Tom O'Brien

Dr Tom O'Brien is a Senior Lecturer in Political Sociology at the University of York's Department of Sociology. He has held academic positions at institutions in the UK (Cranfield University/Defence Academy), New Zealand, and Australia. He serves as Associate Editor of the Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online. His research focuses on environmental sociology, democratisation, social movements, and political leadership.

Education: BSS (University of Waikato), Honours (Victoria University Wellington), MA (University of Auckland), PhD (Melbourne) exploring democratisation and environmental standards. His fieldwork spans Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania, and Australia.

Research Interests: Current projects examine forest protests in Australia, governance in hybrid regimes, and anti-government protests in Romania. His work bridges environmental issues, political transitions, and protest dynamics.

Grants/Projects: Lead researcher for Disaster Impact, Risk Reduction and Regime Type in Southeast Asia (ESRC funded). Co-investigator in Doncaster Crisis Responses Study.

Publications: Over 60 articles in journals like Social Movement Studies, Urban Geography, and Journal of Cultural Geography. Recent works analyze vaccine mandate protests, rural migration stigma, and Extinction Rebellion strategies.