Michael Thompson
Guest Emeritus Research Scholar
Equity and Justice Research Group
Population and Just Societies Program
Biography
Originally a professional soldier, Michael Thompson studied anthropology (first degree and PhD at University College London, B.Litt at Oxford) whi9le also following a career as a Himalayan Mountaineer. (Annapurna South Face 1970, Everest Southwest Face 1975). His early research on how something second-hand becomes an antique (Rubbish Theory, 1979, Oxford University Press) led to work on the "energy tribes" (in various western think tanks), on risk, on Himalayan deforestation and sustainable development, on household product development (in Unilever), on global climate change, on technology and development, and on what might be called "the even newer Institutionalism" (e.g., Cultural Theory, co-authored with Richard Ellis and Aaron Wildvasky, 1990, West View).Dr. Thompson is a Fellow at the James Marin Institute for Science and Civilization, University of Oxford and a Senior Researcher at the Stein Rokkan Centre for Social Research, University of Bergen, Norway. At IIASA he is affiliated with the Risk and Resilience (RISK) Program.
Last update: 02 MAY 2016
Publications
Thompson, M. (2010). A bit of the other: Why scarcity isn't all it's cracked up to be. In: The Limits to Scarcity: Contesting the Politics of Allocation. Eds. Mehta, L., pp. 127-142 New Delhi, India: Black Swan. ISBN 978 1 84407 542 3
Thompson, M. (2008). Organising and Disorganising. A Dynamic and Non-Linear Theory of Institutional Emergence and Its Implication. Devon: Triarchy Press. ISBN 9780955768149
Thompson, M. (2008). Clumsiness: Why isn't it as easy as falling off a log? Innovation 21 (3) 205-216. 10.1080/13511610802404922.
Thompson, M., Warburton, M., & Hatley, T. (2007). Uncertainty: On a Himalayan Scale. Patan Dhoka: Himal Books. ISBN 99933
Verweij, M., Douglas, M., Ellis, R.J., Engel, C., Hendriks, F., Lohmann, S., Ney, S., Rayner, S., & Thompson, M. (2006). Clumsy solutions for a complex world: The case of climate change. Public Administration 84 (4) 817-843. 10.1111/j.1540-8159.2005.09566.x-i1.