
Dr Daniel Smith
Lecturer
- smithd34@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0) 29 2251 1098
- Rm 2.11, Glamorgan Building
- Ar gael fel goruchwyliwr ôl-raddedig
Trosolwg
I am a cultural sociologist with interests in the ways social and cultural forms transform and preserve themselves in new and changing contexts.
Currently I am in the process of completing a monograph to published with Manchester University Press entitled The Fall and Rise of Britain's Upper-Classes: Houses, Kinship and Capital since 1945 (2022). The central argument is that "class" is the idiom through which British subjects confront their own Otherness, how they remain excluded from the very forms of identity they claim to be living with and in. Taking the debates of cultural division and political opposition after the 2016 'Brexit Vote' as its starting point, the book examines the faultlines of British society captured in the writing, practices and cultural sensibilities of Britain's purportedly 'traditional' upper class.
In Elites, Race and Nationhood: The Branded Gentry I examined how young, overwhelmingly 'white', upper-middle class persons orientated themselves to changing landscapes of wealth and privilege, and how brand-name corporations come to transform and reconstitute traditional forms of elite sociability and exclusivity.
In Comedy & Critique I examine the use of humour in the fashioning of New Left political sensibilities. I explore in this work the way in which the stand-up form - the humorous, solipsistic exploration of self and identity - becomes the sensuous expression of New Left politics, and the limits this has for modes of critique.
In my work on digital sociability, specifically YouTube video-blogging, I examine how the category of 'celebrity' is moblised by YouTube users to ask and address questions around self-expression, the value and limits of individualism, ethical considerations around mutual acknowledgement of one-another, and to dramatise the power-structures of digital sociability itself.
My work has been publicised on various online and print news websites: The Times Higher Education, The Independent, The Times, Prospect Magazine, Vice, and The Conversation. Discussion of Elites, Race and Nationhood: The Branded Gentry can be found on BBC Radio 4 flagship social science programme, Thinking Allowed.
Bywgraffiad
My undergraduate degree was in History & Sociology (BA Hons) and my PhD was in Sociology, both at the University of Exeter. At Exeter my PhD, a cultural sociological study of elite group identity and sociability, consisted of an ethnographic study of the lifeworld and practices of a group of 18-24 year "upper-middle class" people who were of particular interest to the heritage clothing company, Jack Wills. My ethnography took me from polo fields in the south of England, to ski slopes in the Alps, to expensive sea-side towns in the West of England. (A hard life...). It was at Exeter that I developed my general interests in the sociological classics, esp. Georg Simmel, the sociology of art and artworks, and more broadly approaches to cultural sociology and ethnographic studies. Outside of an interest in the lifestyle of elites, I maintain a keen interest in the lifeworld of stand-up comedy and comedians, as well as an interest in the cultural forms of online, digital sociability.
Aelodaethau proffesiynol
- Fellow of the British Higher Education Academy (2015 – present)
- Member of the British Sociological Association (2014- present)
Safleoedd academaidd blaenorol
- 2019 -present Lecturer in Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University.
- 2016-2018 Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University.
- 2015-2016 Lecturer in Sociology, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University.
- 2013-2015 Lecturer in Sociology, School of Psychology, Politics & Sociology, Canterbury Christ Church University.
- 2010-2013 Graduate Teaching Assistant in Sociology & Anthropology, Department of Philosophy, Sociology & Anthropology, University of Exeter.
Ymrwymiadau siarad cyhoeddus
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Smith, Daniel R. (2020) ‘The Clown Paradox: Notes toward a cultural sociology stand-up comedy and mental health’, paper presented to the Ethnography Group: Cardiff University, 15th January 2020.
- Smith, Daniel R. (2018) ‘Stand-up comedy after abjection: New Left hegemony and ‘millennial humour’’, paper delivered at the International Sociological Association Annual Conference, ‘Theorising and Researching the Arts and Popular Culture’, 15-21th July, 2018.
- Smith, Daniel R. (2018) ‘On ‘gentry aesthetics’ and elite world-making: competing economies of worth in elite identities and practices’, Invited seminar paper at University of Loughborough, May 2nd 2018.
