Michael (Mike) Fleming
Dr. Michael (Mike) Fleming earned a BA (hons) in Sociology from St. Thomas University, an MA in Sociology from UNB, and a PhD with a specialization in Work and Development from Memorial University of Newfoundland. His dissertation research focused on the resilience of locally owned trucking companies in Atlantic Canada.
Mike has extensive teaching experience in a wide variety of subject areas in sociology, criminology, political science, and social work. All of Mike’s courses are guided by the principles of public sociology/criminology and social justice with a focus on critical approaches to power in capitalist societies. His general approach is to examine paths toward social justice with particular attention to the ways that race, class, gender, and geographic location intersect in people's lives and social patterns of power and marginalization.
In his spare time, Mike is an active member of the Fredericton music scene, playing drums in several local bands, with a focus on blues and classic R&B.
Research interests
Mike is a political economist with research interests in critical criminology, toxic masculinity, policing, and corporate crime. His current research focuses on corporate crime in Canada, including an analysis of maple syrup marketing and theft in Quebec and New Brunswick.
Mike’s primary research interests further the development of a critical understanding of how work and employment in the context of capitalist societies are becoming increasingly criminogenic. For his dissertation, he constructed a theory of resilience within dependency that examines specifically the role that various forms of community and local capital – human, social, and cultural – play in shaping community wellbeing and resilience within the context of economic dependency.
Mike’s case study findings were presented at the Canadian Sociological Association’s annual meeting in 2011; and a more comprehensive review of the comparative data was presented in May 2014 at the 20th Atlantic Canada Studies Conference in Fredericton, NB. Mike is recognized as one of a very small number of social scientists with expertise in the social and cultural dimensions of the trucking industry and some of his research has been profiled in both regional and national trucking industry journals, including Canadian Truck News and Eastern Trucking News. In February 2015 Mike was invited by Transport Canada to participate in a nationally-broadcast expert panel discussion dealing with issues challenging resilience in the Canadian transportation sector.
Mike has also worked on projects examining the sex trade in Atlantic Canada, qualitative analysis of difficult-to-reach populations, and social protest movements. Additionally, he is currently President of the Board of Directors of the Fredericton Community Kitchens, Inc.
Publications
Fleming, Michael. (2022). Legitimate Grievances of Truckers Overshadowed by Agitators, Says Prof. NB Media Coop.
Fleming, Michael (2019). Researching Truck Drivers: Difficult Data Collection and Proving One's Self Amidst a Culture of Suspicious Masculinity, in Steven Kleinknecht, Lisa-Jo van den Scott, and Carrie Sanders Eds. The Craft of Qualitative Research, Canadian Scholars Press.
Fleming, Michael A. (2013). Making a Difference Feels Good: Some Thoughts on Student Experiences with a Large Class Project. FOCUS Article, Teaching Perspectives, St. Thomas University, 19 (Fall).
Supervision areas
Mike is interested in supporting the work of undergraduate and/or graduate students with an interest in the trucking industry, work and crime more generally, toxic masculinity, or similar fields including research that focuses on critical analysis of power in society and issues related to social justice.
