Professor Ian Cook et al (he / they)

Ian is a cultural geographer of trade. He's interested in ways that academics, filmmakers, artists, activists, musicians and journalists try to make tangible the lives of those who make and grow everyday commodities in order to further the cause of trade justice. He runs the spoof shopping website followthethings.com which curates, and researches the making, discussion and impacts of over 80 examples of this work. A new followthethings.com website will be published in 2025 to work in tandem with ongoing work on a handbook of 'follow the things' activism to inform and hopefully inspire new work in the genre. 

Ian's approach to creative geographical practice has also involved collaborative arts/actvism including Dust (2015: with Joan & Neville Gabie) and the Museum of Contemporary Commodities (2012-22: with Paula Crutchlow), and solo/collaborative practice in the field of Political LEGO (see below for a 2021 conversation about this with Sophie Woodward for the UK's National Centre for Research Methods).

Most recently Ian has been working with the Fashion Revolution movement whose tagline is 'Who Made My Clothes?' He was, for some time, the movement's official "education maestro and general agitator, activator, and go to guru for facts, and unusual knowledge extraction", fronted its 'Who Made My Clothes?' online course and recently co-created an online course based on the movement's 10-point manifesto for the Slovakia & Czech Republic coordinators' RecyCOOL Imperfections project.

Here, there and everywhere, Ian writes as 'Ian Cook et al' because he/they/we never work alone. He/they/we make the most of the 'all over the place' thinking that ADHD (and dyspraxia) has provided and can be found in person in the Amory Building on the University's Streatham campus.

CAREER

Ian worked in the Department of Geography at the University of Wales, Lampeter from 1993 to 1999 and in the School of Geography at the University of Birmingham from 2000 to 2007, before moving to Exeter where he is working right now.

OFFICE HOURS

Ian's office hours this term are on Tuesdays from 3.00-4.00 (online via Zoom here) and Thursdays from 12.00-1.00 (in person in Amory 409). There is no booking system.

RESEARCH GROUP
Ian is a member of the department's Cultural & Historical Geographies Reserch Group (CHGRG).