Personal profile

Overview

Luke Yates is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Manchester. His research focuses on protest, everyday life, consumption and technology. He is programme director of Manchester's BSocSc in Sociology, co-organiser of Manchester’s long-standing research group on social movements and alternative futures and a researcher in the Sustainable Consumption Institute. 

Current and recent research has included the examination of the political tactics of digital 'platform' economy businesses such as Uber and Airbnb (public report here, open-access article here, book here); collective action and social practice theory, 'everyday' life and its relationships with politics and consumption, changes in everyday practices (around eating habits and economies of sharing in households), and strategy in social movements, especially as it relates to prefigurative politics. See Research tab for more. 

Research interests

Specific research interests

  • Social movements, protest, political action
  • Sociology of consumption and socio-economic change 
  • The politics of the new digital 'platform economy'
  • Imagination, 'futures' and prefigurative politics 
  • Everyday life 
  • Everyday practices, particularly living arrangements, sharing, food, and households

 

Supervision information

I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students with interests in 

  • social movements and protest
  • labour movements
  • digital sociology / the platform economy
  • consumer culture
  • environmental sociology
  • alternative institutions and economic practices
  • prefigurative politics
  • theories of practice
  • political strategy

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 5 - Gender Equality
  • SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  • SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
  • SDG 13 - Climate Action
  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

External positions

External examiner, Masters in Sociology, The University of Essex

1 Sept 2025 → …

Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms

  • Sustainable Consumption Institute
  • Sustainable Futures
  • Creative Manchester

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics where Luke Yates is active. These topic labels come from the works of this person. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
  • 1 Similar Profiles

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or