![Daniel Smith](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/3220?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Daniel Smith
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Teams and roles for Daniel Smith
Senior Lecturer
Overview
I am a cultural sociologist with interests in the ways social and cultural forms transform and preserve themselves in new and changing contexts.
In The Fall and Rise of the English Upper-Class: Houses, Kinship and Capital since 1945 (2022) I explore the role traditionalist worldviews, articulated by members of the historic upper-class, have played in British society in the shadow of her imperial and economic decline in the twentieth century. Situating these traditionalist visions alongside Britain's post-Brexit fantasies of global economic resurgence and a socio-cultural return to a green and pleasant land, I examine Britain's Establishment institutions, the estates of her landed gentry and aristocracy, through to an appetite for nostalgic products represented with pastoral or pre-modern symbolism. It is demonstrated that these institutions and pursuits play a central role in situating social, cultural and political belonging. Crucially these institutions and pursuits rely upon a form of membership which is grounded in a kinship idiom centred upon inheritance and descent: who inherits the houses of privilege, inherits England.
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 2025 I was made a Fellow of the Center for Cultural Sociology at Yale University.
Publication
2026
- Smith, D. 2026. The Solitary Reader: The anxieties of high-culture readers in the time of culture wars. In: Tutenges, S. and Smith, P. eds. Collective Effervescence. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press. , pp.166-182.
2024
- Carter, J. and Smith, D. 2024. Romantic suffering and morality: Love for Illouz. In: Bevilacqua, E. , Longo, M. and Jacobsen, M. H. eds. Love and Sexuality in Social Theory. Routledge. , pp.254-264. (10.4324/9781003396932-18)
- Smith, D. 2024. Review of running the family firm [Book review]. British Journal of Sociology 75 (3), pp.366-368. (10.1111/1468-4446.13076)
- Smith, D. R. 2024. Rethinking elites in British sociology: Great Britain as a house-society. The Sociological Review 72 (2), pp.340-358. (10.1177/00380261231162694)
- Smith, D. R. 2024. 'Transference - is love': Love and the logical impossibility of collective life in Simmel and Lacan. Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society 29 , pp.36-50. (10.1057/s41282-023-00421-5)
2023
- Smith, D. 2023. The fall and rise of the English upper class: Houses, kinship and capital since 1945. Manchester University Press.
- 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. R. 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. , pp.361-384. (10.1007/978-3-031-13227-8_13)
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. Humour and jokes. In: Atkinson, P. et al., Sage Research Methods Foundations. SAGE(10.4135/9781526421036847997)
- 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/.
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.
Articles
- Smith, D. 2024. Review of running the family firm [Book review]. British Journal of Sociology 75 (3), pp.366-368. (10.1111/1468-4446.13076)
- Smith, D. R. 2024. Rethinking elites in British sociology: Great Britain as a house-society. The Sociological Review 72 (2), pp.340-358. (10.1177/00380261231162694)
- Smith, D. R. 2024. 'Transference - is love': Love and the logical impossibility of collective life in Simmel and Lacan. Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society 29 , pp.36-50. (10.1057/s41282-023-00421-5)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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. 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)
- 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)
- 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. 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)
- 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. "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)
- 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)
- 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.
Book sections
- Smith, D. 2026. The Solitary Reader: The anxieties of high-culture readers in the time of culture wars. In: Tutenges, S. and Smith, P. eds. Collective Effervescence. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press. , pp.166-182.
- Carter, J. and Smith, D. 2024. Romantic suffering and morality: Love for Illouz. In: Bevilacqua, E. , Longo, M. and Jacobsen, M. H. eds. Love and Sexuality in Social Theory. Routledge. , pp.254-264. (10.4324/9781003396932-18)
- Smith, D. R. 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. , pp.361-384. (10.1007/978-3-031-13227-8_13)
- Smith, D. 2021. Humour and jokes. In: Atkinson, P. et al., Sage Research Methods Foundations. SAGE(10.4135/9781526421036847997)
- 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. 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.
- 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)
Books
- Smith, D. 2023. The fall and rise of the English upper class: Houses, kinship and capital since 1945. Manchester University Press.
- Smith, D. R. 2018. Comedy and critique: stand-up comedy and the professional ethos of laughter. Bristol: Bristol University Press. (10.2307/j.ctv56fgq1)
- Smith, D. R. 2016. Elites, race and nationhood: the branded gentry. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Websites
- 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/.
Research
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)
Teaching
I contribute to modules across the undergraduate and post-graduate programme in the School of Social Sciences.
Biography
My undergraduate degree was in History & Sociology (BA Hons) and my PhD was in Sociology, both at the University of Exeter (2007-14).
Before joining Cardiff in 2019 I worked at Canterbury Christ Church University (2013-2015) and Anglia Ruskin University (2015-2019).
Honours and awards
- Fellow of the Centre for Cultural Sociology, Yale University: https://ccs.yale.edu/profile/daniel-smith
Professional memberships
- Member of the Editorial Board for Cultural Sociology (2026 - present)
- Member of the Editorial Board for the American Journal of Cultural Sociology (2023 - present)
- Member of the Editorial Board for Sociological Research Online (2020-2026)
- Fellow of the British Higher Education Academy (2015 – present)
- Member of the British Sociological Association (2014- present)
Academic positions
- 2023- present Senior Lecturer in Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University.
- 2019-2023 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.
Speaking engagements
- 'Have we entered the era of the anxiety comedy', public lecture delivered at the University of Bern, Switzerland: https://www.bka.ch/event/have-we-entered-the-era-of-the-anxiety-comedy-on-the-angst-of-being-included-from-barbie-to-the-bear-vortrag-auf-englisch
- 'Destiny as a sociological universal', presented to the Center for Cultural Sociology, Yale University: https://ccs.yale.edu/previous-ccs-workshops
Committees and reviewing
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.
Supervisions
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