Dr Christopher Thorpe
Senior Lecturer
Sociology
Office hours:
Appointment via e-mail
Office hours: Wednesday 11:00 - 12:00 / Friday 09:00 - 10:00
Office: Room B349, Third floor, Amory Building, Streatham Campus
Please note that requests for references must be confirmed with me first
Research interests
- Classical and modern social and cultural theory
- Historical sociology / cultural sociology from an historical perspective
- Cultural representation - in particular, representations of Italy and the Italians in English and later British culture from a longue-duree historical perspective
- Sociology of Art and culture
- Cultural globalisation, inter-change and translation
- Social theory, sociology and social work
Cultural Sociology of Cultural Representation
My current work explores how analytic frames and theoretical concepts taken from the ‘sociology of culture’ and ‘cultural sociology’ can be brought together to go beyond orthodox conceptions of and approaches to cultural representation within sociology and the social sciences more broadly. The monograph, published with Routledge, is entitled:
Cultural Sociology of Cultural Representations: Visions of Italy and the Italians in England and Britain from the Renaissance to the Present Day.
Endorsements for the book
‘This book is a signal achievement of cultural sociology, reconstructing and interpreting the collective representation of "nations" and "civilizations" at a macro level and over shifting historical time. Thorpe shows, not only how British thinkers understood "Italy" in terms of the binary code of good and evil, but how that signification inverted in the wake of the English Reformation. An original and compelling work.’ - Jeffrey C. Alexander, Lillian Chavenson Saden Professor of Sociology, Yale University, USA.
‘Just as Marx turned Hegel on his head, so too does Christopher Thorpe comprehensively upend 40 years' worth of conventional thinking in the post-Saidian interdisciplinary study of cultural representations. He thereby provides a radically new interpretation of how the British have understood Italy and the Italians over hundreds of years. The book should appeal to sociologists who want their predictable paradigms shaken, and to historians, of Anglo-Italian relations and much else, who want their field cleared of idealising bourgeois obfuscation.’
– David Inglis, Professor of Sociology, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Editorial work and professional affiliations
(2020 - ongoing) I am an editor for the journal Cultural Sociology (Sage): es.britsoc.co.uk/welcome-for-five-new-editors-of-cultural-sociology/
(2024 - ongoing) I am an editor for the journal Dialogues in Sociology (Sage): uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/dialogues-in-sociology/journal203849
I am a member of the British Sociological Association
Monographs
Thorpe, C. M. (2023) Cultural Sociology of Cultural Representations: Visions of Italy and the Italians from the Renaissance to the Present Day. London: Routledge. www.routledge.com/Cultural-Sociology-of-Cultural-Representations-Visions-of-Italy-and-the/Thorpe/p/book/9780367030223
Thorpe, C. M. (2017) Social Theory for Social Work: Ideas and Applications. London: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Social-Theory-for-Social-Work-Ideas-and-Applications/Thorpe/p/book/9780415826402
Books – co-authored
Inglis, D. with Thorpe. C. M. (2012 1st ed. / Dec. 2018, 2nd ed. / Jul. 2024, 3rd ed.) An Invitation to Social Theory, Cambridge: Polity.
Recently translated into Chinese as: Inglis, D., & Thorpe, C. (2022). . The Commercial Press.
Books – edited
Inglis, D., Thorpe, C. M. and Gimlin, D. (2007) Food and Society: Critical Concepts in the Social Sciences, 4 vols., London: Routledge.
Refereed journal articles
Thorpe, C. M. (2024) 'Beyond Said and the Saidian Paradigm: Towards a Strong Program Account of Cultural Representation', American Journal of Cultural Sociology
Thorpe, C. M. (2024) 'Every Book is a Failure’ (But Typically Not for the Reasons Envisaged by the Author): A Response to My Interlocutors Concerning Cultural Sociology of Cultural Representations', Journal of Cultural Analysis and Social Change
Inglis, D., Almila, A.M., Thorpe, C. M. and Todd, M. (2024) 'For Sociological Polyphony and Conviviality: Enhancing Sociology's Intellectual Aspirations', Dialogues in Sociology, 1(1).
Inglis, D. and Thorpe, C. M. (2023) 'Towards a Cultural Sociology of the Uses of Classical Literature: Deploying Literary Representations of Rome and the Romans in England between the 15th and 18th Centuries', Classical Literature, 1(1): 49 - 65.ojs.bilpub.com/index.php/cl/article/view/115/100
Inglis, D. and Thorpe, C. M. (2023) 'Beyond the 'inimitable' Goffman: from 'social theory' to social theorizing in a Goffmanesque manner', Frontiers Sociology, 8. doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2023.1171087
Inglis, D., Thorpe, C. M. and Almila, A. M., (2023) ‘Masks /Cosmopolitanism / Hospitality: On Facial Politics in the Covid-19 Era’, Revista Portugesa de Filosofia, 78(4): 1511 – 1532 https://www.publicacoesfacfil.pt/product.php?id_product=9164
Thorpe, C. M. and Inglis, D. (2022) 'What's Up With Cultural Sociology? From Bourdieu and the Mainstream to 'Productive Weirdness', Cultural Sociology, 16(3): 318 - 337. https://doi.org/10.1177/17499755221112625
Thorpe, C. M., Jaworsky, N., Lo, M-C. M., Morgan, M., Ushiyama, R. (2022) ‘Visions for Cultural Sociology in Uncertain Times’, Cultural Sociology, 16(3): 305 – 317. https://doi.org/10.1177/17499755221098834
Thorpe, C. M. (2019) ‘Reconsidering Cultural Representation with Field Theory: Continuity and Change in the Discursive Construction of Italy and the Italians from 1680 to 1830’, Journal of Cultural Analysis and Social Change, 4(1): 1 - 15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20897/jcasc/5845
Thorpe, C. M. and Inglis, D. (2019) ‘Do 'Global Generations' Exist? From Mannheim to Beck and Beyond’, Youth and Globalization, 1(1): 40 - 64. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/25895745-00101003
Inglis, D. and Thorpe, C. M. (2019) ‘Catwalk Catholicism: On the Ongoing Significance of Federico Fellini's Ecclesiastical Fashion Show’, Religions, 10(9): 520.
Thorpe, C. M. (2017) ‘Comments on Claudio E. Benzecry, Monika Krause and Isaac Ariail Reed’s Social Theory Now: Social Theoretical Dialogue and Development in America from a British Perspective’, Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory, 18(3): 350 – 357. https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2017.1395350
Thorpe, C. M. (2011) ‘The Dual-Edged Sword of Sociological Theory: Critically Thinking Sociological Theoretical Practice’, Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory, Vol., 12 (2): 215 – 228. https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2011.555704
Thorpe, C. M. (2009) ‘Beyond ‘La Dolce Vita’: Bourdieu, Market Heteronomy and Cultural Homogeneity’, Cultural Sociology, 3(1): 123 – 146. https://doi.org/10.1177/1749975508100674
Thorpe, C. M. (2008) ‘Imagining Italy and the Italians in the 'Age of Machinery': Spectres of Industrial Modernity in the Italianate Visions of John Ruskin and D.H. Lawrence’, Journal of Anglo-Italian Studies, Vol. 9. pp. 79 – 106.
Thorpe, C. M. (2008) ‘The Distinguishing Function of Europe: attitudes towards and perceptions of Europe and the European Union among young Scottish adults’, Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 9(4): 499 - 513. https://doi.org/10.1080/15705850802416945
Book chapters
Thorpe, C. M. (2020) ‘(Re-)Imagining Social Theory for Social Work’ in Webb, S. (Ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Critical Social Work. Oxford: Routledge. ISBN: 1138578436 (hbk)
Inglis, D. and Thorpe, C. M. (2020) ‘Translation Encounters and the Histories of Globalization’, in Bielsa, E. and Kapsaskis, D. (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Globalization, London: Routledge, pp. 13 - 26.
Thorpe, C. M. (2013) ‘Critical Strategies for Implementing a Relational Sociological Paradigm: Elias, Bourdieu and Uncivilized Sociological Theoretical Struggles’, in C. Powell and F. Deplteau (eds.) Conceptualizing Relational Sociology: Ontological and Theoretical Issues, Vol. 1. London: Palgrave MacMillan.
Thorpe, C. M. (2013) ‘The Poetics of Travel in Byron and Shelley: Translating Italian Experience into Artistic Distinction’, in A. Yarrington, S. Villani and J. Kelly (eds.) Travels and Translations: Anglo-Italian Cultural Transactions. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, pp. 181 – 203 https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789401210164/B9789401210164-s013.xml
Thorpe, C. M. (2010) ‘Crime and Society’, in C. Yuill and A. Gibson (eds.) Sociology for Social Work. London: Sage.
