Austin Harrington

Dr Austin Harrington is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Leeds, affiliated with the School of Sociology and Social Policy. His expertise spans classical and contemporary social theory, cultural sociology, and the sociology of emotion, religion, and global decolonial studies. He teaches core sociology topics and supervises doctoral researchers.

• Education: Habilitation in sociology (University of Erfurt, 2009); Pre-doctoral scholarships in Tübingen and Paris

Research focuses on societal disillusionment in late modernity, classical social theory, and European intellectual traditions. Recent projects include a monograph on Disappointed Societies, integrating systemic and affective analyses of Western societal crises.

His publications include German Cosmopolitan Social Thought (2016) and Georg Simmel: Essays on Art and Aesthetics (2020), reflecting interests in cosmopolitanism, urban sociology, and modernity.

• Current research: 'Disappointed Societies: Understanding Societal Disillusionment in Late Modernity'
• Doctoral supervision: Available for PhD projects across sociology disciplines
• Editorial roles: European Journal of Social Theory, Thesis Eleven, Max Weber Studies