Derek Gregory (born 1 March 1951) is a British academic and world-renowned

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

who is currently Peter Wall Distinguished Professor and Professor of Geography at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. He formerly held positions at the

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 ...

. Gregory is best known for his book ''The Colonial Present: Afghanistan, Palestine and Iraq'', published in 2004. This book discusses the actions of various

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

governments in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

after the 9/11 attacks. It reflects how the popular

discourse Discourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. F ...

s found in the

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

and in political circles indicate a continued presence of orientalist and neocolonialist undercurrents. The work also draws on the work of political theorist

Giorgio Agamben Giorgio Agamben ( ; ; born 22 April 1942) is an Italian philosopher best known for his work investigating the concepts of the state of exception, form-of-life (borrowed from Ludwig Wittgenstein) and '' homo sacer''. The concept of biopolitic ...

and in particular his theory of the '

state of exception A state of exception () is a concept introduced in the 1920s by the German philosopher, jurist and Nazi Party member Carl Schmitt, similar to a state of emergency (martial law) but based in the sovereign's ability to transcend the rule of law in t ...

'. Earlier works by Gregory have concentrated on

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

cultural Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and

historical geography Historical geography is the branch of geography that studies the ways in which geographic phenomena have changed over time. In its modern form, it is a synthesizing discipline which shares both topical and methodological similarities with histor ...

. He has also contributed to theoretical writing on imagined geographies and David Harvey. A book published in 1994, ''Geographical Imaginations'', explores the relations between social theory and place, space and landscape. He graduated from the University of Cambridge with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1981. He has honorary doctorates from the University of Heidelberg and Roskilde University, and he was awarded the

Founder's Medal The Founder's Medal is a medal awarded annually by the Royal Geographical Society, upon approval of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, to individuals for "the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery". Foundation From ...

of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

in 2006. His current research is on late modern war and on the cultural/political histories and geographies of bombing. He blogs at www.geographicalimaginations.com

Bibliography

War and Peace
''Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers,'' Volume 35, Issue 2, pages 154–186, (April 2010) *''Violent Geographies: Fear, Terror, and Political Violence.'' Routledge(November 22, 2006) *''The Colonial Present: Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq.'' Wiley-Blackwell (4 Jun 2004) *''Geographical Imaginations.'' Blackwell (1994)

References

External links

*Audio of Derek Gregory's lectur
"Vanishing Points: Law, Violence and Exception in the Global War Prison"
at the Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities on October 25, 2006. 1951 births Living people 21st-century British geographers Corresponding fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Place of birth missing (living people) British historical geographers Political geographers Academic staff of the University of British Columbia British expatriate academics in Canada Human geographers Fellows of King's College London Recipients of the Royal Geographical Society Founder's Medal {{Geographer-stub