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Ken Spours 2026
Marxist Political-Economy-Ecology Thinking
Welcome to the Ken Spours 2026 website where you will find his current theoretical work and publications.
The organising title of Marxist Socio-Political Ecosystem Thinking connects neo-Gramscian perspectives on the climate/nature emergency and the role of socialised generative artificial intelligence with progressive societal transformation and the development of collaborative democratic socialist politics.
1. Collaboration with Chinese universities on GenAI and Education
China is a force for good in an increasingly unstable world and Ken has, since 2018, developed active collaborations with leading Chinese universities in the fields of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and educational innovation. A central focus is the development of socially responsible partnership working between the human intellect and machine intelligence applied to university environments.
Socialised GenAI systems
Social Collaborative Critical Praxis (SCCP)
University GenAI Innovation Ecosystems
2. Antonio Gramsci 2.0 - in the contexts of neoliberal global polycrisis and the rise of 21st-century fascism, 'Gramsci 2.0'. involves a comprehensive reinterpretation of the foundational theoretical work of 20th-century Italian Marxist and Communist - Antonio Gramsci - to produce a multi-dimensional analytical political-economy 'toolkit'. Presently, Ken is interested in developing neo-Gramscian theory with 'Chinese characteristics' to assist with thinking about the deepening of socialism in the Chinese context.
Gramsci 2.0 theoretical toolkit - overview
Progressive Historical Bloc
General and Organic Intellects
3. Socio-Political Ecosystem Thinking - reflecting 20 years of academic and political work, this focuses on conceptualising inter-dependent and synergistic relationships in the age of the Anthropocene to produce connective ways of thinking about political organisation and transformation in support of sustainable, democratic and socially just approaches to change.
Social Ecosystem Models 1.0 & 2.0
45-Degree Socio-Political Framework 2.0
45-Degree Mediation
Just Transition
Social Ecosystem Building
Progressive Temporal Model
4. Progressive Political Praxis - this area of his work undertaken with Compass on the UK democratic left provides a conjunctural analysis of Right national populism (21st-century fascism), and the challenges of constructing viable democratic Left counter-hegemonic projects.
Studies of the Political Right -
UK Conservatism & global fascism
Building a Democratic Left Hegemonic Project
5. 21st Century Vocational Education and Training (VET) - this remains Ken's academic specialist area of inquiry and presently consists of the analysis of the problems of neoliberal models of VET and perspectives on progressive models of vocational learning in response to global mega trends that include the climate/nature emergence and the AI revolution.
The Decline of English VET
Chinese VET Reforms
Global mega trends - implications for VET
Africa VET 4.0
6. Dialectical Cosmological Imagination - an experimental area of enquiry focusing on a new historical materialist and dialectical cosmology to interpret the evolution of our universe to assist the mission of 'human cosmic responsibility' - to understand the cosmos to the best of our current ability.
Prof. Ken Spours
Ken Spours (Dr) is Distinguished Visiting Professor and International Scholar at Capital Normal University, Beijing, Honorary Professor at Tianjin University of Education and Technology, and Professor Emeritus of Post Compulsory Education at the UCL Institute of Education.
Ken's political and theoretical outlook can be best described as Neo-Gramscian, with its focus on integrating modern Marxist theory and Socio-Political Ecosystem Thinking to the challenges of transitioning to fairer, more democratic, sustainable and peaceful futures.
He is an Associate of the democratic left think tank and pressure group Compass. Building a Good Society and Chair of the UK charity Friends of Amani, Tanzania, that supports mentally disabled children and their families in Morogoro, Tanzania.
Ken lives in Enfield Chase with his partner Shirley. He is a proud dad to Joe, Will, Lucy and Katy and an equally proud grandad to Jessie, Sadie, Sonny and Daniel.
He also spends part of his time at their little holiday home in Bollihope, Weardale - a wild and beautiful part of England dear to his heart and from where he can also visit the Stadium of Light. Ken is a supporter of Sunderland AFC - 'Ha'way the Lads'.
(+44) 07940 544408
2025-26 publications
Paul Grainger and Ken Spours. 2026
The decline of England’s vocational/ lifelong learning system and Labour’s challenges
(upcoming chapter in Routledge volume on the Principles and Purposes of VET)
Zeying Cheng, Shuhan Huang & Ken Spours. 2026.
China’s current VET reforms. Developments and challenges in a politically co-ordinated model
(upcoming chapter in Routledge volume on the Principles and Purposes of VET)
Ken Spours. 2025.
Transitioning to socialised systems of generative artificial intelligence and the role of technological organic intellectuals
MDPI journal Systems - 13(11), 944. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems13110944
Liying Rong, Zhen Zhong and Ken Spours. 2025.
Exploring evolving ‘problem spaces’ of large language models: mediation relationships between users and the new technology in teaching and research in Chinese higher education - forthcoming journal article
Ken Spours. 2025.
National Populism and the Political Three-Body Problem. Compass publications
Ken Spours. 2025.
Social Ecosystem Thinking 2.0.
Redrafted Stimulus Paper of the Workshop on 'Skills Ecosystems and the Just Transition'. Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg, 20-24 November 2023.
'An English Education Revolution' (2011)
This TED talk focused on the 'revolutionary' idea that English education should be free from ministerial political interference. Delivered in the aftermath of the Gove/Cummings 2010 Tory Education Act and New Labour's top-down managerial governance approach, it suggested that treating education like a 'political football' should be replaced by a 'partnership covenant' between governments and the education profession. Only this kind of collaboration can usher in a new era of both policy stability and innovation. While this message was delivered 15 years ago it remains highly relevant today as we think about ways of rebuilding an education system undermined by Conservative government policy and austerity and, more recently, the Labour Government's policy hesitancy and lack of vision.
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