About

I wear two hats at the University. As Course Director, my role is about improving the experiences of students and helping them realise their full potential. As a senior lecturer in Sociology, I deliver accessible and engaging courses that help students get to grips with the way the social world works, how it has changed, and what role they have in shaping it for the better.

I joined the University of Derby as a lecturer in Sociology in 2013 after a period of working for a Member of Parliament.

Outside of academia, I am a politics blogger and occasional contributor to a number of media outlets. These have included BBC Radio 4, local radio, The Independent, and New Statesman among others. I also speak regularly to audiences of trade unionists, campaigners, and activists. My work has been featured in The Economist, Times Literary Supplement, and The Guardian, among others. 

Teaching responsibilities

I currently lead the following modules:

• Sociology (foundation year)
• Capitalism, Culture, and Class (year two)
• Sociology of Gender and Sexuality (year two)
• Health, Illness, and Social Justice (year three)
• The Sociology of Power and Protest (year three)

I also supervise dissertations at undergraduate and postgraduate level. 

Research interests

I am interested in the sociology of power and politics, with a particular interest in British politics and questions of power, class, and interest in the Conservative and Labour parties. My most recent publication, The Party's Over: The Rise and Fall of the Conservatives from Thatcher to Sunak (2023) explains the electoral difficulties of Britain's most successful political party. This is the paperback edition of an earlier book mostly written during the first Covid lockdown in Spring of 2020 that highlighted the long-term difficulties facing the party - problems Boris Johnson's 2019 election triumph only compounded.

I am also interested in questions of political subjectivity and governance and whether, as Western societies move away from market-focused economic policies to more interventionist measures, how this builds on and undermines the common senses of the last 40 years.

Additionally, I have two side interests. The first is in science fiction and its depictions of societies of the near and far future. I am currently composing a paper on the conservative use of SF scenarios. The second is on the politics of local and regional economic regeneration. 

Membership of professional bodies

• Fellow of the Higher Education Association
• Member of the British Science Fiction Association

Qualifications

• PhD - Keele University 2005-2009
• MRes Political Parties and Elections - Keele University 2004-2005
• MA Social and Cultural Theory - Staffordshire University 2000-2002
• I also hold a Postgraduate Certificate for Teaching in Higher Education

Recent conferences

• 'Immaterial Labour and its Discontents', Midlands Critical Theory Conference, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, May 2024 (forthcoming)
• 'Meeting the Permacrisis in Rural Derbyshire', Action with Communities in Rural England CEO retreat, Quorn, Leicestershire, 23 November 2023
• 'Is there a Future for British Conservatism?' Culture, Power, and Politics Seminar Series, London, 14 June 2023
• 'The Contours of Starmerism', Law and Social Sciences Research Seminar Series, University of Derby, Derby, 29 March 2024

Experience in industry

Having previously worked in a politics-related occupation and as an activist, I have experience and insight into the workings of a local and national government, running campaigns, organising set-piece events, formulating political strategy, and media management.

International experience

Coverage of my work has been featured in American, Spanish, Belgian, German, and Polish publications. I have also appeared on Californian public radio. 

In the media

I have appeared on and contributed to broadcast and print media over the years, and I am a regular speaker at labour movement and other events. My work has also attracted some media comment. Here is a selection from the last year.

• 'Question Time: What's the problem and what can the BBC do about it?' The National, 3 January 2024
• 'Road to perdition', Times Literary Supplement, 8 December, 2023
• 'Algo huele a fiambre en Inglaterra: el hundimiento del partido alfa de los jubilados', El Confidencial, 5 December, 2023
• 'Dr Who and the Tory Party', Morning Star, 13 August, 2023

Recent publications

• Burton-Cartledge, P. (2023) The Party’s Over: The Rise and Fall of the Conservatives from Thatcher to Sunak. London: Verso
• Burton-Cartledge, P. (2021b) Falling Down: The Conservative Party and the Decline of Tory Britain. London: Verso
• Burton-Cartledge. P. (2021a) The Problems of Starmerism, Political Quarterly 92 (2), pp 193-201
• Burton-Cartledge, P. (2019) A Tale of Two Crises, in M. Perryman (ed.) Corbynism from Below. London: Lawrence and Wishart
• Burton-Cartledge, P. (2018) Trotskyism and Corbynism, Socialist History 54, pp 83-87
• Burton-Cartledge, P. (2017) Class Politics and the Revenge of the Future, in M. Perryman (ed.) The Corbyn Effect. London: Lawrence and Wishart