Peter Kerr
Biographic Data
| ID | 3982575 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Peter Kerr |
| GIVEN NAMES | Peter |
| FAMILY NAME | Kerr |
| SIGNATURE | KERR P |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Birmingham |
| ORCID | 0009-0000-1681-6715 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 26 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 206 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 26 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1986 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Capturing the zeitgeist: A reply to ‘Binary rhetoric and divisive discourses on the populist Right’ by Pete Dorey
A toxic defence of a toxic legacy? Unpacking Boris Johnson’s evidence to the UK Covid-19 inquiry
This article highlights some of the toxic dimensions of Boris Johnson’s legacy as UK prime minister through a detailed examination of the key narratives and discursive tactics he employed as he gave evidence to the UK COVID-19 inquiry. In doing so, we draw upon the concept of ‘toxic leadership’, a term that has been developed through the work of Lipman-Blumen and others to highlight the damaging impact that some types of leaders can have on their…
Twenty years on: British Politics in flux
Slow burn: Re-examining the legacy of Conservative Party modernization
This article reconsiders the longer-term legacy of David Cameron’s attempts to ‘modernize’ the Conservative Party. In doing so, we aim to make three main contributions to existing scholarship. Firstly, whilst Cameron’s modernization project is judged to have been a failure by most scholars, we show that Conservative leaders post-Cameron have continued a process of party adaptation that exhibits striking continuities with many of its key elements.…
Whither the Centre? Tracing Centralisation and Fragmentation in UK Politics
This article explores the question of how to conceptualise the location, capacity and effectiveness of the ‘centre’ in the UK policymaking process. While the literature on UK governance has historically featured avid disagreements about the power and capacity of central government, we identify a more recent convergence around the idea that the UK government is characterised by persistent centralisation of decision making alongside a fragmentation…
Exploring the political character of decision-making: The BJPIR and the politics of (de)politicisation
In this short contribution to this special issue, we attempt three main things. Firstly, to highlight the pivotal role that the BJPIR has played in helping to initiate and develop a myriad of attempts to understand processes of (de)politicisation. Secondly, to provide a very brief and admittedly selective overview of some of the broader developments in these debates. Thirdly, to pay a brief tribute to the seminal contribution and wider legacy tha…
Reassessing Thatcher’s foreign policy: The Sino-British Declaration 1984
This article presents a ‘primacy of domestic politics’ interpretation of the Thatcher government’s main objectives in the negotiations of the early 1980s, which secured the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997. In the immediate aftermath of the Falklands conflict, sovereignty issues were uppermost in public discourse and the government’s decision to cede sovereignty over Hong Kong seems inconsistent with other elements of Thatcher’s foreign polic…
The Ghost in the Machine: Brexit, Populism, and the Sacralisation of Politics
The current global wave of populism has fuelled a surge in scholarly interest but the links between populism and religion remain under-researched and most studies have centred on cases where religion remains socially and politically influential. This paper contributes to developing studies in this area by analysing the use of religious tropes and themes in a comparatively non-religious context, examining the populist discourse that was constructe…
The Brexit Religion and the Holy Grail of the NHS
The role of populism in mobilising support for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union has been well noted. But a key feature of populist politics – the use of religious discourses – has been largely overlooked. This article addresses this gap by exploring the way in which the Leave campaign framed Brexit in quasi-religious and mythological terms. Three core themes are identified: (1) that the British ‘people’ had a unique role to play in gl…
Guided by the science’: (De)politicising the UK government’s response to the coronavirus crisis
This article sets out to examine the politicising and depoliticising effects of the various stories that were deployed by the UK government in its response to the coronavirus crisis during its daily press briefings over a 2-month period between 16 March and 16 May 2020. In doing so, we identify four key narratives: (1) unprecedented government activism; (2) working to plan; (3) national security, wartime unity and sacrifice; and (4) scientific gu…
From eating cake to crashing out: Constructing the myth of a no-deal Brexit
Getting back in the DeLorean: Modernization vs. anti-modernization in contemporary British politics
This article highlights a growing clash between mainstream modernizing and populist anti-modernizing forces in the UK. Whilst scholarship on UK party politics has, for the past three decades, focussed on processes of party modernization, little attention has been paid to the countervailing processes of resistance towards modernization. This contrasts with comparative studies, which show that throughout much of Europe modernization processes have …
