Marc Stears (born 1971) is a British political theorist. He is Director of the UCL Policy Lab, based at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, having previously led the Sydney Policy Lab at

The University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. Before arriving in Sydney in 2018, Marc had been Chief Executive of the

New Economics Foundation The New Economics Foundation (NEF) is a Great Britain, British think-tank that promotes "social, economic and environmental justice". NEF was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) with the aim of working for a "new m ...

. He was previously Professor of Political Theory and Fellow of

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. His published works have focussed mainly on the development of progressive political movements in the UK and the USA. He was a leading thinker in the

Blue Labour Blue Labour is a British campaign group and political faction that seeks to promote blue-collar and culturally conservative values within the British Labour Party – particularly on immigration, crime, DEI and community spirit – while rema ...

movement. He was formerly chief speechwriter to Ed Miliband during the Labour leader's unsuccessful 2015 General Election campaign.

Biography

Raised in South Wales, Stears became first interested in the impact of politics and political systems on people's lives from an early age and went on to read

Politics, Philosophy and Economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in PPE was the Unive ...

at Corpus Christi College,

. Following positions at

Nuffield College Nuffield College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. N ...

, the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

and Emmanuel College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Stears became University Lecturer in Political Theory and Director of the Centre for Political Ideologies at

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

. In 2011 he became a member of the

Institute for Public Policy Research The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is a Progressivism, progressive think tank based in London. It was founded in 1988 by Clive Hollick, Baron Hollick, Lord Hollick and John Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, Lord Eatwell, and is an independen ...

, looking particularly at the relationship between the state and society. Stears is one of the editors of "The Labour tradition and the politics of paradox" along with

Maurice Glasman Maurice Glasman, Baron Glasman (born 8 March 1961) is an English political theorist, academic, social commentator, and Labour life peer in the House of Lords. He is a senior lecturer in Political Theory at London Metropolitan University, Directo ...

, Jonathan Rutherford and Stuart White. This book came out of a series of seminars in Oxford and London, which seek to find a new direction for the Labour Party after its 2010 electoral defeat.

Selected works

*''Progressives, Pluralists, and the Problems of the State: Ideologies of Reform in the United States and Britain, 1909-1926'', (OUP, 2006) *''Political Theory: Methods and Approaches'' (OUP, 2008) (co-editor with David Leopold) *''Demanding Democracy: American Radicals in Search of a New Politics'' (Princeton, 2010)

References

External links

Blue Labour Online

What is Blue Labour? An interview with Marc Stears
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stears, Marc 1971 births Living people British political philosophers British political scientists Fellows of University College, Oxford Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Blue Labour