Dr Darren Webb

My research touches on two areas, which are distinct but interrelated.

Hope

I am interested in hope as a human experience. In particular, how hope is constructed in and through social institutions such as education and how hope might be mobilised in the service of revolutionary politics.

A decade or so ago I developed a framework for exploring hope as a differentiated experience with complex effects and affects.

This “modes of hoping” framework has subsequently been used by researchers to explore a range of issues within education and childhood studies: from understanding hope as experienced by children faced with the likely loss of a parent through illness, to examining the role of hope in the context of children living with chronic pain, to exploring the role of hope in shaping young people’s aspirations for higher education.

One particular area in which the “modes of hoping” framework is proving useful is exploring the issue of planetary health and expanding the parameters of environmental education.

This is a research programme that interests me greatly, especially as it relates closely to utopia and utopianism, drawing on the rich history of utopian ideas to underpin the search for alternative ways of being on a planetary scale.

Utopia

Over the past few years, I have become increasingly interested in the pedagogical practices of the “utopian” educator. How does a committed utopist bring this commitment to bear on their role as an educator? Can there be such a thing as utopian pedagogy? Or a utopian pedagogue? Where and how can/should utopian pedagogy best operate?

I have attempted to address these questions through both conventional academic research (see Publications) and various talks and public engagement activities (see Activities). I am currently working on a book, as part of the Ralahine Utopian Studies Series, titled: Utopian Subjectivities: Hope, Education and the Radical Imagination.

Is there a need for utopian thinking today?

This was the title of a workshop convened as part of Sheffield’s Festival of Debate 2017 by myself and Max Munday. See the article we wrote for Now Then magazine here. The article was provocatively titled “Utopia in Sheffield: We Have to Start Somewhere” because the aim of the workshop was to start the process of building a grass-roots utopia around which workers, campaigners and activists can mobilise.

The initial workshop went well, attracting around 60 local workers, artists and activists with a wide range of political perspectives. There was lively discussion and debate and we agreed to carry this forward under the banner of Sheffield Utopia. Read my reflections here. If you’re genuinely interested in working together, collectively and collaboratively, to build a grass-roots utopia, you can join us here.