Dr Alex Rhys-Taylor BSc, MA, PhD, PGCert

Alex's research looks at processes of social change in cities, with a focus on embodied experiences.

Staff details

Dr Alex Rhys-Taylor BSc, MA, PhD, PGCert

Position

Head of Department

Department

Sociology

Email

a.rhystaylor (@gold.ac.uk)

Goldsmiths Research Centres/Groups

Alex is a Senior Lecturer and Head of Department in Sociology and History. His research looks at processes of social change in cities, with a focus on embodied experiences. His work has looked at the smell and flavour of cities and their relationship to gentrification, racism and multicultural formations. He is also interested in urbane behaviours, etiquette and notions of civic virtue and is currently undertaking research into space, masculinity and leisure in cities.

Academic qualifications

  • BSc Sociology 2001
  • MA Globalisation Culture and the City 2004
  • PhD 2010
  • PGCert in Management and Teaching 2011

Featured publications

2017: Rhys-Taylor, Alex, Food and Multiculture: A Sensory Ethnography of East London. London: Routledge.
In this book, Alex Rhys-Taylor offers a ground-breaking sensory ethnography of East London. Drawing on the multicultural context of London, one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, he explore

2017: Bates, Charlotte, and Alex Rhys-Taylor. Walking Through Social Research. Taylor & Francis.
As an ethnographic method walking has a long history, but it has only recently begun to attract focused attention. By walking alongside participants, researchers have been able to observe, experience,

2024: Rhys-Taylor, Alex. ‘Representing Sensory Culture, Enacting Community’. In Handbook of Sensory Ethnography, edited by Phillip Vannini. London, New York
The Routledge International Handbook of Sensory Ethnography reviews and expands the field and scope of sensory ethnography

2024: Rhys-Taylor, Alex. ‘How to Do Sociology with a Chilli’. In How to Do Social Research With... London: Goldsmiths Press, 2023.
This catalogue of methods draws on the wealth of cutting-edge critical and creative social research from the Goldsmiths Sociology Department to offer an engaged guide to doing research with a range of

2013: Rhys-Taylor, Alex. ‘The Essences of Multiculture: A Sensory Exploration of an Inner-City Street Market’. Identities 20, no. 4 (11 August 2013): 393–40
This article applies methods and concepts derived from a ‘sensory turn’ within the social sciences to a street market, popular with migrants to East London, to explore the socio-sensory processes thro

Publications and research outputs

Book

Edited Book

Book Section

Article

Broadcast

Digital

Thesis

Media engagements

2014: BBC R4 Thinking Allowed: Sensory Multiculturalism in an East End Market;
Laurie Taylor discusses the sights and smells of a multicultural East End market with Alex Rhys-Taylor

2018: BBC R4 Thinking Allowed: The sensory landscape of the city
Sociological discussion programme. Laurie Taylor explores the scenes, smells, sounds and tastes of urban life with Alex Rhys-Taylor

2013: BBC R4 Thinking Allowed: Jellied Eels
Jellied Eels Thinking Allowed Laurie Taylor discusses jellied eels and 'disgust' at a seafood stall.

Sense of Place: Smell and the City
When you lose your sense of smell, you suddenly realise what an impact it has on your day to day life. It is crucial to the taste of food, reminds you of certain places and people, and it can even inf

2017: What London's Shifting Fast Food Culture Says About Immigration and Identity