Darin Weinberg is a university reader in the Department of Sociology, Cambridge University and a fellow of King’s College, Cambridge. In addition to his interest in social constructionism, his research focuses primarily on the practical purposes to which concepts of addiction, mental disorder, and learning disability are applied in various historical and contemporary contexts. He is particularly interested in how these concepts figure in state-sponsored campaigns of social welfare and social control and in what their uses reveal about how and why people distinguish the social and natural forces held to govern human behaviour. His books include Contemporary Social Constructionism: Key Themes (2014); Of Others Inside: Insanity, Addiction, and Belonging in America (2005); Intoxication and Society (edited with Jonathan Herring, Ciaran Regan, and Phil Withington, 2013); Talk and Interaction in Social Research Methods (edited with Paul Drew and Geoffrey Raymond, 2006); and Qualitative Research Methods (edited, 2002).