Whatever happened to Conservative Party modernisation
What Kind of ‘Big Government’ is the Big Society? A Reply to Bulley and Sokhi-Bulley
Research Highlights and Abstract This article Contributes to the debates applying Foucauldian theory to contemporary British Politics and invigorates the debate through a discussion with Bulley and Sokhi Bulley Develops understandings of contemporary British Politics under the Coalition government, particularly in light of the ‘Big Society’ project. Compares, through a Foucauldian framework, the differences and similarities between the New Labour…
Rolling back to roll forward: Depoliticisation and the Extension of Government
Premised on the assumption that depoliticisation is a crucial aspect of neo-liberal governmentality, this paper attempts to synergise these two, previously disparate, concepts. Borrowing from Foucault’s theorisation of governmentality and drawing from inclusive definitions of politics/ the political, this paper argues for a reformulation of our understanding of depoliticisation and politicisation. The paper contends that depoliticisation is best …
Questions to the Prime Minister: A Comparative Study of PMQs from Thatcher to Cameron
This article provides a comparative analysis of the opening sessions of Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) for the last five Prime Ministers in order to test a general perception that PMQs has become increasingly a focal point for shallow political point scoring rather than serious prime ministerial scrutiny. Our data appear to confirm that PMQs has become both rowdier and increasingly dominated by the main party leaders. It also indicates that Pr…
The Personal is Not Political: At Least in the UK's Top Politics and IR Departments
Through mapping the provision of teaching gender and sexuality studies on politics/political science and international relations (IR) programmes, this article asserts that the top-ranked politics and IR departments in the UK offer very little provision of such teaching. We argue that this lack of gender and, more so, sexuality teaching is highly problematic for the discipline. Moreover, we suggest that the lack of such provision is not reflective…
Theorising Cameronism
This article represents an early and, largely speculative, attempt to make sense of Cameronism as a distinctive political project. Herein, we present three separate, but potentially overlapping, narratives that could be employed to locate the significance of Cameronism within broader trends in British and global party politics. In this respect, we view Cameronism as: a continuation of Thatcherism; a development in the unfolding of forms of neo-li…
One Year On: The Decline and Fall of Gordon Brown
Introduction: Thinking outside the box
In November 2007 the British Film Institute hosted a conference to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Channel 4 television in the UK. This dossier is not only occasioned by the conference and the anniversary it celebrated, but also seeks to reflect upon the parallel trajectories of television studies in the UK and of the channel. Indeed, several contributors to, and board members of, Screen itself have been programme-makers for the chann…
Cameron Chameleon and the Current State of Britain's ‘Consensus
Journal Article Cameron Chameleon and the Current State of Britain's 'Consensus' Get access Peter Kerr Peter Kerr Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Parliamentary Affairs, Volume 60, Issue 1, JANUARY 2007, Pages 46–65, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsl049 Published: 01 January 2007
In Defence of British Politics: The Past, Present and Future of the Discipline
In Our Own Defence: A Reply to Johnston
Keeping it Real! Evolution in Political Science: A Reply to Kay and Curry
Saved from Extinction: Evolutionary Theorising, Politics and the State
Evolutionary theorising has a long history in social scientists' attempts to interrogate processes of change. However, for many years evolutionary theory has been damaged by its association with teleological and reductionist reasoning. Nevertheless in the past two decades, a new breed of neo-evolutionary perspective has emerged within a variety of social science sub-disciplines. This recent literature has attempted to revise the theory in order t…
Theorising Cameronism
This article represents an early and, largely speculative, attempt to make sense of Cameronism as a distinctive political project. Herein, we present three separate, but potentially overlapping, narratives that could be employed to locate the significance of Cameronism within broader trends in British and global party politics. In this respect, we view Cameronism as: a continuation of Thatcherism; a development in the unfolding of forms of neo-li…
Questions to the Prime Minister: A Comparative Study of PMQs from Thatcher to Cameron
This article provides a comparative analysis of the opening sessions of Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) for the last five Prime Ministers in order to test a general perception that PMQs has become increasingly a focal point for shallow political point scoring rather than serious prime ministerial scrutiny. Our data appear to confirm that PMQs has become both rowdier and increasingly dominated by the main party leaders. It also indicates that Pr…
Rolling back to roll forward: Depoliticisation and the Extension of Government