Thorpe, C. M. (2010) ‘Sociology for Social Work: An Overview’, in C. Yuill and A. Gibson (eds.) Sociology For Social Work, London: Sage.
Popular sociology texts
Thorpe, C. M. (2020) ‘Sociology’ in H. Wilkinson (Ed.) The Visual Encyclopaedia. London. DK.
Thorpe, C. M. and Yuill, C. (2018) Heads Up Sociology. London: DK. (Translated into a wide range of languages and sold internationally)
Loxley, D., Thorpe, C. M. and Yuill, C. (2015) The Sociology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained London: DK.
Encyclopaedia entries
Thorpe, C. M. (2017) ‘Leo Strauss’, The Encyclopaedia of Social Theory. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Books.
Thorpe, C. M. (2017) ‘Vilfredo Pareto’, The Encyclopaedia of Social Theory. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Books.
Thorpe, C. M. (2017) 'Jean-Paul Sartre', The Encyclopaedia of Social Theory. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Books.
Book reviews
Thorpe, C. M. (2023) 'Jeffrey Alexander and Cultural Sociology', European Journal of Social Theory journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13684310231199709
Thorpe, C. M. (2023) 'Critically Appraising Bourdieu and Marx: Practices of Critique', Journal of Classical Sociology, 24(1): 95 - 102 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1468795X231202868
Thorpe, C. M. (2022) 'The Heavens and the Earth: Graeco-Roman, Ancient Chinese, and Medieval Islamic Images of the World', Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation, 1 glocalismjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Thorpe_gjcpi_2022_1.pdf
Thorpe, C. M. (2021) 'Durkheim and After: The Durkheimian Tradition, 1893 - 2020', European Journal of Social Theory, 25(3): 496 - 500. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13684310211046892
Thorpe, C. M. (2020) 'Andrea Cossu and Matteo Bortolini's Italian Sociology, 1945 - 2010: An Intellectual and Institutional Profile', Journal of Cultural Analysis and Social Change, 5(1): 09. www.lectitopublishing.nl/Article/Detail/review-of-andrea-cossu-and-matteo-bortolinis-italian-sociology-1945-2010-an-intellectual-and-8411
Thorpe, C. M. (2020) 'What Makes A Social Crisis? The Societalization of Social Problems', Cultural Sociology, 14(4): 204 - 205. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1749975520922160
Thorpe, C. M. (2019) 'Nietzsche and Sociology: Prophet of Affirmation', European Journal of Social Theory, 23(1): 113 - 118. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1368431019880159
Thorpe, C. M. (2019) 'Manet: A symbolic Revolution and Classification Struggles: General Sociology, Volume 1 Lectures at the College de France', Journal of Cultural Analysis and Social Change, 4(1): 07. www.lectitopublishing.nl/download/manet-a-symbolic-revolution-and-classification-struggles-general-sociology-volume-1-lectures-at-the-5850.pdf
Biography:
During my time as an undergraduate and postgraduate student I lived and worked in Northern Italy, spending time between Lake Garda and Verona. I am fluent in Italian and undertake occasional translation work for Italian broadsheet newspapers and Sunday magazine articles.
Research supervision:
I have acted as LEAD SUPERVISOR and SECOND SUPERVISOR on a range of doctoral theses through to COMPLETION.
I am interested in supervising doctoral students in sociology in a range of areas which include:
Sociology of Culture / Cultural Sociology
Cultural representation; representations of the 'cultural other' and 'other cultures'; cultural appropriation; cultural identity; cultural (re-)production; cultural nationalism; culture and taste; cultural globalization; autonomy of culture.
Social and Cultural theory
Classical and modern social and cultural theory - particular expertise in the theoretical work of Pierre Bourdieu, Norbert Elias and Jeffrey Alexander
Historical Cultural Sociology/ Sociology of Culture
Particularly as applied to the discursive representation of Italy, Italian culture, the Italians, Anglo-Italian relations, England, Britain
Social work, social theory and sociology
In particular, the use and application of sociological and social theoretical ways of seeing and modes of reasoning in and across a wide range of areas of social work theory and practice