- Smith, Daniel R. (2018), ‘The Haunting of Gentry Distinction: Merit, fairness and distributive justice in an economy of branded capital’, Keynote Speaker at the BSA Merit or Meritocracy Conference, University of Newcastle, April 9th 2018.
- Smith, Daniel R. (2016), ‘Post-colonial conviviality and melancholia in ‘real ale’ discourse: The hangover of Empire’, paper delivered at the Drinking Studies Network: Identities and Diversities Research Cluster at the University of Leicester, September 13th 2016. [A revised paper was distributed to ‘Artisan: Crafting Alternative Economies, Making Alternative Lives’ delegates at the University of the West of England (11/09/2018)].
- Smith, Daniel R. (2016) “Gentry Distinction: How to be ‘Not-Quite Upper' but ‘More Than Middle' Class in Neo-Liberal Britain”, paper delivered at the International Sociological Association Annual Conference, University of Vienna July 11th 2016.
- Smith, Daniel R. (2016) ‘The Branded Gentry: elite identity and sociality in the era of global capitalism’, paper delivered at the British Sociological Association Annual Conference, University of Aston, April 6th 2016.
- Smith, Daniel R. (2016) ITV’s Broadchurch as Country Noir: Allegory and post-colonial nostalgia in the English countryside, paper delivered at Fiction and the Social Imaginary conference at the University of York, March 14th 2016.
- Smith, Daniel R. (2016) ‘Branded Gentry: elite social reproduction in the 21st century’, Invited paper delivered at University of East Anglia, January 20th 2016.
- Smith, Daniel R. (2015) ‘Jack Wills & the gent-rification of English masculinities’ paper delivered at the British Sociological Association Annual Conference, Glasgow Caledonian University, April 10th 2015.
Pwyllgorau ac adolygu
I have acted as a peer-reviewer for the American Journal of Cultural Sociology, The Sociological Review, Qualitative Research, Social Analysis, Time & Society, New Media and Society, Global Society, Journal of Children & Media, Convergence, and Performance Paradigm.
Cyhoeddiadau
2023
- Smith, D. 2023. The sad clown paradox: A theory of comic transcendence. International Journal of Cultural Studies 26(1), pp. 87-103. (10.1177/13678779221117176)
2022
- Smith, D. 2022. Reading, novels and the ethics of sociability: Taking Simmel to an independent English bookshop. In: Olave, M. A. T. ed. The Cultural Sociology of Reading: The Meanings of Reading and Books Across the World. Palgrave Macmillan
2021
- Smith, D. 2021. The joke-secret and an ethics of modern individuality: From Freud to Simmel. Theory, Culture and Society 38(5), pp. 53-71. (10.1177/02632764211000121)
- Smith, D. 2021. Stand-up comedy and the comedic cult of the individual: or, the humor of James Acaster. American Journal of Cultural Sociology 9, pp. 70-91. (10.1057/s41290-019-00082-x)
2020
- Smith, D. 2020. Dividing: inequalities. In: Matthewman, S., Curtis, B. and Mayeda, D. eds. Being Sociological. MacMillan International, pp. 49-65.
- Smith, D. R. 2020. Book review: narrative power: the struggle for human value. European Journal of Social Theory 23(2), pp. 284-288. (10.1177/1368431019880158)
- Smith, D. R. 2020. Elites. In: Payne, G. and Harrison, E. eds. Social Divisions: Inequality and Diversity in Britain. Bristol: Policy Press, pp. 175-194.
- Carter, J. and Smith, D. 2020. The transformation of love? Choice, emotional rationality and wedding gifts. In: Carter, J. and Arocha, L. eds. Romantic Relationships in a Time of 'Cold Intimacies'. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 57-79.
