My path through the university system has been a slightly strange one. I did a BA in philosophy at University College London where, in spite of the privilege of being taught by some of the world’s leading philosophers in the University of London program, I found myself frequently frustrated by the abstraction of so much of what I encountered. I knew that while I wanted to engage with ideas, it was how these ideas emerged from and shaped the world around me that was at the core of all my interests. So I went to Warwick to do an MA in Continental Philosophy. I thought that continental philosophy might prove more satisfying in this respect but, within a few weeks, the social theory module I had opted to take had finally left me with a firm sense of where my interests lay. Plus I spent a year getting infatuated with Richard Rorty (thankfully it was just a phase) with the result that I had an ever decreasing sense of the value or purpose of philosophy. Nonetheless I spent the rest of my time getting equally preoccupied with John Rawls, bête noire of my undergraduate degree, devoting a whole series of essays, as well as ultimately my dissertation, to finally articulating my frustrations with his approach. Until my second term at Warwick I still intended to undertake a PhD in Political Philosophy and was in the process of clarifying my idea and applying for funding when it began to occur to me that my interest in the subject was entirely critical: I would argue that a critique of the formalism inherent in much contemporary political philosophy (at least of the Anglo-American variety) leads inevitably to a sociological account of contemporary politics.

One big influence in this regard was the work of Chantel Mouffe who offers a potent critique of how a variety of influential works in political and social theory (particularly Habermas, Rawls, Beck and Giddens) serve to obscure the realities of the political domain, as formalism and a desire for theoretical closure preclude an adequate account of political agency. Another key influence was the work of Charles Taylor who I first encountered through his engagements with academic debates regarding liberalism, communitarianism and multiculturalism. His political theory is intimately connected with his social theory and his philosophical anthropology. I soon decided to drop my plans for a Philosophy PhD and instead enrolled on the MA in Social Research before starting my PhD in October 2008 with Margaret Archer as my supervisor. My doctoral research looks at internal conversation in the context of late adolescent transitions, exploring how the social and cultural circumstances individuals face shape the deliberative processes through which they choose to make their way through the world. The aim of the research is to understand what  the late John Alford termed personal morphogenesis: the process through which we become who we are.

I have two other main strands of research, as well as a range of projects I’m involved in but, for sake of brevity, I won’t describe them here. Have a look round my site to find out more. My intellectual interests are listed below.

Academic Interests

• Cognition, categorisation and biography
• Social and cultural change
• Realist approaches to discourses
• Reflexivity in the theory and practice of therapy
• Asexuality
• Sexual categorisation
• Sexual culture
• History of intimate life
• Theory of social media
• Higher education and social media
• The interface between Psychology & Sociology
• The interface between Philosophy & Sociology
• Realist social theory
• Socio-lingusitics and data analysis

Major Influences

• Charles Taylor
• Richard Rorty
• Chantal Mouffe
• Margaret Archer
• Alasdair MacIntyre
• Nicholas Smith
• Nikolas Rose
• Andrew Sayer
• Derek Layder
• Douglas Porpora
• Robert Bellah
• Christian Smith
• Dave Elder-Vass
• Zygmunt Bauman
• Nicos Mouzelis