Ryan Davey

BBC Radio 4 - Thinking Allowed, Debt and Wealth Inequality Living with debt - and has inequality become ingrained? Laurie Taylor hears new research.

Chatted to Laurie Taylor and Sarah Kerr on BBC Radio 4 #ThinkingAllowed yesterday about the personal life of debt and its connection to wider structures of inequality.

Listen here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... @wealtherty.bsky.social

Times report: Allies of Rayner said they believed that Wes Streeting, the health secretary, would be “ruined” by the mass disclosure of all communications with Mandelson in coming months. Streeting and Mandelson were close allies for years.

In these dark days of February, a little something to look forward to.

“Person pressing a buzzer on an external intercom panel in a block of flats.”

“The Provi [doorstep lender] came round saying I had to pay them this and that. I said, ‘Fuck off.’” – James, interviewee

Ignoring debt is an understandable response to coercion in an exploitative economy, writes @ryandavey284.bsky.social in the Magazine’s December issue.

buff.ly/sVnZsi4

Davey's theoretical intervention in the anthropology of debt is welcome and sure to resonate. The argument about expropriability and the subject formation of the British “underclass” is well developed and persuasive. In taking debtors’ practices seriously and understanding them on their own terms rather than through dominant, top-down frameworks, the book makes particularly substantial contributions to debates on overindebtedness, debt collection and enforcement, and debt advice. Davey's ethnography is rich, evocative, well aligned with his claims, and empathetic yet clear sighted. His writing is accomplished; he deftly weaves together complex theory, ethnography, and historical and structural analysis into a highly readable text, logically and methodically building up his arguments.

Review of my book in American Ethnologist @amethno.bsky.social

anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Feel free to message me for a PDF

Debt and denial: Is ignoring debt a sign of poor money management, a lack of self-control – or an achievement? Legal debt enforcement and state coercion reinforce British class inequality in an exploitative financial system. Ethnographic research by Ryan Davey.

New piece in the Sociological Review magazine @thesociologicalreview.org

thesociologicalreview.org/magazine/dec...

Why do people get into debt? YouTube video by Bristol University Press

New video - Why do people get into debt?

with @brisunipress.bsky.social

youtu.be/joYjeIdjk50?...

Why do people get into debt? As the cost of living rises, British households face unprecedented levels of debt. But what do we mean by 'in debt' and how do people get into this situation? Ryan Davey, author of 'The Personal…

As the cost of living rises, British households face unprecedented levels of #Debt. But what do we mean by 'in debt' and how do people get into this situation? (@ryandavey284.bsky.social)

Ryan Davey, author of 'The Personal Life of Debt', discusses the three perceived ways people get into #Debt and why these may not be as accurate as they first appear. @ryandavey284.bsky.social

buff.ly/63v2MFN

Glad you can make it!

ASA Anthropology of Britain network hybrid book launch Join us for the launch of three new books on the anthropology of Britain

Excited to be part of this launch of 3 new books on the anthropology of Britain

2pm 17 Sep, Uni of Exeter & online

w Celia Plender ‘The Everyday Politics of Food Co-ops’
Katharine Tyler, ed. ‘Reflections on Polarisation and Inequalities in Brexit Pandemic Times’ & Jessica Fagin chairing

Ignoring debts and other payment commitments is often dismissed as being irresponsible. But a closer look reveals that many people see things differently, reflecting a deeper point about inequality in Britain today ✍️Ryan Davey, Cardiff University wp.me/p8Mk4U-13JW

Richard Seymour · Baseline Communism: David Graeber’s Innovations In his critique of economics, as in his philippic against ‘bullshit jobs’, Graeber stresses the political decisions...

‘Wherever he encounters what seems to be a structural limit to human freedom, he inquires into its history and class basis.’

@leninology.bsky.social reads David Graeber in our latest issue:

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

@ryandavey284.bsky.social discusses a Channel 4 documentary where Michael Sheen spent £100,000 to cancel £1 million of #Debt, exposing exploitative debt-buying practices: buff.ly/l456djt

Michael Sheen wrote off a million pounds of debt: How about a DIY approach? - Transforming Society Ryan Davey, author of 'The Personal Life of Debt', discusses a Channel 4 documentary where Michael Sheen spent £100,000 to cancel £1 million of debt, exposing exploitative debt-buying practices.

www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2025/08/06/m...

Appreciate that Patrick 🙏

Why people ignore debt letters – and what it says about inequality today A researcher spent 18 months living in a community where debt problems were commonplace.

Poignant intervention on the runaway crisis of personal debt among the UK's disenfranchised from @ryandavey284.bsky.social
theconversation.com/why-people-i...

Why people ignore debt letters – and what it says about inequality today A researcher spent 18 months living in a community where debt problems were commonplace.

A researcher spent 18 months living in a community where debt problems were commonplace.

Here's a new article from me for The Conversation...

Why people ignore debt letters - and what it says about inequality today

The class politics of debt — Poverty Research & Advocacy Network New blog: The Class Politics of Debt by Dr Ryan Davey explores how debt fuels class inequality, how the working class resists it—and why ignoring debt might just work. Based on his research in T...

New blog: The class politics of debt

For the Poverty Research & Advocacy Network

www.pran.org.uk/blog/the-cla...

Great article on debt by @lottieelton.bsky.social for the Big Issue

Ryan Davey (@ryandavey284.bsky.social), author of 'The Personal Life of Debt', lived on a poverty-stricken housing estate and shares with Lottie Elton (@lottieelton.bsky.social) what he learned about debt.

📖 bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/monobook-oa/...

The EASA Executive Committee announces the publication of Implementation Guidelines for the EASA Motion Concerning Collaborations with Israeli Academic Institutions.

Find out more and access the full Guidelines here:
easaonline.org/implementati...

The arsehole who debated with me that 'poverty' was just all about poor budgeting and irresponsibility should read this.

He moaned about seeing his neighbours carrying slabs of lager and smartphones. About kids with new clothes (what's wrong with a charity shop? (Nothing, as it goes, but)) and toys

I lived on a debt-stricken estate as an anthropologist – this is what I learned

Anthropologist Ryan Davey spent 18 months living on an estate where debt is an omnipresent feature of everyday life. This is what he learned.

Write-up of my book in the Big Issue. Thank you to Lottie Elton for such thoughtful coverage.

What a treat to get together online with familiar faces and some new ones to mark the launch of my book. Big thanks to the speakers and all who came 🙏

I'm having a virtual launch for my book next Friday. All welcome - if you'd like to join, register here: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/d3bbc3...

This looks fantastic -- looking forward to reading this!

Thank you Mia 🙏