Professor John Preston
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Email
j.preston@essex.ac.uk -
Location
2.605, Colchester Campus
Profile
Biography
John works on the sociology of disasters, emergencies and existential threat. He also works on the sociology of education with reference to class, race, Higher Education, Vocational Education and Adult Education. His work considers social inequalities in preparedness for disasters and emergencies. This has involved analysis of preparedness campaigns and films from the Cold War in the UK and US, reappraising working class children's agency in the Aberfan disaster, community case studies on public information for terrorist attacks, comparative analysis of national cultures of preparedness and critiquing popular conceptions of existential threat from nuclear war to A.I. 'super-intelligence'. His latest book 'Grenfell Tower: Preparedness, Race and Disaster Capitalism' (2019) examines the role of fire safety information in the tower block fire. John has acted as PI on both ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) and EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Science Research Council) interdisciplinary projects related to preparedness and disasters namely 'Preparedness pedagogies and race' (ESRC, 2009-2010), 'Game theory and adaptive networks for city evacuations'' (EPSRC, 2010-2013) and 'Threats to Infrastructure' (2012 - 2015). His ESRC Leadership Fellowship examines preparedness cultures across a number of comparative contexts (UK, US, Japan, Germany and New Zealand). He is currently PI of IAA2 (ESRC) which allows academics across the social sciences to access funds and events to increase the impact of their research. He was previously an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Leadership Fellow in Conflict, Crime and Security. John has also written widely on issues of skill and education where his research has been funded by UNESCO and the EU. His book, "Competence Based Education and Training and the End of Human Learning: the Existential Threat of Competency" (2017) argues that competence based approaches to skill and work are not compatible with modernist notions of pedagogy and humanity. He is applying this work on the future of humanity and skill as co-investigator on an EPSRC project ('Chatty Factories') which considers the future of human / robot / A.I. work in manufacturing industries.
Qualifications
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Phd University of London,
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MA Economics of Education (Distinction) University of London,
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BA (Hons.) Economics 2:1 University of Lancaster,
Appointments
University of Essex
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Professor of Sociology and Deputy Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Sociology, University of Essex (8/1/2018 - present)
Other academic
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Professor of Education, Education, Bath Spa University (1/9/2017 - 7/1/2018)
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Professor of Education, University of East London (1/9/2009 - 1/9/2017)
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Reader in Lifelong Learning, Lifelong Learning, Institute of Education (University of London) (1/1/2008 - 1/9/2009)
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Senior Lecturer in Education, Education, University of East London (1/1/2005 - 31/12/2008)
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Research Officer, Lifelong Learning, Institute of Education (University of London) (1/1/2000 - 31/12/2004)
Research and professional activities
Research interests
Disasters
Class
Race / Ethnicity
Existential Threats
Post-compulsory education and training (PCET)
Artificial Intelligence
Current research
Future of human skills in manufacturing
This EPSRC funded project (Chatty Factories) considers the future of manufacturing. I am currently researching how human skills in factories are changing with respect to working with robots, AI (Artificial Intelligence) and 'sentient' commodities.
More information about this project
Coronavirus, class and mutual aid
With Dr. Rhiannon Firth we have conducted a policy-sociology of the first wave of the Coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom which will appear as a monograph. We are continuing work in this area.
Conferences and presentations
Disaster capitalism and time
Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, Polish Sociological Association: 7 th Workshop on Unintended Consequences Time is Money, and Beyond: The Temporality of Action and Consequences, 7/5/2019
Publications
Journal articles (30)
Preston, J., (2023). Schools and emergency feeding in a national crisis in the United Kingdom: subterranean class strategies. British Journal of Sociology of Education. 44 (4), 631-648
