Staff Profile

Professor Joe Painter, BA (Cambridge) PhD (Open University)

Head of Department in the Department of Geography

Telephone: +44 (0) 191 33 41906

Fax: +44 (0)191 33 41801

Room number: 208

Contact Professor Joe Painter (email at j.m.painter@durham.ac.uk)

Current Research

My current research focuses mainly on the prosaic geographies of the state. I am interested in both the everyday lives of state institutions and actors and the manifestation of what Timothy Mitchell calls the 'effect of the state' in the everyday lives of people and places. One strand of this work considers how mundane socio-technical practices (such as accounting, statistical analysis, economic modelling, bureaucratic record-keeping and strategizing) generate specific state effects and state geographies. Another strand will look at the incomplete, uneven, but often intensive and unnoticed permeation of 'stateness' into diverse aspects of social life.

Biography

I was born in London and grew up in Hertfordshire and then in Dorset, where I went to Weymouth Grammar School (now Budmouth College). After seven months' voluntary work in rural India in 1984, I took up a place to study geography at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University, graduating in 1987. I then moved to the Open University to do research for a PhD on the geography of trade unionism in Britain under the supervision of Doreen Massey and John Allen. In 1990 I joined the University of Wales, Lampeter (then St David's University College) as Lecturer in Geography. I moved to Durham in 1993, first as Lecturer, then as Reader (2000), Professor (2004) and Head of Department (2010-2013). I spent 12 months as a visiting fellow at the Australian National University in Canberra (2004-05). I have also held visiting positions at the University of Cambridge and the University of British Columbia, among others.

Research Groups

Research Interests

Political geography
Geographies of the state and citizenship
Urban and regional theory
Urban politics and governance
Regionalism and regionality in Europe

Selected Publications

Journal papers: academic

Painter, J. Regional biopolitics. Regional Studies. 2012.
Painter, J. The politics of the neighbour. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. 2012;30:515-533.
Painter, J. Rethinking territory. Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography. 2010;42:1090-1118.
Robinson, F., Zass-Ogilvie, I. & Painter, J. Brownfield regeneration and the public understanding of risks to health: a scoping study. Northern Economic Review. 2009;39:27-54.
Bickerstaff, K., Bulkeley, H. & Painter, J. Symposium: Justice, nature and the city. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. 2009;33:591-600.
Painter, J. Cartographic anxiety and the search for regionality. Environment and Planning A. 2008;40:342-361.
Painter, J. European citizenship and the regions. European Urban and Regional Studies. 2008;15:5-19.
Chaturvedi, S. & Painter, J. Whose world, whose order? Spatiality, geopolitics and the limits of the world order concept. Cooperation and Conflict. 2007;42:375-395.
Painter, J. Prosaic geographies of stateness. Political Geography. 2006;25:752-774.
Bialasiewicz, L., Elden, S. & Painter, J. The Constitution of EU territory. Comparative European Politics. 2005;3:333-363.

Books: authored

Painter, J. & Jeffrey, A. Geografia politica. Novara: UTET; 2011.
Painter, J. & Jeffrey, A. Political geography: an introduction to space and power. London: Sage; 2009.
Cloke, P., Cook, I., Crang, P., Goodwin, M., Painter, J. & Philo, C. Practising human geography. London: Sage; 2004.
Painter, J. Politics, geography and 'political geography': a critical perspective. London: Arnold; 1995.

Books: edited

Featherstone, D. & Painter, J. Spatial politics: essays for Doreen Massey. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell; 2013.
Atkinson, S., Fuller, S. & Painter, J. Wellbeing and place. Farnham: Ashgate; 2012.

Essays in edited volumes

Atkinson, S., Fuller, S. & Painter, J. Wellbeing and place. In: Atkinson, S., Fuller, S. & Painter, J. Wellbeing and place. Farnham: Ashgate; 2012:1-14.
Painter, J. Conceptualizing "society" and "state". In: Mitchneck, B.A. State, society, and transformation. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; 2011:20-49.
Painter, J. Territoire et réseau: une fausse dichotomie? = Territory and network: a false dichotomy?. In: Vanier, M Territoires, territorialité, territorialisation: controverses et perspectives = Territories, territoriality, territorialisation: controversies and perspectives. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes; 2009:57-66.
Painter, J. Territorio/rete = Territory/network. In: dell'Agnese, E. Geo-grafia: strumenti e parole. Milan: Edizioni Unicopli; 2009:137-163.
Painter, J. Urbanism lite. In: Amin, A. & O'Neill, M. Thinking about almost everything. London: Profile Books; 2009:102-103.
Painter, J. Geographies of space and power. In: Cox, K., Low, M. & Robinson, J. The SAGE handbook of political geography. London: Sage; 2008:57-72.
Painter, J. Governmentality and regional economic strategies. In: Hillier, J. & Rooksby, E. Habitus: A Sense of Place. Aldershot: Ashgate; 2005:131-157.

Conference papers

Painter, J. Territory-network. Chicago, USA: Association of American Geographers. Annual Meeting; 2006.

Other publications: research

Painter, J., Orton, A., MacLeod, D.G., Dominelli, L. & Pande, R. Connecting localism and community empowerment: research review and critical synthesis for the AHRC Connected Community Programme. 2011.

Reports: official

Painter, J. Urban citizenship and rights to the city. 2005;23.

Show all publications

Media Contacts

Available for media contact about:

Geography: Regional Politics and Government
Citizenship, state and governance: European citizenship and identity
Regional Affairs: Regional Politics and Government
Europe: Politics, institutions & law: European citizenship and identity
Geography: Cities and urban development