
Dr Isabelle Darmon
Job Title
Lecturer in Sociology and Sustainable Development

Research interests
Research interests
Keywords: Dynamics of capitalism, Critical theory, Sociology of food, sociology of music, Marx, Weber, Cultural Sociology, Environmental Sociology, Sociology of Sustainability.
I joined Edinburgh after a late PhD at the University of Manchester, and a turn in my professional life (I managed European research and evaluation projects in programmes against unemployment and social inequality for 15 years, and worked from Paris, London, and Barcelona).
Over the last 10 years, I have been working across cultural sociology, critical theory and sociology of global environment and sustainability. Since 2018, I have been pursuing the development of a materialist cultural sociology of the arts and art domains. I am currently working on a monograph on these issues.
In parallel I am working on theorising social sustainability, relating it to the inequality-unsustainability nexus at the heart of capitalism, but also of capitalist transitions.
I am a convener of the Food Researchers In EDinburgh network (FRIED), and coordinator of the related European network in the Social Science of Food and Eating (Bridg'it), with the University of Copenhagen, Centre Maurice Halbwachs, Institute for Social Science Lisbon and Universität Giessen. The network is developing its collaboration on the social sustainability of food transitions (joint conference papers) and seeks to further foster and structure doctoral education and support (for example through annual staff/student workshops).
Topics interested in supervising
Dynamics of capitalism, environmental sociology, cultural sociology.
If you are interested in being supervised by Isabelle Darmon, please see the links below (opening in new windows) for more information:
Background
Qualifications
- PhD in Sociology, University of Manchester
- MSc Politics and Sociology, Birkbeck College, University of London
- MA Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC Paris), France
Publications
In preparation: Of sound and flavour. For a new materialist sociology of art domains (Routledge)
(2022) The unequal university will never be 'sustainable' (with Ana Diaz and Clara Freudenberg). Undisciplined Environments. 15 February 2022.
(2021) Of sound and flavour – revisiting the notion of material for the cultural sociological analysis of art domains. Cultural Sociology. 15(3): 327-345.,
(2020) Philanthrocapitalism vs. the public in covid-19 times, Discover Society. 8 June 2020.
(2020) Filantrocapitalismo contra lo publico en tiempos de covid 19, seccion especial COVID-19:Tiempos críticos en tiempos de pandemia. Cuadernos de Teoría Social 6(11): 162-168.
(2019) Habits and orders of everyday life: commensal adjustment in Anglo-French couples. (with Alan Warde).The British Journal of Sociology, 70(3), 1025-1042.
(2017) 'Theatrical Dialogue in Teaching the Classics'. Editors’ Introduction (with Carlos Frade). Special issue Weber/Simmel antagonisms: imagined dialogues. Journal of Classical Sociology 17(2), 77-86.
(2016) 'Senses and sensibilities: stabilising and changing tastes in cross-national couples' (with Alan Warde), Food, Culture & Society 19(4), 705-722.
(2016) 'Of flavour and sound' Discover Society (36). 6 September 2016.
(2015) ‘Weber on music: Approaching music as a dynamic domain of action and experience’, Cultural Sociology, 9(1): 20-37 (special issue on 'The Social Space of Music') (First published online: 2013)
(2014) 'Introduction: towards dynamic comparative analysis' [Introduction to the Special Issue on Explorations in cross-national comparison of food practices edited with Alan Warde], Anthropology of food [Online], S10 | 2014, Online since 30 December 2014.
(2014) 'Under pressure – learning from the culinary and alimentary practices of Anglo-French couples for cross-national comparison' (with Alan Warde), Anthropology of food [Online], S10 | 2014, Online since 30 December 2014
(2013) 'Introduction to the Special Issue: Weber, the Press and Sociology, Then and Now' (with Carlos Frade) Max Weber Studies 13(2): 137-150.
(2012) ‘Beneath and Beyond the Fragments: The Charms of Simmel’s Philosophical Path for Contemporary Subjectivities’ (with C. Frade) Theory Culture & Society 29 (7-8): 197-217.
(2011) ‘No “new spirit”? Max Weber’s account of the dynamic of contemporary capitalism through “pure adaptation” and the shaping of adequate subjects.’ Max Weber Studies 11 (2): 193-216.
(2011) ‘“Conduct of conduct” or the shaping of “adequate dispositions”? Labour market and career guidance in four European countries’ (with C. Perez) (2011) Critical Social Policy 31 (1): 77-101.
(2009) ‘Extended review of Joachim Radkau, Max Weber: A Biography’ Sociological Review 57(3): 530-6.
PhD students
Current:
- Eric Yan: Food and Distinction in Contemporary Urban China: A Dispositionalist-Contextualist Exploration (with Marisa Wilson and Nick Prior)
- Lisa Howard: Beyond ‘the green family’: Exploring the relational potentialities of parent-led climate activism to achieve a just and sustainable future (with Lynn Jamieson)
- Sicheng Long: Compete for Recognition: Human Resource Management and the Formation of Neoliberal Subjects (with Angelica Thumala)
- Llibert Mendez de Vigo: The Flag as a Tablecloth: Food practices as class performance by the new Spanish migrants in Edinburgh (with Ross Bond)
- Ming-Tse Hung: Discourses on 'Real food' and Food Education in Taiwan (with Steve Kemp)
Completed:
- Shubhi Sharma (completed in 2022): Forest governance, Forest Dwelling People and Construction of Environmental Subjects: Case of REDD+ and Khasis in Meghalaya, India (with Radhika Govinda and Roger Jeffery)
- Yahti Mohammad Miharja (completed in 2020): Relocating Malays: Housing Biographies, the State and Multiracial Nationbuilding in Singapore.
- Chun-Ming Huang (completed in 2018): Taiwanese Popular Music in China.
Topics interested in supervising
I would welcome proposals from research students with interests in dynamics of capitalism and environmental problems, critical theory, cultural sociology of food, music and the arts.
If you are interested in being supervised by Isabelle Darmon, please see the links below for more information:
- PhD in Sociology (opens in a new window)
Courses convened and taught
Sustainable Development 1A (convened the course 2013-2021. Course now convened by Dr Faye Wade. I am teaching the unit on capitalism and SD)
Sustainable Development 2A (teaching on community and food) (convened by Lynn Jamieson and Jacob Doherty)
Sociology 2A (teaching unit on capitalism) (course convened by Gil Viry)
The Social Life of Food (convened by Dr Niamh Moore)
Global Environment: Key Issues (contribution to teaching) (convened by Elizabeth Bomberg)
Global Environment and Society (postgrad, convening and teaching)
Academics Beyond Borders (remote visiting research programme for PhD students affected by the war in Ukraine - co-convening with Sophia Woodman)
Works within
Staff Hours and Guidance
Office hours: Tuesdays 3-5pm (normally). Please book yourself a 'slot' here, it makes life easier...
Publications by user content
Publication | Research Explorer link |
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Vidal AD (Author), Freudenberg C (Author), Darmon I (Author). The unequal university will never be sustainable 2022. |
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Darmon I. Of sound and flavour – Revisiting the notion of material for the cultural sociological analysis of art domains. Cultural Sociology. 2021 Sep 1;15(3):327-345. Epub 2020 Nov 11. doi: 10.1177/1749975520969603 |
View |
Darmon I. Cardon (Philippe), Depecker (Thomas), Plessz (Marie), Sociologie de l’alimentation. Paris, Armand Colin, 2019, 238 p., 25 €. Revue française de Sociologie. 2020 Oct;61(4):393-396. |
View |
Darmon I. Filantrocapitalismo contra lo público en tiempos de Covid-19. Cuadernos de Teoría Social . 2020 Sep 1;6(11):162-168. |
View |
Darmon I, Warde A. Habits and orders of everyday life: Commensal adjustment in Anglo-French couples. British Journal of Sociology. 2019 Jun;70(3):1025-1042. Epub 2018 Apr 17. doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.12371 |
View |
Prior N, Darmon I, Mccormick L. Tracing, Making and Locating Cultural Sociology. Cultural Sociology. 2017 Jun 6;11(1):3-10. Epub 2017 Feb 15. doi: 10.1177/1749975516687486 |
View |
Darmon I, Frade C. Theatrical dialogue in teaching the classics. Journal of Classical Sociology. 2017 May 31;17(2):77-86. doi: 10.1177/1468795X17693435 |
View |
Darmon I, Warde A. Senses and sensibilities: stabilising and changing tastes in cross-national couples. Food, Culture & Society. 2016 Dec;705-722. Epub 2016 Oct 25. doi: 10.1080/15528014.2016.1243769 |
View |
Darmon I. Review of Julier, A. P. (2013). Eating together: Food, friendship, and inequality. Urbana : University of Illinois Press. Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies. 2016 Jun;1:67-69. Epub 2016 Apr 4. doi: 10.1007/s41130-016-0004-7 |
View |
Darmon I. Weber on music: Approaching music as a dynamic domain of action and experience. Cultural Sociology. 2015 Mar 1;9(1):20-37. Epub 2013 Nov 11. doi: 10.1177/1749975513511789 |
View |
Darmon I, (ed.), Warde A, (ed.). Explorations in cross-national comparison of food practices. Anthropology of Food. 2014 Dec 30;s10(2014). Epub 2014 Dec 30. |
View |
Darmon I, Warde A. Under pressure – learning from the culinary and alimentary practices of Anglo-French couples for cross-national comparison. Anthropology of Food. 2014 Dec 30;10. |
View |
Darmon I, Warde A. Introduction: towards dynamic comparative analysis. Anthropology of Food. 2014 Dec 30;10. |
View |
Darmon I, Warde A. Change in eating habits - The contribution of new local food infrastructures: The case of a French initiative: Le Champ Commun/Le Garde Manger – Augan, Morbihan. 2013 Jan. |
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Darmon I, Warde A. Change in eating habits - The contribution of new local food infrastructures: The case of a Scottish initiative: Community Food Moray, Morayshire. 2013 Jan. |
View |
Darmon I, Frade C. Beneath and Beyond the Fragments: The Charms of Simmel's Philosophical Path for Contemporary Subjectivities. Theory, Culture & Society. 2012;29(7-8):197-217. doi: 10.1177/0263276411435572 |
View |
Darmon I. No 'New Spirit'? Max Weber's Account of the Dynamic of Contemporary Capitalism Through 'Pure Adaptation' and the Shaping of Adequate Subjects. Max Weber Studies. 2011 Jul;11(2):193-216. |
View |
Darmon I, Perez C. 'Conduct of Conduct' or the Shaping of 'Adequate Dispositions'? Labour Market and Career Guidance in Four European Countries. Critical Social Policy. 2011;31(1):77-101. doi: 10.1177/0261018310385440 |
View |
Darmon I. Max Weber's science of reality. Types of human being and the possibility of life conduct in contemporary culture. 2011. 278 p. |
View |