Premised on the assumption that depoliticisation is a crucial aspect of neo-liberal governmentality, this paper attempts to synergise these two, previously disparate, concepts. Borrowing from Foucault’s theorisation of governmentality and drawing from inclusive definitions of politics/ the political, this paper argues for a reformulation of our understanding of depoliticisation and politicisation. The paper contends that depoliticisation is best …
Guided by the science’: (De)politicising the UK government’s response to the coronavirus crisis
This article sets out to examine the politicising and depoliticising effects of the various stories that were deployed by the UK government in its response to the coronavirus crisis during its daily press briefings over a 2-month period between 16 March and 16 May 2020. In doing so, we identify four key narratives: (1) unprecedented government activism; (2) working to plan; (3) national security, wartime unity and sacrifice; and (4) scientific gu…
The Personal is Not Political: At Least in the UK's Top Politics and IR Departments
Through mapping the provision of teaching gender and sexuality studies on politics/political science and international relations (IR) programmes, this article asserts that the top-ranked politics and IR departments in the UK offer very little provision of such teaching. We argue that this lack of gender and, more so, sexuality teaching is highly problematic for the discipline. Moreover, we suggest that the lack of such provision is not reflective…
Cameron Chameleon and the Current State of Britain's ‘Consensus
Journal Article Cameron Chameleon and the Current State of Britain's 'Consensus' Get access Peter Kerr Peter Kerr Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Parliamentary Affairs, Volume 60, Issue 1, JANUARY 2007, Pages 46–65, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsl049 Published: 01 January 2007
From eating cake to crashing out: Constructing the myth of a no-deal Brexit
Saved from Extinction: Evolutionary Theorising, Politics and the State
Evolutionary theorising has a long history in social scientists' attempts to interrogate processes of change. However, for many years evolutionary theory has been damaged by its association with teleological and reductionist reasoning. Nevertheless in the past two decades, a new breed of neo-evolutionary perspective has emerged within a variety of social science sub-disciplines. This recent literature has attempted to revise the theory in order t…
In Defence of British Politics: The Past, Present and Future of the Discipline
Whatever happened to Conservative Party modernisation
A toxic defence of a toxic legacy? Unpacking Boris Johnson’s evidence to the UK Covid-19 inquiry
This article highlights some of the toxic dimensions of Boris Johnson’s legacy as UK prime minister through a detailed examination of the key narratives and discursive tactics he employed as he gave evidence to the UK COVID-19 inquiry. In doing so, we draw upon the concept of ‘toxic leadership’, a term that has been developed through the work of Lipman-Blumen and others to highlight the damaging impact that some types of leaders can have on their…
Whither the Centre? Tracing Centralisation and Fragmentation in UK Politics
This article explores the question of how to conceptualise the location, capacity and effectiveness of the ‘centre’ in the UK policymaking process. While the literature on UK governance has historically featured avid disagreements about the power and capacity of central government, we identify a more recent convergence around the idea that the UK government is characterised by persistent centralisation of decision making alongside a fragmentation…
Exploring the political character of decision-making: The BJPIR and the politics of (de)politicisation
In this short contribution to this special issue, we attempt three main things. Firstly, to highlight the pivotal role that the BJPIR has played in helping to initiate and develop a myriad of attempts to understand processes of (de)politicisation. Secondly, to provide a very brief and admittedly selective overview of some of the broader developments in these debates. Thirdly, to pay a brief tribute to the seminal contribution and wider legacy tha…
Reassessing Thatcher’s foreign policy: The Sino-British Declaration 1984
This article presents a ‘primacy of domestic politics’ interpretation of the Thatcher government’s main objectives in the negotiations of the early 1980s, which secured the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997. In the immediate aftermath of the Falklands conflict, sovereignty issues were uppermost in public discourse and the government’s decision to cede sovereignty over Hong Kong seems inconsistent with other elements of Thatcher’s foreign polic…
The Brexit Religion and the Holy Grail of the NHS
The role of populism in mobilising support for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union has been well noted. But a key feature of populist politics – the use of religious discourses – has been largely overlooked. This article addresses this gap by exploring the way in which the Leave campaign framed Brexit in quasi-religious and mythological terms. Three core themes are identified: (1) that the British ‘people’ had a unique role to play in gl…
What Kind of ‘Big Government’ is the Big Society? A Reply to Bulley and Sokhi-Bulley