Hapgood, M., Angling, M., Attrill, G., Bisi, M., Cannon, P., Dyer, C., Eastwood, J., Elvidge, S., Gibbs, M., Harrison, R., Hord, C., Horne, R., Jackson, D., Jones, B., Machin, S., Mitchell, C., Preston, J., Rees, J., Rogers, N., Routledge, G., Ryden, K., Tanner, R., Thomson, A., Wild, J. and Willis, M., (2021). Development of Space Weather Reasonable Worst-Case Scenarios for the UK National Risk Assessment. Space Weather. 19 (4)
Preston, J., (2017). Two nations underground: building schools to survive nuclear war and desegregation in the 1960s. Race Ethnicity and Education. 20 (1), 30-41
Kitagawa, K., Preston, J. and Chadderton, C., (2017). Preparing for disaster: a comparative analysis of education for critical infrastructure collapse. Journal of Risk Research. 20 (11), 1450-1465
Preston, J., (2016). From Aberfan to the ‘Canvey Factor’: schools, children and industrial disasters. British Journal of Sociology of Education. 37 (4), 607-622
Preston, J., (2016). Zombie pedagogies: the problems with using the undead in public pedagogies for emergencies. Jahrbuch für Pädagogik. 2016 (1), 211-226
Preston, J., (2015). A golden age of security and education? Adult education for civil defence in the United States 1950–1970. British Journal of Educational Studies. 63 (3), 387-411
Preston, J., Chadderton, C., Kitagawa, K. and Edmonds, C., (2015). Community response in disasters: an ecological learning framework. International Journal of Lifelong Education. 34 (6), 727-753
Preston, J., (2015). The strange death of UK civil defence education in the 1980s. History of Education. 44 (2), 225-242
Preston, J., Chadderton, C. and Kitagawa, K., (2014). The ‘state of exception’ and disaster education: a multilevel conceptual framework with implications for social justice. Globalisation, Societies and Education. 12 (4), 437-456
(2014). Critical race theory in England. Race Ethnicity and Education. 15 (1), 1-3
Preston, J. and Chadderton, C., (2012). Rediscovering ‘Race Traitor’: towards a Critical Race Theory informed public pedagogy. Race Ethnicity and Education. 15 (1), 85-100
Preston, J., Avery, B., Chakrabarty, N. and Edmonds, C., (2011). Emergency preparedness as public pedagogy: the absent–presence of race in ‘Preparing for Emergencies’. International Journal of Lifelong Education. 30 (6), 749-762
Preston, J., (2010). Prosthetic white hyper-masculinities and ‘disaster education’. Ethnicities. 10 (3), 331-343
Preston, J., (2010). Race, whiteness and education. Journal of Education Policy. 25 (6), 802-804
Preston, J., (2010). Concrete and abstract racial domination. Power and Education. 2 (2), 115-125
Preston, J., (2009). Preparing for emergencies: citizenship education, ‘whiteness’ and pedagogies of security. Citizenship Studies. 13 (2), 187-200
Preston, J., (2008). Protect and Survive: ‘whiteness’ and the middle‐class family in civil defence pedagogies. Journal of Education Policy. 23 (5), 469-482
Preston, J., (2006). Class strategies and stealth policies in adult education. International Journal of Lifelong Education. 25 (4), 335-350
Preston, J., Feinstein, L. and Anderson, TM., (2005). Can adult education change extremist attitudes?. London Review of Education. 3 (3), 289-309
Green, A. and Preston, J., (2005). Editorial: speaking in tongues — diversity in mixed methods research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 8 (3), 167-171
Preston, J., (2003). ’Enrolling alone?’ Lifelong learning and social capital in England. International Journal of Lifelong Education. 22 (3), 235-248
Preston, J., (2003). White trash vocationalism? Formations of class and race in an Essex further education college. Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning. 5, 6-17
Green, A., Preston, J. and Sabates, R., (2003). Education, equality and social cohesion: a distributional approach. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education. 33 (4), 453-470
Preston, J., (2003). Education, equity and social cohesion. Learning and Skills Research Journal. 6, 37-37
Preston, J., (2003). FE and wider benefits: practitioner views. Learning and Skills Research Journal. 5, 31-33
Preston, J. and Hammond, C., (2003). Practitioner Views on the Wider Benefits of Further Education. Journal of Further and Higher Education. 27 (2), 211-222
Green, A. and Preston, J., (2001). Education and social cohesion: recentering the debate. Peabody Journal of Education. 76 (3-4), 247-284
Preston, J., (2001). Rationality and reproduction in progression to Higher Education. Goldsmiths Journal of Education. 3, 21-32
Green, A. and Preston, J., (2001). Education and Social Cohesion: Recentering the Debate. Peabody Journal of Education. 76 (3), 247-284
Books (11)
Preston, J., (2021). Artificial Intelligence in the Capitalist University Academic Labour, Commodification, and Value. Routledge. 9781003081654
Preston, J. and Firth, R., (2020). Coronavirus, Class and Mutual Aid in the United Kingdom. Springer International Publishing. 3030577139. 9783030577131
Preston, J., (2018). Grenfell Tower: Preparedness, Race and Disaster Capitalism. Palgrave Pivot. 3319968513. 978-3-319-96850-6
Preston, J., (2017). Competence Based Education and Training (CBET) and the end of human learning: the existential threat of competency. Palgrave Macmillan. 3319551108. 9783319551098
