Dr Sam Mercer
LECTURER IN SOCIAL SCIENCE
Sociological Studies
0151 291 3535
mercers@hope.ac.uk
In 2018 I was awarded my PhD from the University of Chester for a thesis titled Humanism and the Ideology of Work. My research explored and deconstructed the sociology of work and employment through the critique of theoretical humanism, located in the Marxist philosophy of Louis Althusser. My research demonstrated that throughout sociological discourses of work and employment, there persist several 'humanist' ideological tropes which blunt its critical force, bracketing material analyses of class and exploitation in favour of moralistic ideological analyses of human nature and human essence.
In my current research I am interested in the application of 'Althusserian' Marxism to discourses in sociology, particularly to the sociology of work. I have published articles with Rethinking Marxism, Economy & Society and Decalages in contributing to this project. My first monograph, The Ideology of Work, is forthcoming with Brill as part of the Historical Materialism book series.
My ongoing publications are developing the application of Althusserian Marxism in a detour through the work of Etienne Balibar. These include an article on Althusser, Balibar and Theodor Adorno for The Irish Journal of Sociology; and a collected volume of essays on the writings of Etienne Balibar co-edited with Thomas L. McGlone and Dhruv Jain.
At Liverpool Hope University I am a lecturer in Social Policy. I am currently leading the Level I course in Social Policy. The Level I course focuses on two important strands: first, the role of social research methods within social policy scholarship; and second, on social divisions and how social inequalities and antagonisms are reflected in contemporary social policy. Additionally, I am co-leading our Level C Introduction to Applied Social Sciences. Finally, I am leading an Advanced Research Course at Level H on 'The Anti-Humanist Philosophy of Karl Marx.'