Professor Peter Bloom
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Email
pbloom@essex.ac.uk -
Telephone
+44 (0) 1206 874907
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Location
EBS.3.3, Colchester Campus
Profile
Biography
Peter Bloom is a Professor of Management at the University of Essex. His research critically explores the radical possibilities of technology for redefining and transforming contemporary work and society. It focuses on better understanding the human aspects of organizational existence and the potentially for constructing more empowering cultural paradigms for organising the economy and politics. Specifically, his research originally reveals the strong relationship between economic marketization and political authoritarianism, the “dark side” of workplace empowerment discourses and the role of technology for changing organisations and processes of organising. He received his PhD from the University of Essex in 2009 in Government (Ideology and Discourse Analysis). Prior to coming to the EBS, he was a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of People and Organisations at the Open University as well as the Co-Founder of the research group REEF (Research into Employment, Empowerment, and Futures). His books include Authoritarian Capitalism in the Age of Globalization (Edward Elgar Press), Beyond Power and Resistance: Politics at the Radical Limits (Rowman and Littlefield International, November 2016), The Ethics of Neoliberalism: The Business of Making Capitalism Moral (Routledge, 2017), The Bad Faith in the Free Market: The Radical Promise of Existential Freedom (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), and The CEO Society: How the Cult of Corporate Leadership Transform Our World co-written Carl Rhodes (Zed Books). His scholarly work has also been published in leading international journals such as Human Relations, Organization, Theory and Event, Journal of Political Ideologies, Journal of Political Power, New Formations, Research on the Sociology of Organization, Culture and Organizations, Ephemera, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Organization and International Journal of Žižek Studies. His writing has been additionally featured in top international and national media outlets such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, and The Independent, The New Statesmen, The Week, The Conversation and Open Democracy among others. Recently, he has served as the lead academic on a range of BBC programmes including “The Bottom Line” on Radio 4, the “Can Britain Have a Pay Raise” aired on BBC2 and most recently the two part television documentary “The Secrets of Silicon Valley”.
Qualifications
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PhD in Government The University of Esesx, (2009)
Appointments
University of Essex
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Professor in Management, Essex Business School, University of Essex (1/9/2019 - present)
Other academic
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Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business and Law, The Open University (1/4/2014 - 31/8/2019)
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Lecturer in Organisation Studies, Business School, Swansea University (1/9/2009 - 31/3/2014)
Research and professional activities
Conferences and presentations
Managing and Upscaling Resilient Commons Development
Invited presentation, Resilient Propert Theory Worksop, Maria-Curie, Turin, Italy, 31/5/2024
Reframing public management: from co-production to co-reproduction'
International Research Society for Public Management, International Research Society for Public Management, 16/4/2024
Creating a Social Economy Video Game
Invited presentation, Event ERASMUS SCE4 Project Event, ERASMUS SCE4 Project Event, 29/1/2024
Organising Anti-Oligarchic Futures
Invited presentation, Historical Materialism, Historical Materialism, 9/11/2023
The Invisible Hand of The Commons
Invited presentation, The 300th Anniversarybof Adam Smith, Glasgow, United Kingdom, 8/6/2023
The High Cost of CEO Leadership
Invited presentation, Dublin, Ireland, 1/4/2019
Accountable Subjects, Unaccountable elites
Keynote presentation, Conway Hall, 1/3/2019
