Ash Amin, (born 31 October 1955) is a British academic known for his writing on urban and regional development, contemporary cultural change, progressive politics, and the collaborative economy. He holds the 1931 chair at the Department of Geography, University of Cambridge. Since September 2015 he has held the post of foreign secretary of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

Early life

Amin was born in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. and lived in the South Asian community of Kenya until the age of 16, when he emigrated with his family to settle in Britain. He finished his schooling at Stratford Grammar School in London. He graduated from the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

in 1979 with a degree in Italian Studies and then gained a PhD in geography from Reading in 1986.

Career

He is a geographer, interested in the geographies of contemporary social, political and economic change and their effects on situated life, autonomy and identity. His research has been based mainly in Europe, but is increasingly focusing on informal settlements in the developing world. His career started at Newcastle University in 1982. He was a Research Fellow and Research Associate at the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies and also a Lecturer and later a Professor in the Department of Geography. In 2005 he left Newcastle for

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, where he was head of the geography department and the founding Executive Director of the Institute of Advanced Study. In 2011 was appointed as 1931 Chair in Geography at

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and became a professorial Fellow of Christ's College.

Books

*Amin, A. and Thrift, N. 2016. ''Seeing Like a City''. Cambridge: Polity Press. *Amin, A. and Thrift, N., 2013. Arts of the Political: New Openings for the Left, Duke University Press *Amin, A., 2012. Land of Strangers, Polity Press. v. 20, p. 1–8. http://doi.org/10.1080/1070289X.2012.732544 *Amin, A. and O'Neill, M. (eds.), 2009. Thinking About Almost Everything, Profile Books *Amin, A. (ed.), 2009. The Social Economy, Zed Books *Amin, A. and Roberts, J. (eds.), 2008. Community, Economic Creativity, and Organization, Oxford University Press. 324pp. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545490.001.0001 *Amin, A. and Thrift, N. (eds.), 2004. The Blackwell Cultural Economy Reader, Blackwell *Amin, A. and Cohendet, P., 2004. Architectures of Knowledge, Oxford University Press. p. 1–194. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199253326.001.0001 *Amin, A., Massey, D.B. and Thrift, N.J., 2003. Decentering the Nation A Radical Approach to Regional Inequality, Compas. 45pp *Amin, A., Cameron, A. and Hudson, R., 2002. Placing the Social Economy, Routledge. 147pp *Amin, A. and Thrift, N., 2002. Cities: Re-imagining the Urban, Polity Press *Amin, A., Massey, D.B. and Thrift, N.J., 2000. Cities for the Many Not the Few, Policy Press. 48pp *Amin, A. (ed.), 1997. Beyond Market and Hierarchy Interactive Governance and Social Complexity, Edward Elgar Pub. 327pp *Amin, A. (ed.), 1995. Post-Fordism A Reader, Wiley-Blackwell. 448pp *Amin, A. (ed.), 1995. Behind the Myth of European Union Prospects for Cohesion, Routledge. 334pp *Amin, A. and Thrift, N. (eds.), 1994. Globalisation, Institutions and Regional Development in Europe, Oxford University Press *Amin, A. (ed.), 1991. Towards a New Europe? Structural Change in the European Economy, Edward Elgar Pub. 241pp *Amin, A. and Goddard, J.B. (eds.), 1986. Technological Change, Industrial Restructuring and Regional Development, Allen & Unwin

Awards and fellowships

Amin has held fellowships and visiting professorships at a number of universities, including the University of Venice, the University of Naples,

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

, Erasmus University Rotterdam,

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Queen Mary College, London, and the University of Uppsala. He has been held positions on the ESRC Research Priorities Board, the Race Advisory Board of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Council of the European Association of Evolutionary Political Economy, the Pro-Futura Programme of the Swedish Collegium of Advanced Study, the Advanced Grants Panel of the

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

, and the Strategic Research Projects Board of the University of Padova. He has received various awards and membership to prestigious bodies such as: *Life Corresponding member of the Italian Institute of Geographers *Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science * Royal Geographical Society's Edward Heath Prize in 1998 *Academician of the Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences *Fellow of the

He was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to social science., and on 30 January 2015 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate from the Faculty of Social Sciences at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amin, Ash 1955 births British geographers Academics of Durham University Alumni of the University of Reading Columbia University alumni Economic geographers Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of Christ's College, Cambridge Living people Academics from Kampala English people of Pakistani descent