I specialize in drug markets and drug control policy research, with a primary focus on the social organization, transformation, and regulation of illicit drug economies. My work is predominantly qualitative, drawing on interviews, ethnographic approaches, and document analysis, while also incorporating survey and register-based methodologies to examine broader structural patterns in drug markets.
My recent research centers on key transformations in contemporary drug markets. This includes the increasing digitalization of retail-level drug distribution, including how online platforms reshape market structures and practices. I also examine young people’s drug sourcing strategies, as well as the ways in which drug markets intersect with youth involvement in crime, including processes of recruitment, exploitation, and coercion.
Another core area of my research investigate developments in drug crime careers, ranging from small-scale retail dealing to participation in organized drug crime, including production, trafficking, and large-scale distribution. This work pays particular attention to the social dynamics, identity processes, and situational factors that shape pathways into and through drug-related offending.
My research is informed by criminological, sociological, and anthropological perspectives, including drift theory, life-course criminology, praxis theory, symbolic interactionism, narrative approaches, actor-network theory, and post-structural perspectives. Across these approaches, I maintain a strong interest in how meanings, relationships, and structures interact in shaping drug markets and drug-related behaviors.
I am currently writing a book that among other things critically examines dominant representations of the “drug dealer” as a social and historical construct, and how ideas about the drug dealer informs research agendas, public discourse, and criminal justice policies and responses.
I welcome PhD students interested in topics related to:
If you are considering a PhD in these fields, I am happy to discuss ideas and supersivion possibilities