The Future of Public Sector Trust
Invited presentation, ICPS 11th Annual Public Administration Reform Symposium, 3/12/2018
Creating Smart Moral Technologies
Invited presentation, Cologne, Germany, 1/11/2018
The Future of Rewards and Benefits
Invited presentation, Pensions and Benefits UK National Conference, 25/6/2018
The Future of Work 4.0: Disruptive Technologies, opportunity or threat’
Keynote presentation, Dublin, Ireland, 18/6/2018
Creating a People First 21st Century Employment Contract
AOM Big Data Conference, Guildford, United Kingdom, 9/4/2018
'The Future of Union Learning Today'
Invited presentation, Union 21 Conference, 2/4/2018
Placing Wellbeing at the Centre of the Future of Employment for Military Veteran
Keynote presentation, MOD People and Resettlement Conference, London, United Kingdom, 1/3/2018
Virtually Revolutionising Democracy and Civil Society
Invited presentation, Civil Society and Democracy in the Economic Arena (ESRC Seminar), London, United Kingdom, 1/12/2017
The CEO Society: The Corporate Takeover of Everyday Life
Keynote presentation, PUPOL Conference, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, 3/4/2017
Authoritarian Capitalism in the Age of Globalisation
Invited presentation, Depoliticization and the political today, Queen Mary, London, United Kingdom, 2/5/2016
Teaching and supervision
Current teaching responsibilities
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Understanding Organisational Management (BE707)
Current supervision
Previous supervision
Degree subject: Management Studies
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 8/1/2024
Publications
Journal articles (17)
Butcher, T., James, E. and Bloom, P., (2023). Extreme Wellness at Work: Whose body counts in the rise of exceptionalist organisational fitness cultures. Organization: the interdisciplinary journal of organization, theory and society. 30 (3), 453-472
Vedadhir, A., Bloom, P. and Majdzadeh, S-R., (2023). Constructing Equitable Health Resilience: A Call for a Systems Approach to Intersectionality. International Journal of Health Policy and Management. 12 (1), 8099-8099
Bloom, P., (2023). The development of a smart political moral economy in Africa: discourse, legitimization, disciplining, and hegemony. Critical African Studies. 16 (1), 108-126
Bloom, P. and Śliwa, M., (2022). Hacking work: Critically examining the implications of the new discourse and practices of hacking for work intensification and organisational control. Human Relations. 75 (5), 795-816
Bloom, P. and Barthold, C., (2020). Denaturalizing the Environment: Dissensus and the Possibility of Radically Democratizing Discourses of Environmental Sustainability. Journal of Business Ethics. 164 (4), 671-681
Bloom, P., (2016). Work as the contemporary limit of life: Capitalism, the death drive, and the lethal fantasy of ‘work–life balance’. Organization. 23 (4), 588-606
Bloom, PN. and White, PJ., (2016). The moral work of subversion. Human Relations. 69 (1), 5-31
Bloom, P., (2016). Cutting off the King's Head: The Self Disciplining Fantasy of Neoliberal Sovereignty. New Formations. 88 (88), 8-29
Bloom, P., (2016). Back to the capitalist future: Fantasy and the paradox of crisis. Culture and Organization. 22 (2), 158-177
Bloom, P., (2014). We are all monsters now!. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal. 33 (7), 662-680
Bloom, P. and Montano, EA., (2014). The Closed Promise: The Authoritarian" Grip" of Democracy.. Theory and Event. 17 (3)
Bloom, P., (2013). The power of safe resistance. Journal of Political Power. 6 (2), 219-239
Bloom, P., (2013). Fight for your alienation: The fantasy of employability and the ironic struggle for self-exploitation.. ephemera: theory & politics in organization. 13 (4), 785-807
Bloom, P. and Rhodes, C., (2012). The Cultural Fantasy of Hierarchy: Sovereignty and the Desire for Spiritual Purity. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 141-169
Bloom, P. and Dallyn, S., (2011). The paradox of order: reimagining ideological domination. Journal of Political Ideologies. 16 (1), 53-78
Bloom, P., (2011). Review Essay— China’s Shifting Capitalism: The Role of Norms in China’s Market Transition. Organization. 18 (1), 129-137
