I use ethnography to research how social forces shape the most intimate aspects of our lives — our relationships, our emotions, and our sense of self. I am particularly interested in the intersection of inequality and suffering in U.S. society.

I have three ongoing research projects. The first explores the social and institutional management of grief in the U.S. The second examines the affective underside of urban poverty and its management by the welfare state, in particular how concentrated disadvantage shapes people’s intimate bonds. The third investigates the mental health services and self-help discourses directed at people in poverty.