2019
- Smith, D. 2019. ITV's Broadchurch as a Country Noir: allegory and post-colonial nostalgia in the English countryside. [Online]. Theory, Culture & Society. Available at: http://www.theoryculturesociety.org/daniel-smith-on-broadchurch-as-a-country-noir/
- Smith, D. 2019. Humour and jokes. In: Atkinson, P., Delamont, S. and Smith, R. eds. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Methods. SAGE
2018
- Smith, D. 2018. Britain's elites: new lions, old foxes. Discover Society 2018(2 Oct)
- Smith, D. 2018. And now for something completely different: Monty Python's 'lost sketches'. The Conversation 2018(2 Aug)
- Smith, D. R. 2018. Comedy and critique: stand-up comedy and the professional ethos of laughter. Bristol: Bristol University Press. (10.2307/j.ctv56fgq1)
- King, A. and Smith, D. 2018. The Jack Wills crowd: towards a sociology of an elite subculture. British Journal of Sociology 69(1), pp. 44-66. (10.1111/1468-4446.12254)
- Smith, D. 2018. League of gentlemen: how some comedy saves itself from the embarrassment of ageing. The Conversation 2018(2 Feb)
2017
- Smith, D. R. 2017. The tragedy of self in digitised popular culture: the existential consequences of digital fame on YouTube. Qualitative Research 17(6), pp. 699-714. (10.1177/1468794117700709)
- Smith, D. 2017. Ethnography amongst the British upper-middle classes: Writing about or writing a gentry class. In: SAGE Research Methods Cases. SAGE Publications, pp. -., (10.4135/9781473998124)
- Smith, D. 2017. How Gavin & Stacey won awards by poking fun at the English-Welsh rivalry. The Conversation 2017(12 May)
- Smith, D. 2017. The meritocracy is a smokescreen for inherited privilege. The Conversation 2017(10 Jan)
2016
- Smith, D. 2016. Book Review: Presumed intimacy: Para-social relationships in media, society and celebrity culture. Cultural Sociology 10(4), pp. 538-539. (10.1177/1749975516672371)
- Smith, D. 2016. The upper classes in the twenty first century. Discover Society 2016(34)
- Smith, D. R. 2016. Elites, race and nationhood: the branded gentry. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Smith, D. R. 2016. "Imagining others more complexly": celebrity and the ideology of fame among YouTube's "Nerdfighteria". Celebrity Studies 7(3), pp. 339-353. (10.1080/19392397.2015.1132174)
2015
- Smith, D. 2015. Self-heckle: Russell Kane's stand up as an example of "comedic sociology". Ephemera: Theory and Politics in Organization 15(3), pp. 561-579.
- O'Connor, H., Ashton, D. and Smith, D. 2015. Norbert Elias and social theory [Book Review]. British Journal of Sociology of Education 36, pp. 474-486. (10.1080/01425692.2015.1005952)
2014
- Smith, D. R. 2014. The gent-rification of English masculinities: class, race and nation in contemporary consumption. Social Identities 20(4-5), pp. 391-406. (10.1080/13504630.2014.1002392)
- Smith, D. 2014. Charlie is so "English"-like: nationality and the branded celebrity person in the age of YouTube. Celebrity Studies 5(3), pp. 256-274. (10.1080/19392397.2014.903160)
- Smith, D. 2014. The elite ethic of fiduciarity: the heraldry of the Jack Wills brand. Ephemera: Theory and Politics in Organization 14(1), pp. 81-107.
Addysgu
I contribute to modules across the undergraduate programme in the School of Social Sciences.
My research interests are in:
- Sociology of elites and social class (esp. British upper(middle) class identities; consumption practices and lifestyle orientations)
- Sociology of celebrity (esp. internet/social media celebrity; ideologies of fame; celebrity and (para-) sociality; celebrity and selfhood)
- Sociology of new social media and digital sociologies (esp. YouTube; Video-blogging; Self-presentation).
- Sociology of the arts (esp. stand-up comedy): aesthetics and social structures; humour and critique; modernity and humour; humour and identity politics)
- Social and cultural theory (narrative; myths; semiotics; performances; aesthetics and social life)
Supervision
I am interested in supervising work on:
- Social class
- Elites
- Sociology of art and culture
- Comedy
- Celebrity culture
- New Social Media
- Cultural and social theory