Bloom, P. and Cederstrom, C., (2009). “The sky's the limit”: fantasy in the age of market rationality. Journal of Organizational Change Management. 22 (2), 159-180
Books (10)
Bloom, P., (2023). Authoritarian Capitalism in the Age of Globalization. Edward Elgar Publishing. 978 1 80220 460 5
Bloom, P., Jones, OS. and Woodcock, J., (2021). Guerrilla Democracy Mobile Power and Revolution in the 21st Century. Policy Press. 1529205646. 978-1529205619
Bloom, P., (2020). Identity, Institutions and Governance in an AI World Transhuman Relations. Palgrave Macmillan. 978-3-030-36180-8
Bloom, P. and Sancino, A., (2019). Disruptive Democracy The Clash Between Techno-Populism and Techno-Democracy. SAGE. 152646568X. 9781526465689
Bloom, P., (2019). Monitored Business and Surveillance in a Time of Big Data. Pluto Press (UK). 0745338623. 9780745338637
Bloom, P., (2018). The Bad Faith in the Free Market. Springer International Publishing. 3319765027. 9783319765013
Bloom, P. and Rhodes, C., (2018). The CEO Society: The Corporate Takeover of Everyday Life. Zed
Bloom, P., (2017). The Ethics of Neoliberalism The Business of Making Capitalism Moral. Routledge. 1317212665. 9781138667242
Bloom, P., (2016). Beyond Power and Resistance Politics at the Radical Limits. Rowman & Littlefield International. 1783487534. 9781783487530
Bloom, P., (2016). Authoritarian Capitalism in the Age of Globalization. Edward Elgar Publishing. 1784713155. 978-1784713133
Book chapters (8)
Bloom, P., (2024). Chapter 14 The Possibilities of Radical Democratic Management. In: The Handbook of Organizing Economic, Ecological and Societal Transformation. De Gruyter. 275- 294
Bloom, P., (2023). "The Danger of Smart Ideologies: Counter-Hegemonic Intelligence and Antagonistic Machines".. In: Handbook of Critical Studies of Artificial Intelligence. Edward Elgar Publishing. 33- 42. 9781803928555
Bloom, P., (2020). Through the prism of Sartre: taking care of our existential freedom. In: Paradox and Power in Caring Leadership Critical and Philosophical Reflections. Editors: Tomkins, L., . Edward Elgar Publishing. 153- 161. 9781788975490
Bloom, P., (2019). ‘Rethinking Organisational Research and Life Through Arendt’.. In: Routledge Focus on Women Writers in Organization Studies.. Editors: Pullen, A. and McMurray, R.,
Bloom, P. and Knights, D., (2017). Foucault and Critical Accounting. In: The Routledge Companion to Critical Accounting. Editors: Roslinder, R.,
Knights, D. and Bloom, P., (2017). Foucault. In: The Routledge Companion to Critical Accounting. Routledge. 91- 108
Bloom, P. and Rhodes, C., (2016). Political Leadership in the 21st Century: Neo- Liberalism and the Rise of the CEO Politician. In: The Routledge Companion to Leadership.. Editors: Storey, J. and Hartley, J., . Routledge. 359- 372
Bloom, P., (2015). ‘Resisting the power of organizational resistance. In: The Routledge Companion to Ethics, Politics and Organizations.. Editors: Pullen, A. and Rhodes, C., . 368- 383
Grants and funding
2024
Innovate to Elevate (I2E) project to develop and implement a comprehensive acoustic training initiative for poorly supported local sectors
Babergh and Mid Suffolk (Innovate to Elevate Programme)
2023
Develop and spread the use of the Shared Futures Planning Toolkit throughout interface areas in Belfast.
The National Lottery Community Fund
2022
Evaluation of Eastlight Community Homes All In programme
Eastlight Community Homes Limited
Creating a 'Common Value' Business Model
University of Essex (ESRC IAA)
Social and Co-Operative Clinics in Europe
University of Essex (ESRC IAA)
Promoting Commons Presents and Futures
University of Essex (ESRC IAA)
Building Research Community for Operationalising Intersectionality to reduce health disparities in mental health
Arts and Humanities Research Council
2021
The Future Innovators Project. SEUPB Building Positive Relations Regional funding through EU's Peace IV programme on expanding and spreading the use of the Shared Futures Toolkit throughout Northern Ireland including border regions of Ireland.
Co-operation Ireland
2020
Innovation Voucher application: Remapping the Future in Belfast: Bringing peace lines communities together to imagine a shared future without walls
Animorph Ltd