Research Highlights and Abstract This article Contributes to the debates applying Foucauldian theory to contemporary British Politics and invigorates the debate through a discussion with Bulley and Sokhi Bulley Develops understandings of contemporary British Politics under the Coalition government, particularly in light of the ‘Big Society’ project. Compares, through a Foucauldian framework, the differences and similarities between the New Labour…
One Year On: The Decline and Fall of Gordon Brown
Slow burn: Re-examining the legacy of Conservative Party modernization
This article reconsiders the longer-term legacy of David Cameron’s attempts to ‘modernize’ the Conservative Party. In doing so, we aim to make three main contributions to existing scholarship. Firstly, whilst Cameron’s modernization project is judged to have been a failure by most scholars, we show that Conservative leaders post-Cameron have continued a process of party adaptation that exhibits striking continuities with many of its key elements.…
The Ghost in the Machine: Brexit, Populism, and the Sacralisation of Politics
The current global wave of populism has fuelled a surge in scholarly interest but the links between populism and religion remain under-researched and most studies have centred on cases where religion remains socially and politically influential. This paper contributes to developing studies in this area by analysing the use of religious tropes and themes in a comparatively non-religious context, examining the populist discourse that was constructe…
Getting back in the DeLorean: Modernization vs. anti-modernization in contemporary British politics
This article highlights a growing clash between mainstream modernizing and populist anti-modernizing forces in the UK. Whilst scholarship on UK party politics has, for the past three decades, focussed on processes of party modernization, little attention has been paid to the countervailing processes of resistance towards modernization. This contrasts with comparative studies, which show that throughout much of Europe modernization processes have …
Keeping it Real! Evolution in Political Science: A Reply to Kay and Curry
Walking Signs and Symbols
Saved from Extinction: Evolutionary Theorising, Politics and the State
Evolutionary theorising has a long history in social scientists' attempts to interrogate processes of change. However, for many years evolutionary theory has been damaged by its association with teleological and reductionist reasoning. Nevertheless in the past two decades, a new breed of neo-evolutionary perspective has emerged within a variety of social science sub-disciplines. This recent literature has attempted to revise the theory in order t…
Keeping it Real! Evolution in Political Science: A Reply to Kay and Curry
In Defence of British Politics: The Past, Present and Future of the Discipline
In Our Own Defence: A Reply to Johnston
Cameron Chameleon and the Current State of Britain's ‘Consensus
Journal Article Cameron Chameleon and the Current State of Britain's 'Consensus' Get access Peter Kerr Peter Kerr Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Parliamentary Affairs, Volume 60, Issue 1, JANUARY 2007, Pages 46–65, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsl049 Published: 01 January 2007
One Year On: The Decline and Fall of Gordon Brown
Introduction: Thinking outside the box
In November 2007 the British Film Institute hosted a conference to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Channel 4 television in the UK. This dossier is not only occasioned by the conference and the anniversary it celebrated, but also seeks to reflect upon the parallel trajectories of television studies in the UK and of the channel. Indeed, several contributors to, and board members of, Screen itself have been programme-makers for the chann…
Theorising Cameronism
This article represents an early and, largely speculative, attempt to make sense of Cameronism as a distinctive political project. Herein, we present three separate, but potentially overlapping, narratives that could be employed to locate the significance of Cameronism within broader trends in British and global party politics. In this respect, we view Cameronism as: a continuation of Thatcherism; a development in the unfolding of forms of neo-li…
The Personal is Not Political: At Least in the UK's Top Politics and IR Departments
Through mapping the provision of teaching gender and sexuality studies on politics/political science and international relations (IR) programmes, this article asserts that the top-ranked politics and IR departments in the UK offer very little provision of such teaching. We argue that this lack of gender and, more so, sexuality teaching is highly problematic for the discipline. Moreover, we suggest that the lack of such provision is not reflective…
What Kind of ‘Big Government’ is the Big Society? A Reply to Bulley and Sokhi-Bulley
Research Highlights and Abstract This article Contributes to the debates applying Foucauldian theory to contemporary British Politics and invigorates the debate through a discussion with Bulley and Sokhi Bulley Develops understandings of contemporary British Politics under the Coalition government, particularly in light of the ‘Big Society’ project. Compares, through a Foucauldian framework, the differences and similarities between the New Labour…
Rolling back to roll forward: Depoliticisation and the Extension of Government
Premised on the assumption that depoliticisation is a crucial aspect of neo-liberal governmentality, this paper attempts to synergise these two, previously disparate, concepts. Borrowing from Foucault’s theorisation of governmentality and drawing from inclusive definitions of politics/ the political, this paper argues for a reformulation of our understanding of depoliticisation and politicisation. The paper contends that depoliticisation is best …
