Joshua Kirshner

Joshua is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Human Geography and Environmental Studies in the Department of Environment and Geography. His research and teaching interests are in sustainable cities, urbanization and the economic and political geographies of low-carbon transition. He currently works on a UKRI-GCRF-funded project on community energy in Ethiopia, Malawi and Mozambique (2021-24). He has co-directed a two-year project on electricity-grid access histories and futures in Mozambique, supported by UK Aid/UK FCDO (2019-21).

 
Previously, his work has focused on urban energy access, energy landscapes, extractive frontiers, local governance and urban migration. His research combines critical theory (including postcolonial political economy and environmental justice) with participatory methods for collective learning and social change. A range of funders, including research councils (ESRC, NERC), government agencies (UK Aid, Fulbright Commission) and foundations (British Academy, Atlantic Philanthropies) have supported this work.

 
Joshua has done extensive collaborative research in Africa and Latin America (South Africa, Mozambique, Ghana, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and the US and UK) and is a proficient speaker of Spanish and Portuguese. His work has appeared in journals including Nature Energy, Geoforum, Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, Antipode, Cities, Sustainability, Applied Energy, and Latin American Perspectives, along with policy briefs, reviews and edited collections. He is a member of the editorial board of Energy Research & Social Science.

 
Before joining York in 2015, he held Lecturer and visiting posts at Durham University in the UK, and at Rhodes University and University of Johannesburg in South Africa. He holds a PhD from Cornell University in city and regional planning, an MA from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in urban planning, and a BA (magna cum laude) from Harvard University in social anthropology.