Preston, J., Binner, J., Branicki, L., Galla, T., Jones, N., King, J., Kolokitha, M. and Smyrnakis, M., (2015). City evacuations: an interdisciplinary approach. Springer. 9783662438763
Preston, J., (2013). Whiteness in academia: counter-stories of betrayal and resistance. Cambridge Scholars
Preston, J., (2012). Disaster education: ’race’, equity and pedagogy. Sense Publishers
Bhopal, K. and Preston, J., (2011). Intersectionality and "race" in education. Routledge
(2007). Whiteness and Class in Education. Springer Netherlands. 9781402061073
Green, A., Preston, J. and Janmaat, J., (2006). Education, equality and social cohesion: a comparative analysis. Palgrave Macmillan. 9780230223639
Plewis, I. and Preston, J., (2001). Evaluating the benefits of lifelong learning: a framework. DfES
Book chapters (17)
Preston, J., (2021). Where did the learning go? Artificial Intelligence, ‘use sovereignty’ and ‘Pixarfication’ in factories of the future. In: SAGE Handbook of Learning and Work. Editors: Malloch, M., Cairns, L., Evans, K. and O'Connor, B., . 9781526491114
Preston, J. and Firth, R., (2020). The Viracene and Capitalism. In: Coronavirus, Class and Mutual Aid in the United Kingdom. Springer International Publishing. 11- 28. 9783030577131
Preston, J. and Firth, R., (2020). Introduction. In: Coronavirus, Class and Mutual Aid in the United Kingdom. Springer International Publishing. 1- 10. 9783030577131
Preston, J., (2020). Classed Practices: Pandemic Preparedness in the UK. In: Coronavirus, Class and Mutual Aid in the United Kingdom. Springer International Publishing. 29- 55. 9783030577131
Preston, J., (2019). Overkill: Why universities modelling the impact of nuclear war in the 1980s could not change the views of the security state. In: The Routledge Handbook of Universities, Security and Intelligence Studies. Editors: Gearon, L., . Routledge. 394- 402. 978-1138572416
Preston, J., (2017). A golden age of security and education? Adult education for civil defence in the United States 1950–1970. In: Education, security and intelligence studies. Editors: Gearon, L., . Routledge. 9781138088276
Preston, J. and Kolokitha, M., (2015). City evacuations: their pedagogy and the need for an inter-disciplinary approach. In: City evacuations: an interdisciplinary approach. Editors: Preston, J., Binner, J., Branicki, L., Galla, T., Jones, N., King, J., Kolokitha, M. and Smyrnakis, M., . Springer. 1- 20. 9783662438770
Preston, J., (2015). Conclusion: evacuations and transmedia vulnerability. In: City evacuations: an interdisciplinary approach. Editors: Preston, J., Binner, J., Branicki, L., Galla, T., Jones, N., King, J., Kolokitha, M. and Smyrnakis, M., . Springer. 117- 128. 9783662438770
Preston, J. and Bhopal, K., (2012). Conclusion: Intersectional theories and 'Race': From toolkit to 'Mash-Up'. In: Intersectionality and Race in Education. 213- 220
Preston, J. and Chakrabarty, N., (2010). Merely gestural? Schools as a site for posturing against a theatre of the depressed. In: Learning and teaching in a metropolis. Editors: Ang, L., Trushell, J. and Walker, P., . Rodopi. 159- 173. 9789042027954
Preston, J. and Chakrabarty, N., (2010). Do schools contribute to community cohesion?. In: The Routledge education studies textbook. Editors: Arthur, J. and Davies, I., . Routledge
Preston, J., (2010). White apocalypse: preparedness pedagogies as symbolic and material invocations of white supremacy. In: Handbook of public pedagogy: education and learning beyond schooling. Editors: Sandlin, JA., Schultz, BD. and Burdick, J., . Routledge. 555- 563
Green, A., Ketch, MOO. and Preston, J., (2009). Making global classifications of types and levels of TVET. In: International handbook of education for the changing world of work: bridging academic and vocational learning. Editors: Maclean, R. and Wilson, D., . Springer. 2067- 2080
Chakrabarty, N. and Preston, J., (2008). Posturing fear in a world of performed evil: terrorists, teachers and evil neo-liberals. In: Perspectives on evil and human wickedness. Editors: Fisher, R., . Oxford Inter-Disciplinary Press. 227- 238
Chakrabarty, N. and Preston, J., (2007). Putnam’s pink umbrella? Transgressing melancholic social capital. In: Youth and social capital. Editors: Helve, H. and Bynner, JM., . Tufnell Press
Preston, J., (2007). Mis(recognising) Lifelong Learning In Community Settings. In: Lifelong Learning: Concepts and Contexts. Routledge. 161- 161
Schuller, T. and Preston, J., (2005). Skills, values and networks: evidence on the wider benefits of learning. In: Active citizenship and multiple identities in Europe: a learning outlook. Editors: Wildermeersch, D., Stroobants, V. and Jr, MB., . Peter Lang
Grants and funding
2023
University of Derby Institute of Education evaluation
University of Derby
2022
Reconstructing capitalism after a nuclear war: post-attack planning in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1970s and 80s
British Academy
2019
ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) Round 2
Economic and Social Research Council
2018
New Industrial Systems: Chatty Factories
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
