Research Overview

Sophie James is a Lecturer in Security and Protection Science, and a Doctoral Researcher with the Department of Marketing at Lancaster University Management School. Her work has appeared in international peer-reviewed journals including Marketing Theory, Consumption, Markets & Culture and Annals of Tourism Research.

Recognised as a rising star in socio-technical cyber security, Sophie has been awarded a RISCS Associate Fellowship.

Sophie is the Event Lead and Co-chair for the Cybernetic Culture Workshop 2025 - a premiere event in collaboration with the Centre for Consumption Insights (CCI), Security Lancaster, and the RISCS.

Sophie's work relates to digital anthropology, providing important contextualisation for digital transformation, socio-digital futures, and security challenges. Her research strives to provide in-depth insights on how individuals and groups engage with web-based communication platforms for a variety of ideological reasons. Her work draws from theories on consumer identity-making and socio-historic patterning, exploring how extreme or subversive content on social media networks and ‘dark’ corners of the (clear) web can erode trust in expert systems and have wider moral, ethical, social implications. Sophie is further interested in identifying the ideological deadlocks of dissident political opinions and how these may inform policy interventions on curbing the spread of misinformation.

Sophie's Doctoral Thesis is informed by cultural theory and adopts a critical perspective on the socio-historical and political-ideological structures involved in shaping present-day modes of magical thinking, consumer spirituality, and reflexive doubt. Drawing upon consumer interest in witches and witchcraft, she explores how premodern and pre-capitalist fantasies and imagined ways of living find themselves recycled, reproduced, and commodified in the contemporary marketplace. Her research is informed by qualitative, interpretivist methods and connects closely with ‘de-romanticist’ and ‘terminal’ writing in critical marketing and consumer research.