Odd man in: A critical appreciation of the work of Phil Cohen

This article provides a critical appreciation of the life and work of social theorist Phil Cohen, tracing the evolution of his ideas and activities from working class ethnography, through his years as a street and housing activist, to his years at the University of East London in the 2000s. His important contributions to youth cultural theory and race relations theorising are described. He both set agendas and moved them forward. Cohen’s writing style was literary, characteristically digressive and dense, but always ambitious in scope. The piece ends with a brief consideration of the status of intellectuals on the left as well as a consideration of Cohen’s later innovative work on cartography and cultural mapping.