Dr Mark Davis FRSA

Senior Lecturer in Sociology

Photo of Dr Mark Davis FRSA

Alongside my role as Senior Lecturer in Sociology, I am the founder and Director or the Bauman Institute, an international research and teaching centre dedicated to addressing key social problems that affect rapidly changing global societies.

I am a student of Zygmunt Bauman’s sociology and his work continues to inform my research. I am principally interested in Critical Social Theory and debates in political sociology. My research on consumerism is informed by these interests and draws upon the ideas of Adorno, Baudrillard, Marcuse, Žižek and others.

On 18th November 2010, I was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in recognition of my role in establishing the Bauman Institute at Leeds.

Research Interests

My current research focuses upon three inter-related strands. The first emerges from my work as an expert advisor to the Council of Europe on a project to develop the concept of shared social responsibility. My published contributions to this project developed the concept of ‘responsible consumerism’ and offered a sociological critique of neoliberalism. I was also part of the group that launched the new Charter of Shared Social Responsibilities at an event with the European Commission in March 2011. Working with key opinion leaders across Europe, I am now exploring ways of operationalising the concept of shared social responsibility within political and economic practices. The second strand of my research assesses the role that the global co-operative movement can play in evolving shared and co-produced knowledge of our socio-economic environment as the basis for sound decision-making by governments, businesses and charities, as well as by communities, families and individuals. The third strand seeks to offer a framework by which to drive forward social finance innovation, specifically developing a new sociology of money that can explore the possibilities of ‘democratic finance’ and ‘crowd funding’ in order to meet the ethical and environmental challenges of the twenty-first century.

As well as the Council of Europe, I continue to work with various thinktanks and policy research centres in the area of consumerism, specifically Compass and New Economics Foundation. I am also a Member of the Executive Board for the Histories of Violence project led by Dr Brad Evans (POLIS).

Teaching

The teaching I offer at Leeds is research-led and blends theoretical enquiry with the practical analysis of everyday life. I am Programme Manager for the two postgraduate courses offered by the Bauman Institute: MA Social and Political Thought and MA International Social Transformation Below are the specific modules I offer at different levels:

Postgraduate Courses
MA Contemporary Social Thought (module leader)
MA Liquid Sociology
MA Fundamental Issues in Sociological Research

Undergraduate Courses
Sociology of Consumerism (Level Three)
Sociological Thinking (Level One – module leader)

I also offer guest lectures across the curriculum in my areas of research interest.

PhD Supervision

I am currently involved in supervising the following research projects:

The Role of Romantic Nationalist Myth in Modern Genocide, Jasna Balorda
Permanently Temping? Youth Labour Markets and Consumer Lifestyles in West Yorkshire, Laura Baldwin
Is there a space for ‘love’ within discussions of intimate citizenship?, Natasha Barnes
Theorising Risk in the modern hospital, Chris Bem.

I am keen to receive applications from promising research students in any of the following broad areas:

Consumerism
Critical Social Theory
Political Sociology
Sociological Theory

Key Publications

Books

Davis, Mark (forthcoming) Consumer Culture and Society: A Critical Introduction. London: Routledge
Davis, Mark (forthcoming) Pathologies of Consumerism. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Davis, Mark (ed.) (forthcoming) Liquid Sociology: Metaphor in the Writings of Zygmunt Bauman’s Sociology. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Ltd
Davis, Mark & Tester, Keith (eds) (2010) Bauman’s Challenge: Sociological Issues for the Twenty-First Century. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Davis, Mark (2008) Freedom and Consumerism: A Critique of Zygmunt Bauman’s Sociology. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Reviewed in the Times Higher

Journal Articles

Davis, Mark (forthcoming) ‘Hurried Life: Rethinking Time and Technology in the Consumer Society’, Thesis Eleven
Davis, Mark (2011) ‘Bauman’s Compass: Navigating the current interregnum’, Acta Sociologica, 54, 2: 183-194
Davis, Mark (2010) ‘For Zygmunt: Three Notes', Theory, Culture & Society

Chapters in Books

Azmanova, Albena and Davis, Mark (forthcoming) ‘The Spirit of Capitalism and the Soul of the Left’, in Simon Susen and Bryan S. Turner (eds) The Legacy of Luc Boltanski. London: Anthem Press
Davis, Mark (2008) ‘Bauman on Globalisation: The Human Consequences of a Liquid World’, in Michael Hviid Jacobsen & Poul Poder (eds) The Sociology of Zygmunt Bauman: Challenges and Critique. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Ltd

Major Reports

Davis, Mark (2011) ‘Shared social responsibility as a key-concept in managing the current interregnum’, Towards a Europe of shared social responsibilities: challenges and strategies, Trends in Social Cohesion, No. 23. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing, pp. 81-101
Davis, Mark (2011) ‘From Individualism to Interdependence: A Basis for Shared Social Responsibility’, Towards a Europe of shared social responsibilities: challenges and strategies, Trends in Social Cohesion, No. 23. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing, pp. 103-113