Kevin Van Meter

Kevin Van Meter -- following an illustrious career in the precariat and as long time activist -- joined the Geography department in the Fall of 2012. Van Meter's research explores the emergence and movement of political theory; neighboring interests include anarchism and Autonomist Marxism, co-research methods, political repression and militancy in contemporary social movements, and the writings of George Orwell.
Additionally, Van Meter is a member of the research collective Team Colors; with the collective he co-edited the collection Uses of a Whirlwind: Movement, Movements, and Contemporary Radical Currents in the United States (AK Press, 2010) and the collectives work has appeared in various book collections and journals. Van Meter's collaborative and single-authored work has appeared in the Earth First! Journal, Synthesis / Regeneration, Organizing Upgrade, Radical Society, Groundswell Journal, Indypendent Reader, The Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, Arranca!, The Hampton Institute, Toward Freedom, The Commoner: A Web Journal for Other Values, Perspectives on Anarchist Theory and other radical publications. Van Meter's first monograph, titled Guerrillas of Desire: Notes on Everyday Resistance and Organizing to Make a Revolution Possible, was released by AK Press in June 2017 and forthcoming title Reading Struggles: Autonomist Marxism from Detroit to Turin and Back Again will be released by AK Press in Winter 2021-2022.
After serving as Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Geography at Portland State University between 2015 and 2019, Van Meter is now a union organizer in the Mid-Willamette Valley and successfully defended his dissertation remotely from the Pacific Northwest in December 2020.