Samuel O'Connor Perks

Samuel O'Connor Perks is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Manchester's Department of Religions and Theology. As an intellectual historian and philosopher of culture, his research explores intersections of religion, politics, and culture in the 20th century. He earned his PhD from KU Leuven, where he specialized in Catholicism and modernist architecture, later transforming his thesis into a monograph.

His current Leverhulme-funded project, 'Radical Conversions: Catholicism, Welfare, and Labour in the 20th Century,' examines Catholic socio-political ideas through activist intellectuals like Peter Maurin, Dorothy Day, Simone Weil, and Marie-Dominique Chenu. This work bridges political theology and intellectual history to analyze critiques of capitalism and labor solidarity.

His research interests span religious aesthetics, architectural theory, and the intellectual history of modern Catholicism. Perks has published extensively in journals including the Architectural Theory Review and International Journal for History, Culture and Modernity.