Dr Nigel Dodd is a Senior Lecturer in sociology at the LSE. He obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1991 on the topic of Money in Social Theory, and lectured at the University of Liverpool before joining the LSE in 1995.
Dr Dodd's main interests are in the sociology of money economic sociology and classical and contemporary social thought. He is currently working in two main areas. The first is the sociology of money and involves analysis of theoretical conceptions of money within social science and recent changes in the monetary landscape. The focus of the latter analysis is the emergence of new monetary forms, such as the Euro and community currencies, as well as the controversial monetary instruments that have been at the heart of the 2007-9 financial crisis. He is currently preparing a book, Laundering Money, for Princeton University Press, which investigates the increasing empirical and conceptual diversification of money, as well as articles on various aspects of the current financial crisis and their implications for sociological investigations of money, credit and indebtedness. Regarding the euro, he has written articles which look into social, political and cultural facets of European monetary integration, and address broader issues of diversity or divergence within the euro zone. The second area of interest is in social and sociological theory. To some extent, Dr Dodd's work in this area builds on his interests in the sociology of money: his forthcoming book will explores theoretical comparators to Simmel's concept of money, and examines the implications of Simmel's approach for epistemological questions on the boundary between economics and sociology; the relationship between social scientific theories and everyday economic practices; and problems of defining and representing economic 'realities' such as markets and money. In addition, both through his teaching and in his research, Dr Dodd has also been engaging with broader developments in social theory. He is planning a book on the contributions of Walter Benjamin and Michel Foucault to theoretical understandings of history and time, and the implications of these understanding for social thought when advanced as radical critique. Two of his recent articles ("Foucault's Void" and "Goethe in Palermo") are devoted to these questions.
Dr Dodd currently teaches courses at the LSE at Masters level in Classical and Modern Social Thought, and with Prof. Bridget Hutter, on Risk, Regulation and Economic Life. With Prof. David Frisby, he co-convenes the compulsory first-year undergraduate course, Key Concepts in Sociology. With Dr Paddy Rawlinson he co-convenes the first-year course run for all doctoral students within the Department of Sociology. He is also responsible for co-ordinating sociology papers on the University of London External Studies programme.
Dr Dodd supervises a number of doctoral students and is keen to hear from students interested in pursuing doctoral research in economic sociology and social theory. Recently passed doctoral theses supervised by Dr Dodd include topics such as "The Sociology of Theodor Adorno, A Social History of the Lie Detector and Gambling and the UK National Lottery. Dr Dodd's current group of doctoral students are researching topics such as "The Sociology of Language", "New German Painting as a Social, Cultural and Historical Phenomenon", "Corporate Social Responsibility in the UK Retail Sector", "Economic Life in Two Virtual Worlds", "Economic Thought and the Emergence of the Indebted Consumer", "Social Enterprise in Ghana", and "Psychoanalysis and Social Theory".
Dr Dodd has given plenary lectures and presented papers in Russia, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and Germany. He is author of The Sociology of Money (1994) and Social Theory and Modernity (1999), has contributed articles to journals including the British Journal of Sociology, Economy and Society, Archives Européennes de Sociologie, Theory, Culture and Society, International Sociology and European Societies, regularly referees articles for journals including the American Journal of Sociology and the British Journal of Sociology, and is a member of the ESRC Virtual College. His books and several articles have been translated into a number of languages, including Chinese, Portuguese, Korean, Russian, Romanian and Spanish. He is a member of the editorial board of the British Journal of Sociology. He is a member of the Economy and Society research group of the International Sociological Association. He has recently recorded a number of short talks for the BBC World Service on various aspects of the 2007-9 financial crisis, including the role of economic forecasters in predicting the crisis (and a subsequent recovery), and the likely impact of the crisis on monetary metaphors in the popular imagination.
Selected Publications
Laundering Money (Princeton University Press, forthcoming).
Social Theory and Modernity (Polity)
The Sociology of Money (Polity)
(2008) "Goethe in Palermo: 'Urphänomen' and Analogical Reasoning in Simmel and Benjamin." Journal of Classical Sociology 8 (4): 411-445
(2007). "Foucault's Void." British Journal of Sociology 58(3): 477-93.
(2007). "On Simmel's Pure Concept of Money." Archives européennes de sociologie XLVIII(2): 275-98.
(2005). "Laundering 'Money': On the Need for Conceptual Clarity within the Sociology of Money." Archives européennes de sociologie XLVI(3): 387-411.
(2005). "Reinventing Monies in Europe." Economy and Society 34(4): 558-83.
(2001). "What Is 'Sociological' About the Euro?" European Societies 3(1): 23-39.
(2001). "The Hidden Side of the Euro." Observatoire de la Finance 9: 45-51.
(2000). "Convergence in Euroland." University of Michigan Policy Newsletter of the Centre for Society and Economy 1(1).
(2000). "Geopolitics and the Regulation of Economic Life." Law & Policy 22(1): 1-24 (co-authored with Bridget Hutter).
(2000) "Economic Sociology in the UK." European Economic Sociology Newsletter.
1999). "Globalisation of Money? National Sovereignty and the Management of Risk" in Emily Gilbert and Eric Helleiner (eds.) Nation-States and Money: The Past, Present and Future of National Currencies (London/New York: Routledge), pp. 182-98.
(1995). "Money and the Nation-State: Contested Boundaries of Monetary Sovereignty in Geopolitics." International Sociology 10(2): 139-54.
(1995). "Whither Mammon? Postmodern Economics and Passive Enrichment." Theory, Culture & Society 12(2): 1-24.
Nigel Dodd may be contacted at: n.b.dodd@lse.ac.uk|