Personal profile
Research interests
Dr Martin Savransky is Reader in Social and Environmental Thought.
He is a social theorist, sociologist, and philosopher with a focus on planetary instability, climate change, and socioenvironmental transformations.
His transdisciplinary work draws inspiration from philosophy, the environmental humanities, global social theory, postcolonial and decolonial studies, and the enviornmental social sciences, to develops transformative theoretical frameworks and analyses to understand our planetary condition.
His work explores how global histories of modernity have come to shape the nature of social and planetary challenges, and how peoples (human and more) exposed to climate vulnerabilities craft lives tenacious and pluriversal futures amidst environmental instability.
He is the author of Around the Day in Eighty Worlds: Politics of the Pluriverse (Duke University Press, 2021) and The Adventure of Relevance: An Ethics of Social Inquiry (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, with a foreword by Isabelle Stengers). He is co-editor of After Progress (Sage, 2022) and Speculative Research: The Lure of Possible Futures (Routledge, 2017). He has co-curated the After Progress Digital Exhibition in Collaborative Storytelling, and has published essays and special issues in world-leading journals, including Theory, Culture & Society; The Sociological Review; Sub-Stance:A Review of Theory and Literary Criticism; Social Text; Dialogues in Human Geography: and Culture, Theory & Critique, among others.
Teaching interests
Dr Savransky has been at the forefront of developing transformative approaches the social and cultural study of climate change in the UK.
He has developed innovative transdisciplinary programmes in this area, and continues to lead and contribute to teaching in climate change, global social theory, and environmental justice.
Willing to supervise doctoral students
Dr Savransky welcomes expressions of interest from prospective doctoral students in any of his areas of interest, including (but not limited to):
Climate change and socioenvironmental transformations; Critical Anthropocene studies; Postcolonial and decolonial approaches to social and environmental justice; Social life after progress; Pluriversal Politics; Transformative adaptation; Theory from the South
Education/Academic qualification
Doctor of Philosophy, Goldsmiths, University of London
1 Sept 2012 → 31 Oct 2014
Award Date: 31 Oct 2014
External positions
Honorary Professorship, Goldsmiths, University of London
1 Sept 2024 → …
Visiting Fellow, Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development
Jun 2023
Visiting Faculty, Institute for Critical and Speculative Inquiry
2020 → 2022
Visiting Fellow, Centre for Global Sustainability and Cultural Transformation, Leuphana University Lüneburg
Jun 2017
International Research Fellow, University of Freiburg
May 2012 → Sept 2012
Keywords
- BD Speculative Philosophy
- GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography
- HX Socialism. Communism. Anarchism
- H Social Sciences (General)
- HM Sociology
- HT Communities. Classes. Races
- JC Political theory
- CS Genealogy
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
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SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
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SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
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SDG 13 Climate Action
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SDG 15 Life on Land
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SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Escaping Cosmopolis: Planetary Quilombo and the Question of the Outside
Savransky, M., 1 Feb 2026, The Oxford Handbook of Cosmopolitanism. Banerjee, P., Chakrabarty, D., Seth, S. & Wedeen, L. (eds.). Oxford, U. K.: Oxford University Press, 13 p. (Oxford Handbooks).Research output: Chapter or section in a book/report/conference proceeding › Book chapter
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Irreverent Pessimism (A Planetary Life Without Appeal)
Savransky, M., 3 Feb 2026, In: Theory & Event. 29, 1, p. 90-111 22 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (SciVal)47 Downloads (Pure) -
Interstitial Politics: Thinking in Catastrophic Times
Savransky, M., 30 Nov 2025, In: Science, Technology, & Human Values. 50, 6, p. 1115-1139 25 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (SciVal) -
Regimes of Futurity: Progress, Catastrophe, and Historicity in the Anthropocene
Savransky, M., 31 Oct 2025, In: Futures. 173, 103682.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (SciVal) -
The Apocalypse We Become
Savransky, M., 17 Apr 2025, In: Anthropocenes– Human, Inhuman, Posthuman. 6, 1, p. 1-3Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
Open Access
Activities
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Terrestrial Conditions: The Politics of Health in a Planetary Age. An Interdisciplinary Symposium.
Lancaster, K. (Organiser) & Savransky, M. (Organiser)
31 Jul 2025 → 1 Aug 2025Activity: Academic conferences and events (excluding conference publications) › Other academic event (organisation, presentation, attendance)
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Planetary Health beyond Spaceship Earth
Lancaster, K. (Host) & Savransky, M. (Host)
31 Jul 2025Activity: Public, Community and School Engagement › Public talk, lecture, debate, seminar, workshop