Daniel Robins
Postdoctoral Research Associate

Profile

Biography

I joined the Department of Sociology in 2017 to undertake my PhD, which examined the attachment and generation of value in the disposal of the dead body. The project was awarded with the AsSIST-UK Andrew Webster PhD Prize (2022) for its contribution to policy and theory in the environmental and technological management of the dead body.

After completing my PhD I took on an Associate Lecturer role in the department in January 2021 where I primarily taught on the postgraduate programmes in Social Media. Following this, I became a Postdoctoral Research Associate in October 2023 working with Professor Nik Brown on the biopolitics of the biosciences.  

Career

• PhD – Sociology (University of York)
• MSc – Criminology and Criminal Psychology (University of Greenwich)
• BSc – Sociology and Social Science (Canterbury Christ Church University)

Research

Overview

My research examines the relationship between science, technology, and the body. It contains three strands:

1. The role of technologies in the disposal of the dead body.
2. The biopolitics of biotechnologies and transplantation.
3. The robot body in healthcare.

Publications

Full publications list

Peer-reviewed journal articles

Robins, D., (2024). ‘The Calculation of Environmental Indicators in Crematorium Burden Sharing Schemes’, Mortality.

Robins, D.P.G., (2024). ‘Rendering, Waste Disposal and the Production of Value’, The Sociological Review.

Robins, D. Smith, R. (2021). ‘Hidden Labour in Funeral Directing: Providing Care to ‘Difficult’ Dead Bodies’, Mortality, 26, (1), 100-111.

Book chapters

Robins, D. (2022). ‘(Dis)posing of ‘Toxic Necro-Waste’: Managing Unwanted Ghosts’. In Fiddler, M. Linnemann, T. Kindynis, T. (Eds). Ghost Criminology. New York: New York University Press.

Teaching

Undergraduate

Morbidity, Culture and Corpses (Convener)