Elizabeth Humphrys

Elizabeth Humphrys
Awards	Dr A M Hertzberg Fellow at the State Library of NSW (2019)
Academic background
Alma mater	Deakin University (BA) University of Technology Sydney (MA) University of Sydney (PhD)
Thesis	The Corporatist Origins of Neoliberalism: Australia’s Accord, the Labour Movement and the Neoliberal Project (2016)
Doctoral advisor	Damien Cahill
Influences	Antonio Gramsci, Karl Marx, Humphrey McQueen
Academic work
Institutions	University of Technology Sydney University of Sydney
Main interests	industrial relations, workplace safety, climate change, anti-politics
Notable works	How Labour Built Neoliberalism: Australia’s Accord, the Labour Movement and the Neoliberal Project (2019)
Website	https://profiles.uts.edu.au/Elizabeth.Humphrys/about

Elizabeth Teresa Humphrys is an Australian political economist, policy analyst and author at the University of Technology Sydney. Humphrys is most notable for her research on the Australian Labor Party, the Hawke Government and trade unions in the implementation of neoliberalism in Australia.

Education

Humphrys received her Bachelor of Arts from Deakin University in 1997. She later undertook a Graduate Certificate in Social Inquiry and a Master of Arts research qualification at the University of Technology Sydney. Her MA thesis was entitled, "From Offence to Defence: The Australian Global Justice Movement and the Impact of 9/11". In 2016, Humphrys was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney for a thesis on the contribution of the labour movement to the rise of neoliberalism.

Academic career

Humphrys became a lecturer at UTS in 2016. She has authored and co-authored over 20 article and chapters since 2009, as well as four policy reports on heat stress to workers and climate change in association with the United Workers Union, State Library of New South Wales, City of Sydney and the Centre for Future Work. Humphrys is an editor of the Social Movement Studies journal and associate editor of the Economic and Labour Relations Review.

Along with her collaborator, Sarah Gregson, Humphrys has received press attention about the history of the West Gate Bridge collapse, which occurred in 1970. Humphrys has also been a commentator on the state of Australian politics and trade unions. Her work on the Prices and Incomes Accord of the 1980s and 1990s has received much commentary from journalists and academics.

"We're currently in a period of quite weak union power and industrially unions have not been very proactive. I guess it is unusual compared to the last few years ... but in historic terms we're such a long distance from the 1970s which is a high period of industrial activity."

Personal life

Humphrys was born in Melbourne. She has spoken publicly about her "several underlying health conditions" and the difficulty of avoiding Covid-19. She is a supporter of the Extinction Rebellion.

Bibliography

Author

• — (2019). How Labour Built Neoliberalism: Australia’s Accord, the Labour Movement and the Neoliberal Project. Boston: Brill. ISBN 9789004383463.

Editor

• —; Tietze, Tad; Rundle, Guy, eds. (2011). On Utøya: Anders Breivik, Right Terror, Racism and Europe. Location not disclosed: Elguta Press. ISBN 978-0-9870588-0-5.