Profile

Daniel is a first year PhD student based in the Department of Sociology. His research investigates the impact that debts owed to the state have upon the social reproduction of the relative surplus population in England. He has previously conducted research into Universal Credit's relationship with the creation and collection of benefit-related debts-to-government, and the implications that this relationship has for claimants' experiences of poverty, receipt of welfare, and broader indebtedness. He has also investigated how the British state's role as a creditor has expanded in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

Prior to commencing his PhD, Daniel completed an MSci in Biological Sciences at the University of Birmingham, and an MSc in Social Inequalities and Research Methods at the University of Warwick. He has experience working in both the further education and environmental education sectors.

Research

Daniel's research focuses on the role that debt plays in the social reproduction of low-income households. It addresses a critical gap within the current literature by investigating the role that an increasingly problematic, yet neglected, form of household debt plays, namely debts owed to the state. In particular, the research focuses on two of the most common forms of debts-to-government in England: benefit-related debts and council tax arrears. His research investigates how these debts-to-government have grown in significance since the global financial crisis, and aims to elucidate how they influence peoples' interactions with the labour and credit markets. Furthermore, the project explores how the growth of these debts potentially undermines the social reproduction of low-income households in England, drawing upon Marx's concept of the relative surplus population. Through a detailed exploration of the impacts that these debts-to-government have on social reproduction, Daniel's research aims to further develop our understanding of the state's role in the reconstruction and disciplining of the relative surplus population, in relation to both the labour and credit markets. Finally, his research asks what the growing significance of debts-to-government reveals about the British state's role as creditor in the post-global financial crisis juncture.

His PhD is supervised by Professor Nicholas Gane and Dr Iain Pirie.

Research Interests

• Debt
• State Theory
• Social Reproduction
• Welfare

Awards

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) PhD Studentship (2023-2027)

John Rex Prize for the highest overall academic performance across the masters degrees in the Department of Sociology, University of Warwick (2023)

University of Warwick Sociology Departmental MA Scholarship (2021-2023)