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Sociology Research

 

Robert Dorschel is Assistant Professor in Digital Sociology at the University of Cambridge. Interested in the effects and the social making of digital transformations, he conducts research related to digital labour, social class, and the cultural dimension of economic life. He has analysed the work ethic and class formation of tech workers, the professionalisation of data scientists, and the power structures within the tech industry. Additionally, he has developed theoretical work that advocates a broadening of the digital labour concept. Recently, his research has explored the green tech industry as well as the class divides in contemporary society more generally.  

Robert studied sociology and political science at Humboldt-University Berlin, Duke University, and the University of Kiel. In 2023, he completed his PhD in Sociology at the University of Cambridge. His PhD thesis, titled “The Social Codes of Tech Workers”, received the Dissertation Award from the Association of Internet Researchers. From December 2022 until August 2024, Robert served as Assistant Professor in Social Inequality and Diversity at Tilburg University in the Netherlands.  

Robert is available to supervise graduate students in any of his research areas and welcomes enquiries.  

Research Interests

Digital sociology, social class, cultural sociology, economic sociology, labour, subjectivity, science and technology studies, classical and contemporary social theory 

Teaching

Courses 

SOC7: Media, Culture and Society  

MPhil in Media and Culture 

Sociology Dissertation (Paper Organiser) 

 

Graduate supervision

Robert is available to supervise graduate students working in any of the following research areas: digital sociology, social class, cultural sociology, economic sociology, labour, subjectivity, science and technology studies, classical and contemporary social theory 

Key Publications - Books

Dorschel, Robert: The Social Codes of Tech Workers. A Contradictory Middle Class in the Making. MIT Press, Labor and Technology Series (under contract).

Key Publications - Book Chapters

Dorschel, Robert (2020): A Field Theoretical Discovery of the Tourism Industry. In: Pietzcker, Dominik/Vaih-Baur, Christina: Ökonomische und Soziologische Tourismustrends. Strategien und Konzepte im globalen Destinationsmarketing. Springer, Wiesbaden, pp. 29-44.
 

Dorschel, Robert/Allmendinger, Jutta (2019): Über die sozialen Fesseln unserer Sprache. In: Eichinger, Ludwig / Plewnia, Albrecht (Hrsg.): Neues vom heutigen Deutsch. Empirisch – methodisch – theoretisch. Jahrbuch des Instituts für Deutsche Sprache 2018. Berlin / Boston: de Gruyter, pp. 313-23.

Key Publications - Journal Articles

Dorschel, Robert (2023): Middle-Class Responses to Climate Change: An Analysis of the Ecological Habitus of Tech Workers. Current Sociology. Forthcoming.
 

Dorschel, Robert (2022): A New Middle-Class Fraction with a Distinct Subjectivity. Tech Workers and the Transformation of the Entrepreneurial Self. The Sociological Review, 70(6), 1302-1320.
 

Dorschel, Robert (2022) Reconsidering Digital Labour: Bringing Tech Workers into the Debate. New Technology, Work and Employment, pp. 1-20, https://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12225 (online first).

Dorschel, Robert (2022): Tech Workers und das achtsam-moralische Selbst. Jenseits von Künstlerkritik und Arbeitskraftunternehmer. Arbeits- und Industriesoziologische Studien, 15(1), 125-143.
 

Dorschel, Robert (2021): Discovering Needs for Digital Capitalism. The Hybrid Profession of Data Science. Big Data & Society, 8(2), 1-13.
 

Dorschel, Robert / Brandt, Philipp (2021): Professionalisierung mittels Ambiguität. Die diskursive Konstruktion von Data Scientists in Wirtschaft und Wissenschaft. Zeitschrift für Soziologie, 50(3-4), 193-210.
 

Allmendinger, Jutta / Dorschel, Robert (2021): Der Raum des Möglichen. Kursbuch, 207, 61-72.
 

Dorschel, Robert (2021): “Data Science“ Analyse einer emergierenden Profession mittels einer Verknüpfung von Diskurs- und Feldtheorie. Soziologie, 50(1), 94-102.

Key Publications - Other

Dorschel, Robert (2021): Contours of the Networked Self. New Media & Society, 23(1), 193-198. [Book Review Essay]

Media Articles

Research Groups & Affiliations

Awards

Dissertation Award, Association of Internet Researchers (2024) 

Early Career Workshop Award, SASE: Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (2022) 

Research Network Award, Cambridge Digital Humanities (2022) 

Best Master Thesis Award, German Sociological Association (2020) 

PhD Stipend, sdw: Foundation of the German Economy (2019-2022) 

MA Stipend, sdw: Foundation of the German Economy (2017-2019) 

Job Title:
Assistant Professor in Digital Sociology
Contact Information: