University of Kent

Faculty Member, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research

About

I am a Lecturer (i.e. 'assistant professor' in North American terms)  in Sociology and Cultural Studies at the University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

My current research interests focus on four broad themes:

The information society, media and new media: Political economy of new media and the concept of ‘digital capitalism’; ‘intimacy’, ‘friendship’ and ‘communication’ the construction of relationships and presentation of self in the post-modern, information age and how these are mediated through digital technologies such as the internet and mobile phones. One result of this work has been my discussion that new media technologies, and in particular social networking and microblogging sites, are a symptom of the development of a 'phatic' media culture. Currently, I am asking myself the question 'what is a new media object?'

Social theory of space: My work here has been influenced by some of the usual suspects in Henri Lefebvre, Foucault, Harvey and the like. However, from my PhD onward I have been looking at a number of ways to integrate the sociological phenomenology of Alfred Schutz (and other approaches influenced by pragmatism) into Lefevre's characterisation of 'spaces of representation', which I find to be the most enigmatic part of his work. This has led me to build upon a notion of 'vagueness'  and the practices associated with it (such as wandering, rambling, borderless existence), as political activities that run counter to the hegemonic powers of modernity, opening up possibilities for other forms of space and practice.

Belonging, community and forms of association: This interest spans both broad interests in urbanism and ICT. In particular, I'm looking at the ad hoc construction of 'we'-ness which emphasises the phenomenology of ‘belonging’ that takes place on a level between the 'individual' and 'community', whether in the construction of urban place or in virtual spaces on the Internet. Right now, I am working on a theory of ‘resonance’ in this regard and have presented this in a few venues. I hope to finish submit this somewhere soon.

Theories of urban social change and fragmentation: The developing forms of ‘gated’, lifestyle, ethnic, religious and other enclave communities in contemporary urban space. The social impacts of networks, as well as intra-urban and inter-urban mobility (air travel, mobile classes, global cities) on individual identity, and community. Right now, I am looking at the North-West London Eruv as a case study and writing about this.

In terms of my history, I previously completed my PhD in Sociology at Lancaster University, where I also taught for a time and worked on a number of research projects, the largest one being 'Biographies of Cultural Objects' with Scott Lash, Celia Lury, Dan Shapiro and Dede Boden. The results of this project can be seen in the book 'Global Culture Industry: The Mediation of Things', by Scott Lash and Celia Lury (Polity, 2007) and available here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Global-Culture-Industry-Mediation-Things/dp/0745624839.

Before that, I completed my BA and MA in Geography at the University of Alberta, Canada.

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