
Dan Taylor is a Lecturer in Social and Political Thought at the Open University.
He is the author of three books, including Island Story: Journeys Through Unfamiliar Britain, which was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in 2017, and Spinoza and the Politics of Freedom (EUP, 2021).
His next book, titled Where are we going?, uses five keywords (growth, care, borders, class and home) as a launchpad to explore social and political questions of place, identity, belonging and the future in five parts of England (the A13, Gateshead, the Fens, Bradford and Milton Keynes).
Dan lives in London and his interests range widely across politics and philosophy, with a particular focus on British politics and the politics of place. His new work combines interviews, discussion groups, partnerships with community groups, travel writing and social history through the lens of philosophy.
One example is his work in Gateshead with unpaid carers, critically exploring different ideas of “care”; another is with artists, communities and workers in East London debating “growth” and change along a busy arterial road.
He loves to cycle – Island Story was based on four months cycling across stranger, “left behind” parts of Britain before Brexit. At the Open University he teaches politics and has written films and audio programmes on topics ranging from democracy, UK climate change to the legacies of colonialism and enslavement. He is an academic lead on a four-part BBC-OU co-production “Union” (2023), on the past and present of the United Kingdom, with David Olusoga.
Leave a Reply