Associate ProfessorMichael Grimshaw

I am an interdisciplinary scholar who works across a number of related areas, primarily sociology and history but also politics and wider culture. My research interests arise from a critical engagement with the intersection of religious and cultural theory as applied to both New Zealand and a global context. In this I often make use of Continental thought and theory, and in particular the 'weak thought' arising from the work of Gianni Vattimo. 

I have an ongoing research interest in NZ religious and intellectual history and the way it has shaped and been shaped by both NZ and wider global society. This has in turn resulted in work for over 20 years on the life and theological thought of the NZ logician Arthur Prior; just as I have undertaken extensive work on the life and thought of NZ 'heretic' Lloyd Geering.

Another focus is on radical theology and philosophy and in particular the social, cultural and philosophical impact of the death of God. This enables me to research and write on many issues and areas of modern life, including politics, culture, urban life and the wider area  of the sociology of knowledge. In turn this enables work and thought on various areas of  political economy, including the impact of  technology and the ongoing 'creative destruction' of capitalism.  

A further area  is broadly  New Zealand cultural nationalism and religion and also Pakeha (NZ white settler) identity and post colonial society.

A final interest is how editorial cartoons enable new and ongoing understandngs of NZ life, politics and society.