Harry Weaver

Profile

Thesis: The Death of the Future: Temporality and Political Activism in an Age of Crisis. (Expected to change to reflect new research directions).

I am a third year PhD student exploring the role of temporality, the past and long-term activism in contemporary political activism. Specifically, my research is focused on anti-nuclear and peace activists and how they relate to the future in the context of an increasingly uncertain or negative outlook.

I hold a BA in Politics and International Studies from the University of Warwick, an MSc in Social Anthropology from St. Antony's College, University of Oxford and an MA in Social Science Research, also from the University of Warwick.

My supervisors are Dr Alex Smith and Dr Charles Turner.

Research

My ESRC-funded project aims to examine themes of hope, temporality and long-term activism based on an ethnography of political activists. As the future becomes ever-more a space of negative expectation and apocalyptic predictions, especially with regards to war and climate change, the ways in which activists engage with it change. Campaign groups also have their own roles in shaping activism through their internal structures and histories which shape methods and aims. I aim to discern how the peace movement operates in Oxfordshire based on memory, the future and means of differentiating themselves from other movements. This is especially relevant considering the aging demographics of the movement and the long-term engagement of the majority of activists.

Teaching

2024/2025

• Autumn Term - SO128 History of Sociological Thought
• Spring Term - SO126 Class and Capitalism

2025/2026

• Autumn Term - SO128 History of Sociological Thought
• Recognised as Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Areas of interest

• Memory
• Temporality
• Ethnography
• Peace Studies
• Social Movements