INTERESTS My main scholarly specialties include sociology of law and social control, popular culture, and social theory.
On law and social control, I have devoted most of my research to police institutions, including book-length studies on police and terrrorism (The Policing of Terrorism, 2010) and international cooperation (Policing World Society, 2002). I have relatedly also connect these interests with theoretical issues in sociology. Examples include my book Sociology of Law: Visions of a Scholarly Tradition (2008) and the anthology The Handbook of Social Control (2019). Recent research concerns the history of Interpol, the role of law in democratic societies, and counterterrorism policing since October 7.
In the area of popular culture, I have primarily studied celebrity and fame. I authored a book, Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame (2017), and other writings following a rather famous course (gagacourse). Other work on culture involves a co-authored book, Doing Gender in Heavy Metal, the cinema of Alfred Hitchcock, music censorship, and ritual. I have also examined the recent transformation of celebrity activism.
Most all of my work is closely connected with questions in sociological theory, a specialty I have also explored in its own right, especially concerning discourse theory, systems theory, and sociological structuralism.
For related writings, see the Books and Articles/Chapters pages.
ACADEMIC POSITIONS Professor, Department of Sociology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, since 2010.
Visiting Research Scholar, The University of Tokyo, Japan, Spring 2023, Summer 2024.
Associate Professor (2005-2010), Assistant Professor (2002-2005), Department of Sociology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 2002-2010.
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 1997-2002.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology and Law and Society, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH, 1996-1997.
EDUCATION 
M.A. Sociology of Developing Societies, University of Hull, England, 1990.Dissertation: “Borders of Police Force: Historical Foundations of International Policing Between Germany and the United States.” A revised version was published as my first book, Policing World Society (Oxford University Press 2002).
Special Diploma Social and Cultural Anthropology, Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven, Belgium, 1987.Thesis on “Processual Symbolic Analysis in the Writings of Victor W. Turner". [PDF]
Licentiate Sociology, Candidate Social Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven, Belgium, 1983, 1986.Thesis on the anthropology of space (in Dutch). [PDF]
Thesis on the sociological concept of anomie (in Dutch). [PDF]
