Mark Paterson

Mark Paterson is Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh. With a BA in Philosophy, an MA in European Philosophy, and a Ph.D. in Human Geography, his research interests involve the body, the senses, and technology.

He is the author of 'The Senses of Touch: Haptics, Affects and Technologies' (2007), 'Seeing with the Hands: Blindness, Vision and Touch after Descartes' (2016). 'How We Became Sensorimotor: Movement, Measurement, Sensation' came out with University of Minnesota Press in 2021, and the newest book is 'Affective Touching: Neurobiology and Technological Applications' (February 2025). His textbook 'Consumption and Everyday Life' is now in its third edition (2006; 2017; 2023). He co-edited 'Touching Space, Placing Touch' (2013). He is currently working on ideas around robot embodiments and automation.

Originally British, he has lived and worked in Britain, Zimbabwe, Japan, Australia, and, for the past 14 years, the US. Before becoming an academic he had a number of jobs, including newspaper delivery, pot washer, barman, farm worker and then chicken factory worker, English teacher, fashion show administrator, part-time DJ, and for a London-based non-profit organization.