Dear, Michael (1944–)

Michael Dear has been a significant force in human geography and urban analysis for close to four decades. A provocative and prolific writer, Dear has authored or edited 19 books and more than 100 scholarly articles, covering topics, including the mentally ill, homelessness, the state, social theory, postmodernism, and, most recently, comparative urbanism.

Born in Treorchy, in the Rhondda Valley of South Wales, Dear obtained a BA in geography from the University of Birmingham (1966), an MPhil in town planning from the University of London (1966), and MA (1972) and PhD (1974) degrees in regional science from the University of Pennsylvania. He taught at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He was a professor of geography and urban planning at University of Southern California for many years before moving to the department of urban and regional planning at the University of California, Berkeley in 2009. He has held fellowships at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio, Italy, and was a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Dear has remained steadfast in his attempt to refashion geography to align more closely with social theory. Throughout his career, he has been a strong advocate and outspoken proponent in the development and promotion of key theories and methods, including Marxism, structuration, and postmodernism. With respect to postmodernism, [Page 688]Dear argued that its emphasis on difference places an intense spotlight on the subject, the body, and personal identity. Consequently, postmodernism is a powerful means to examine questions of social justice. A concern with policy issues remains a strong focus in his entire oeuvre.

Dear is the founding editor of the journal Environment and Planning D: Society and Space (with Edward Soja, Allen Scott, Michael Storper, and Mike Davis) and is a leading exponent of the “Los Angeles School” of urbanism. Interdisciplinary in his work, Dear draws insights from and has contributed to geography, planning, social work, psychiatry, public health, history, and political science.

Not averse to controversy, Dear has been a highly visible and vocal participant in the ongoing debates and discussions shaping human geography throughout the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In 1988, Dear issued a “postmodern challenge” to human geography. In his “reconstructed” human geography, the objective should be to “understand the simultaneity of time and space in structuring social processes” (p. 270). More recently, Dear has called attention to the “politics of hate” that he argues may be found in the discipline.