Kyle Mitchell
Email: Kyle.Mitchell@Kwantlen.caOffice: Langley, L2105
Telephone: 604.599.2222
Voice Mail: 9978
Educational Background: BA (Sociology), SFU (2004); MA (Sociology), SFU (2007); Ph.D. (Sociology), forthcoming, University of Strathclyde
Kyle received his Bachelor of Arts (2004) and Master of Arts (2007) in Sociology at Simon Fraser University, Canada. He is currently undertaking doctoral research (2007- ongoing and is in writing up stage) in sociology at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow Scotland, studying the political economy of water and wastewater services.
Kyle's PhD research builds on his master's thesis entitled, The Political Economy of Fresh Water: From the Commons to Corporate Enclosure. Kyle's Ph.D. dissertation, The Political Economy of Water: Competing Conceptualisations of the Water Commons, pays critical attention to the property relations that define the struggle over the right water. By recoupling the question of the water commons with a class analysis Kyle's thesis points to the antagonistic relationship between the commons and the capitalist relations of production and its attendant political expression liberal democracy.
Research Interests:
Political economy, political sociology, economic globalization, humanity-environment relations, water governance, property relations, the ideas of the commons and human rights.
Course Taught:
Sociology 1125: Introduction to Society: Processes and Structures
Publications:
Book Chapter
Mitchell, K.R., 2011, "The political economy of freshwater: reinvigorating the question of property" in The right to water: politics, governance and social struggles, F. Sultana and A. Loftus (Eds) Taylor and Francis: London.
Forthcoming
Mitchell, K.R. and Schmidt, J.J. (forthcoming 2012), Property and the human right to water: toward a non-liberal commons.
Popular Journals/Online Sources
Kane, T. and Mitchell, K. (2010) A steady flow of venality. Scottish Left Review, issue 60, 25-27.
Kane T., & Mitchell, K. (2009) Review: blue gold world water wars. Scottish Left Review, issue 52.
Kane T., & Mitchell, K. (2008) Money in water. Scottish Left Review, issue 48, 22-23.
Kane T., & Mitchell, K. (2008) The governance of water. [online]. Local People Leading.
Academic Theses
Mitchell, K. (forthcoming 2012). "Political economy of water: competing conceptions of the water commons" Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland.
Mitchell, K. 2007. "Political economy of freshwater: from the commons to corporate enclosure" M.A. Thesis, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada. Copyrighted.
Media Correspondence
Sunday Herald, Glasgow Scotland. March 22 2009. World Water Day, by Rob Edwards, Environmental Editor http://www.heraldscotland.com/world-water-day-1.826734
Pulse Media, March 26 2009. Blue Gold, by Muhammad Idrees Ahmad http://pulsemedia.org/2009/03/26/blue-gold/
Selected Conference Presentations:
2012 (forthcoming), Schmidt, J.J. and Mitchell, K.R., "Property and the human right to water: toward a non-liberal commons" Paper presented by Schmidt, J.J. to the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, New York, NY, USA. 24-28 February 2012.
2010, Mitchell, K.R., "Liberal Democracy and the Contestation Over Rights to the Freshwater Commons: Reinvigorating the Question of Property Within the Political Economy of Freshwater" Right to Water Conference, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University Syracuse, NY, USA. 29-30 March 2010.
2009, Kane, T. and Mitchell K.R. (co-presentation), "Increasing commericalisation of Scottish Water" Annual Conference of the American Public Health Association (APHA), Philadelphia, PA, USA. 9-11November 2009.
2009, Mitchell, K.R. (poster presentation), "Competing conceptualisations of the freshwater commons" Annual Conference of the American Public Health Association (APHA), Philadelphia, PA, USA. 9-11November 2009.
