John Eldridge (sociologist)

John Eric Thomas Eldridge (17 May 1936 – 24 December 2022) was a British sociologist known for his writings on Industrial Sociology and on Max Weber as well as for being a founder member of the media analysis research group the Glasgow Media Group. Eldridge was a professor emeritus at the University of Glasgow[1] and a visiting professor of sociology at the University of Strathclyde[2] He was President of the British Sociological Association from 1979 to 1981.

Eldridge was born in Southampton on 17 May 1936 to Hetty (née Bartlett) and Edo (Thomas) Eldridge. He was their only child. As a child he lived through the blitz on the city during the Second World War. He attended Taunton's School, Southampton and as a schoolboy became the English junior chess champion. He gained a BSc (Econ) from the University of London at the then University College, Leicester and an MA from Leicester University. He was married to Rosemary North in 1960; after her death in 1997, he married Christine Reid in 2006. He was a long-serving Methodist local preacher. Eldridge died on 24 December 2022, at the age of 86.[3]

Positions held edit

Publications edit

Books include:

  • Bad News (Routledge, 1976)
  • Recent British Sociology (Red Globe, 1981)
  • C. Wright Mills (Tavistock, 1985)
  • (with J.MacInnes and P. Cressey), Industrial Sociology and Economic Crisis (Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990)
  • Getting the Message: News, Truth and Power (Routledge, 1993)
  • (with L Eldridge) Raymond Williams, (Routledge, 1994)
  • 978-0-415-12729-5 The Glasgow University Media Group Reader: News Content, Language and Visuals[permanent dead link] (ed) (Routledge, 1995) ISBN 978-0-415-12729-5
  • (with J.Kitzinger and K.Williams) The Mass Media and Power in Modern Britain (Oxford University Press,1997)

Notes edit

  1. ^ University of Glasgow John Eldridge, accessed 19 September 2008
  2. ^ University of Strathclyde department of Geography and Sociology John Eldridge Archived 2009-11-01 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 19 September 2008
  3. ^ Fowler, Bridget (14 February 2023). "John Eldridge obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
Academic offices
Preceded by President of the British Sociological Association
1979 – 1981
Succeeded by