor of

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

s and

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

(formerly head of School Politics and International Relations) at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

, where he has taught since 1991. In 2007 Kitching became a fellow of the

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) is an independent, non-governmental organisation devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It has its origins in the Social Science Research Council of Austr ...

Academic and fiction work

Kitching is an expert on the philosophy of

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is considere ...

, and has made contributions to the philosophy behind

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

. In his latest work, Kitching has argued that

postmodernism Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...

is a hollow form of philosophy, setting "an athletic Enlightenment cat among the plump postmodernist pigeons." He argues not only that postmodernism is either boring or wrong, but that it can be a distorting influence in education. Prior to that Kitching made contributions to

development studies Development studies is an interdisciplinary branch of social science. Development studies is offered as a specialized master's degree in a number of reputed universities around the world. It has grown in popularity as a subject of study since the e ...

, with the early best-selling course text ''Development and Underdevelopment'' (1989). His first research and published work focussed on development in Africa, particularly

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, for which he won the

Herskovitz Prize The ASA Best Book Prize, formerly known as the Herskovits Prize (Melville J. Herskovits Prize), is an annual prize given by the African Studies Association to the best scholarly work (including translations) on Africa published in English in the pre ...

. Since the early 1990s he moved to analysing post-soviet

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

during the process of de-

collectivisation Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...

of land. Subsequently, he wrote about the effects of

globalisation Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

in the twenty-first-century economy, and is familiar to UNSW

international studies International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

students for teaching the introductory globalisation course. Kitching is also a published novelist and playwright. The main characters play out their roles in the North-East of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and the novels are whodunnit crime stories.

List of publications

;Academic titles *''Capitalism and Democracy in the 21st Century: A Global Future Beyond Nationalism'' (2020) Routledge, *''The trouble with theory: the educational costs of postmodernism'' (2008) Allen & Unwin, *''Wittgenstein and Society: Essays in Conceptual Puzzlement'' (2003) Ashgate, *''Seeking Social Justice through Globalisation: Escaping a Nationalist Perspective'' (2001) Penn State Press, *''Marxism and Science: Analysis of an Obsession''Link to website
/ref> (1994) Penn State Press, *''Rethinking Socialism'' (1983) Meuthen, *''Development and Underdevelopment in Historical Perspective'' (1989) 2nd Ed. Routledge, *''Class and economic change in Kenya'' (1980) Yale University Press, ;Academic articles
''The modernisation myth''
(2006) *''The Concept of Sebestoimost' in Russian Farm Accounting: A Very Unmagical Mystery Tour'' (2001) 1 Journal of Agrarian Change 57

(2000) ;Fiction work *''The Death of a Politician'' (2007

*''The Truth of the Matter'' (2007

*''Sons and Smugglers'' (2007

*''An Impossible Honesty: Scenes from the life of Ludwig Wittgenstein'' (2003

freely downloadable *''Karl Marx in Hell'' (2002

freely downloadable *''A Dream of Gazza'' (2001

freely downloadable

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitching, Gavin Living people Academic staff of the University of New South Wales Alumni of St Antony's College, Oxford Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the Fabian Society

Academic and fiction work

List of publications

Further reading

Notes