Questions to the Prime Minister: A Comparative Study of PMQs from Thatcher to Cameron
This article provides a comparative analysis of the opening sessions of Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) for the last five Prime Ministers in order to test a general perception that PMQs has become increasingly a focal point for shallow political point scoring rather than serious prime ministerial scrutiny. Our data appear to confirm that PMQs has become both rowdier and increasingly dominated by the main party leaders. It also indicates that Pr…
Whatever happened to Conservative Party modernisation
Getting back in the DeLorean: Modernization vs. anti-modernization in contemporary British politics
This article highlights a growing clash between mainstream modernizing and populist anti-modernizing forces in the UK. Whilst scholarship on UK party politics has, for the past three decades, focussed on processes of party modernization, little attention has been paid to the countervailing processes of resistance towards modernization. This contrasts with comparative studies, which show that throughout much of Europe modernization processes have …
From eating cake to crashing out: Constructing the myth of a no-deal Brexit
The Brexit Religion and the Holy Grail of the NHS
The role of populism in mobilising support for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union has been well noted. But a key feature of populist politics – the use of religious discourses – has been largely overlooked. This article addresses this gap by exploring the way in which the Leave campaign framed Brexit in quasi-religious and mythological terms. Three core themes are identified: (1) that the British ‘people’ had a unique role to play in gl…
Guided by the science’: (De)politicising the UK government’s response to the coronavirus crisis
This article sets out to examine the politicising and depoliticising effects of the various stories that were deployed by the UK government in its response to the coronavirus crisis during its daily press briefings over a 2-month period between 16 March and 16 May 2020. In doing so, we identify four key narratives: (1) unprecedented government activism; (2) working to plan; (3) national security, wartime unity and sacrifice; and (4) scientific gu…
The Ghost in the Machine: Brexit, Populism, and the Sacralisation of Politics
The current global wave of populism has fuelled a surge in scholarly interest but the links between populism and religion remain under-researched and most studies have centred on cases where religion remains socially and politically influential. This paper contributes to developing studies in this area by analysing the use of religious tropes and themes in a comparatively non-religious context, examining the populist discourse that was constructe…
Reassessing Thatcher’s foreign policy: The Sino-British Declaration 1984
This article presents a ‘primacy of domestic politics’ interpretation of the Thatcher government’s main objectives in the negotiations of the early 1980s, which secured the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997. In the immediate aftermath of the Falklands conflict, sovereignty issues were uppermost in public discourse and the government’s decision to cede sovereignty over Hong Kong seems inconsistent with other elements of Thatcher’s foreign polic…
Exploring the political character of decision-making: The BJPIR and the politics of (de)politicisation
In this short contribution to this special issue, we attempt three main things. Firstly, to highlight the pivotal role that the BJPIR has played in helping to initiate and develop a myriad of attempts to understand processes of (de)politicisation. Secondly, to provide a very brief and admittedly selective overview of some of the broader developments in these debates. Thirdly, to pay a brief tribute to the seminal contribution and wider legacy tha…
Capturing the zeitgeist: A reply to ‘Binary rhetoric and divisive discourses on the populist Right’ by Pete Dorey
A toxic defence of a toxic legacy? Unpacking Boris Johnson’s evidence to the UK Covid-19 inquiry
This article highlights some of the toxic dimensions of Boris Johnson’s legacy as UK prime minister through a detailed examination of the key narratives and discursive tactics he employed as he gave evidence to the UK COVID-19 inquiry. In doing so, we draw upon the concept of ‘toxic leadership’, a term that has been developed through the work of Lipman-Blumen and others to highlight the damaging impact that some types of leaders can have on their…
Twenty years on: British Politics in flux
Slow burn: Re-examining the legacy of Conservative Party modernization
This article reconsiders the longer-term legacy of David Cameron’s attempts to ‘modernize’ the Conservative Party. In doing so, we aim to make three main contributions to existing scholarship. Firstly, whilst Cameron’s modernization project is judged to have been a failure by most scholars, we show that Conservative leaders post-Cameron have continued a process of party adaptation that exhibits striking continuities with many of its key elements.…
Law (24 works) · Political science (24 works) · Law (23 works) · Politics (23 works) · Sociology (23 works) · Political and Economic history of UK and US (17 works) · Political economy (17 works) · Economics (12 works) · Social Policy and Reform Studies (11 works) · Philosophy (7 works)