Michael Thompson
Guest Emeritus Research Scholar
Equity and Justice Research Group
Population and Just Societies Program
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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. (1981). Beyond Self-Interest, a Cultural Analysis of a Risk Debate. IIASA Working Paper. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: WP-81-017
Thompson, M. (1980). An Outline of the Cultural Theory of Risk. IIASA Working Paper. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: WP-80-177
Thompson, M. (1980). The Social Landscape of Poverty. IIASA Working Paper. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: WP-80-174
Thompson, M. (1980). Political Culture: An Introduction. IIASA Working Paper. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: WP-80-175
Thompson, M. (1979). Rubbish Theory: The Creation and Destruction of Value. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-1921-7658-5