Michael Mills

Dr Michael Mills PhD, MA, BA(Hons)

Senior Lecturer in Criminology

Dr Michael Mills is a criminologist working the School of Science at the University of Greenwich. He is based at Greenwich’s Medway campus. Dr Mills has also previously worked at the University of Kent and Anglia Ruskin University. Michael’s teaching currently focusses on Greenwich’s BSc in Forensic Science with Criminology and MSc in Forensic Investigation. Specifically, his work centres on designing and delivering unique criminological programmes for students on these courses – the first of their kind in the country, in that they are specifically tailored to students studying degrees spanning the forensic and social sciences.

Meanwhile, Dr Mills’ research agenda concerns ‘doomsday’ prepping, survivalism, apocalypticism and extremism, as well as cultural and narrative criminology. Notably, Michael is a world-leading expert on prepper culture, having conducted research on this subject for over a decade. His work has involved close ethnographic contact based in the homes of dozens of preppers, hundreds of in-person interviews, thousands of online survey responses, and deep media analysis of TV shows depicting contemporary prepping lifestyles.

As well as featuring in numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and media publications (including The Independent, BBC, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Sky News, Metro,  CNN, Rolling Stone and The Atlantic), Dr Mills’ research on prepping is presented throughout his new book: The Beginning of the End (published by New York University Press). That text outlines why the popularity of prepping has recently hit unprecedented heights in the United States. Specifically, it outlines the story and development of American prepper culture throughout the post-9/11 era, Barack Obama’s presidency, Covid pandemic, and political polarization shaping Donald Trump’s America, showing how this phenomenon’s growth speaks to wider fears, pessimism, and political trends that have gained momentum in the United States throughout the early-21st century.

Forensic science

Responsibilities within the university

Module Leader

  • The Evolution of Criminology
  • Contemporary Issues in Criminal Justice
  • Media, Crime and Forensics
  • Researching Crime and Forensics

Awards

2023 ‘Highly Commended Award’, University Teaching Prizes, University of Kent

2019 Above and Beyond Teaching Award, University of Kent

2018 Social Sciences Seminar Leader Teaching Prize, University of Kent

Recognition

Michael is a member of the British Society of Criminology, European Society of Criminology, and the British Sociological Association. He has also peer-reviewed for several journals in Criminology, American Studies, Anthropology, Sociology and Geography.

Additionally, Michael has served as a Co-Chair in the European Society of Criminology’s Working Group on Qualitative Research Methods and Epistemologies, and on the Communications Committee for the American Society of Criminology’s Division of Critical Criminology. He is also a member of the Steering Committee for the international series of Between Edges and Margins conferences on social research methods.

Research / Scholarly interests

Michael’s scholarly interests extend from his background as a cultural and narrative criminologist. This means his research often focusses on the subjective experiences and views of his research participants, as well as the ways in which deviant groups are represented in different forms of media (including news reports and popular entertainment). He is also interested in examining how these forms of (mis)representation can influence public perceptions of these groups, and policy approaches adopted by governments. At the same time, Michael’s work is often interdisciplinary, as it also draws on sociology, political science, history, and American studies.

More narrowly, Michael’s recent research has focussed on the phenomenon of ‘doomsday’ prepping. This work has sort to understand the key appeals of prepping/survivalist lifestyles for those who undertake them. It has also sought to grasp why disaster prep has become increasingly (and unprecedentedly) popular in the United States throughout the early-21st century. This research agenda has examined the extent to which contemporary prepping is underpinned by extreme ideologies, apocalyptic thinking, and aspects of mainstream culture and politics. It has also challenged popular stereotypes around prepping, which often present formulaic and caricatured depictions of preppers and the ways they live. This research has involved the use of sustained ethnography, interviews, surveys, and media analysis.

Media activity

Michael’s research and expertise has featured in a range of UK media outlets, including The Independent, BBC, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Sky News, and Metro. It has similarly featured in CNN, Rolling Stone and The Atlantic, and in other outlets throughout Australia, Denmark, Greece, Belgium, Poland, and Brazil.

Recent publications

Peer-reviewed articles

Books

  • Mills, M.F. (in press). The Beginning of the End: The Rise of “Doomsday Prepping” in the United States. New York University Press.

Book chapters

  • Van Hellemont, E. and Mills, M.F. (2022). ‘Cultural Criminology and Gangs: Street Elitism and Politics in Late Modernity’ in D. Brotherton (ed), Routledge Critical Handbook of Gangs. London: Routledge.

Presentations

Selected Conference Papers and invited talks

  • Mills, M.F. (2021). ‘The Right Kind of Stranger: Reflections from the Field of Prepper Culture’, Keynote Address presented at Contemporary Societies in Motion’, (Athens, Greece)
  • Mills, M.F. (2019). ‘Using Stories to Access and Understand Right-Wing ‘Doomsday’ Prepping’ at the UC Berkeley Center for Right Wing Studies (Berkeley (CA), USA).
  • Mills, M.F. (2019). ‘Prepping and Verstehen – A Narrative Criminological Perspective’ at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology (San Francisco (CA, USA).