I began my academic career as a Research Assistant and Lecturer in Environmental Policy and Management at Hull University. In 1998 I moved to Mansfield College, University of Oxford, to become a Research Fellow in the Oxford Centre for Environment, Ethics and Society. After three years at Oxford I took a position at the Open University but returned to Mansfield College in 2005 as Senior Research Fellow in Sustainable Development. My current position is RCUK Academic Fellow in Social Response to Environmental Change.
My research engages with the challenge of sustainable development. From 1996 to around 2000 I examined links between regulation, innovation, environment and competitiveness and contributed to the theory of ecological modernisation. Significant publications from this period include Regulatory Realities: The Implementation and Impact of Industrial Environmental Regulation (co-authored, 1998) and a special issue of Geoforum (edited, 2000). At Oxford my focus shifted to consumption leading to the book Exploring Sustainable Consumption: Environmental Policy and the Social Science (co-edited, 2001).
From around 2002 I became interested in governance and particularly the governance of technological risks, largely as a result of the conflict over GM crops and foods which was ongoing at the time. The major output from this period was the book Governing the Transatlantic Conflict over Agricultural Biotechnology (co-authored, 2006). With the help of colleagues participating in an academic network I also applied the concept of governance to my existing interest in technology and sustainability leading to the publication of Governing Technology for Sustainability (edited, 2007).
I continue to work on many of these issues today. Every year I teach SOEE 1450 Introduction to Environmental Politics and Policy and enjoy meeting our new first year students. Occasionally I work on environmental policy issues as a consultant.
At the Edge: Walking the Atlantic Coast of Ireland and Scotland
In 2006 I completed a 1500 kilometre walk from the southwest corner of Ireland to the northwest corner of Scotland. In At the Edge: Walking the Atlantic Coast of Ireland and Scotland (2009), I tell the story of the walk and explore Gaelic history and culture and the meaning of sustainable development for small communities. Although written for a non-academic audience, At the Edge has redirected my academic work. In the future I want to explore the importance of place and community in more depth and hope to link research in postcolonial studies to the challenge of sustainable development.
For more information on At the Edge please follow the link to the Sandstone Press website at the top of the page.
Publications
Murphy, J (2009)
At the Edge: Walking the Atlantic Coast of Ireland and Scotland,
Highlands: Sandstone Press Ltd.
Murphy, J; Gouldson, A (2009)
Environmental policy and industrial innovation: integrating environment and economy through ecological modernisation,
In:
A Mol, D Sonnenfeld, G Spaargaren (Ed)
The Ecological Modernisation Reader,
London: Routledge, pp275-294.
Murphy, J (2007)
Governing Technology for Sustainability,
James and James (Science Publishers) Ltd, pp0-226.
Levidow, L; Murphy, J; Carr, S (2007)
Recasting "substantial equivalence": transatlantic governance of GM food,
Science, Technology & Human Values,
32(1),
pp26-64. doi:10.1177/0162243906293885
Murphy, J; Levidow, L (2006)
Governing the Transatlantic Conflict over Agricultural Biotechnology: Contending Coalitions, Trade Liberalisation and Standard Setting,
Routledge.
Murphy, J; Levidow, L; Carr, S (2006)
Regulatory standards for environmental risks: understanding the US-EU conflict over GM crops,
Social Studies of Science,
36(1),
pp133-160. doi:10.1177/0306312705054591
Murphy, J; Cohen, M (2005)
Consumption, environment and public policy,
In:
Redclift, M and Woodgate, S. (Ed)
New Developments in Environmental Sociology,
Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp382-391.
Murphy, J (2005)
Ecological modernisation,
In:
Redclift, M and Woodgate, S. (Ed)
New Developments in Environmental Sociology,
Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp245-250.
Murphy, J; Chataway, J (2005)
The challenges of policy integration from an international perspective: the case of GMOs, trade liberalisation and environmental/health risks,
In:
Tait, J and Lyall, C (Ed)
New Modes of Governance,
Aldershot: Ashgate, pp159-176.
Murphy, J; Yanacopulos, H (2005)
Understanding governance and networks: EU–US interactions and the regulation of genetically modified organisms,
Geoforum,
36(5),
pp593-606. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2004.10.001
Murphy, J; Cohen, M (2001)
Consumption, environment and public policy,
In:
Cohen, M. and Murphy, J. (Ed)
Exploring Sustainable Consumption: Environmental Policy and the Social Sciences,
Oxford: Pergamon (Elsevier Science Ltd), pp3-20.
Cohen, M; Murphy, J (2001)
Exploring Sustainable Consumption: Environmental Policy and the Social Sciences,
Elsevier Science & Technology,
Elsevier.
Murphy, J (2001)
From production to consumption: environmental policy in the European Union,
In:
Cohen, M. and Murphy, J. (Ed)
Exploring Sustainable Consumption: Environmental Policy and the Social Sciences,
Oxford: Pergamon (Elsevier Science Ltd), pp39-60.
Murphy, J; Cohen, M (2001)
Sustainable consumption: environmental policy and the social sciences,
In:
Cohen, M. and Murphy, J. (Ed)
Exploring Sustainable Consumption: Environmental Policy and the Social Sciences,
Oxford: Pergamon (Elsevier Science Ltd), pp225-240.
Murphy, J; Gouldson, AP (2000)
Environmental policy and industrial innovation: integrating environment and economy through ecological modernisation,
Geoforum,
31(3),
pp33-44. doi:doi:10.1016/S0016-7185(99)00042-1
Murphy, J (2000)
International environmental law: the precautionary principle,
Oxford International Review,
pp58-60.
Murphy, J; Boehmer-Christiansen, S (1998)
Ecological modernisation: whose capacity is being built?: conflicting evidence from the UK,
In:
Mez, L. and Weidner, H. (Ed)
Umweltpolitik und Staatsversagen: Festschrift fur Martin Janicke,
Berlin: WZB, pp338-350.
Murphy, J (1998)
Environmental policy and industrial innovation,
Science and Public Affairs,
pp33-35.
Gouldson, AP; Murphy, J (1998)
Regulatory Realities: The Implementation and Impact of Industrial Environmental Regulation,
James & James (Science Publishers) Ltd, pp0-224.
Gouldson, AP; Murphy, J (1997)
Ecological modernisation: economic restructuring and the environment,
The Political Quarterly,
68(5),
pp74-86.
Telephone
extension: 36726
Email
address: 
Room: 9.102