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Dr Lewis Mates is an Associate Professor in Political Theory at the School of Government and International Affairs, Durham University. He has held a permanent teaching-track position since autumn 2019, following a two-year teaching fellowship. Prior to this, he worked on zero-hour teaching contracts at Northumbria and Durham universities between 2008 and 2017, teaching Politics and History to undergraduate and MA students.
Dr Mates completed his PhD on the politics of the left in north-east England at Newcastle University under Professor Martin Pugh. During his doctoral work, he collaborated with Professor Douglas Davies on the Encyclopedia of Cremation. He has also participated in two funded projects (AHRC and ESRC) on political activism in post-war Britain with Dr. Gidon Cohen.
His research spans both empirical and theoretical domains with primary interests in:
- Education and Social class
- History of Political Thought
- Political theory and ideologies
- Mining History
- Pedagogy: theory and practice
- Working class history
- Modern British political, social and industrial history
- Political Activism
Dr Mates' scholarly output reveals a consistent focus on British labor history, particularly the Durham coalfield and miners' movements. His recent publications (2020-2023) demonstrate an expansion into educational research, especially regarding pandemic impacts on first-generation students and teaching local mining history in primary schools. His work often employs interdisciplinary approaches connecting political theory with historical analysis and educational practice.
He is affiliated with the Centre for Political Thought and the Centre for Institutions and Political Behaviour at Durham University. His teaching encompasses modules on the history of political thought, political theory (particularly democratic theory and ideology), and British politics viewed through long-term perspectives of 'class' and nation.
Dr Mates has published two single-authored monographs: The Great Labour Unrest; rank-and-file movements and political change in the Durham coalfield (2016) and The Spanish Civil War and the British Left: Political Activism and the Popular Front (2007). He is currently working on a longer-term project for a monograph on anarchist ideology, using the life of Durham miner Will Lawther as a lens. He welcomes doctoral students interested in research related to his broad research interests and is comfortable with both discipline-specific and interdisciplinary approaches.
