Daniel Miller

Daniel Miller
Name	Daniel Miller
Birth date	1970
Birth place	London, England
Occupation	Anthropologist, Professor, Author
Alma mater	University of Cambridge, London School of Economics
Notable works	The Comfort of Things; Tales from Facebook
Awards	British Academy Fellowship

Daniel Miller is a social anthropologist and author whose work focuses on material culture, digital anthropology, and consumption. He has held academic positions at institutions including the London School of Economics and the University College London, and has directed long-term ethnographic projects linking households, markets, and online communities. Miller's research combines classical fieldwork with digital methods, engaging with collections, museums, and platform studies across London, Trinidad, Brazil, India, and global online networks.

Early life and education

Miller was born in London and educated at the University of Cambridge where he read for undergraduate and graduate degrees in social anthropology, followed by doctoral research at the London School of Economics under advisors associated with the British social anthropology tradition. His early mentors and influences included figures connected to the British Museum anthropology networks, and his training involved ethnographic fieldwork that engaged with Caribbean societies and diaspora communities in Trinidad and Tobago and urban contexts such as Kingston, Jamaica and Port of Spain. During his formative years he attended seminars and workshops affiliated with the Royal Anthropological Institute and benefited from interactions with scholars associated with the School of American Research and the Centre for Contemporary Studies (LSE).

Academic career and positions

Miller began his academic career as a lecturer and later professor within departments of anthropology and sociology, taking appointments at the London School of Economics, University College London, and visiting positions at universities such as the University of Oxford and the University of Chicago. He served as director of research centres connected to material culture studies and digital anthropology, collaborating with curatorial teams at the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum on exhibitions and public scholarship. Miller has supervised doctoral candidates through programs affiliated with the Economic and Social Research Council and given invited lectures at forums including the Royal Society and the British Academy.

Research contributions and theories

Miller is best known for advancing theories in material culture studies, consumption, and digital anthropology, arguing for the centrality of objects and media in constituting social relations. He developed ethnographic approaches that link household practices with global commodity chains, drawing on case studies from Trinidadian kinship networks, Londoners' domestic interiors, and Brazilian urban communities in Rio de Janeiro. His work on social media platforms foregrounds the role of objects and biographies within online practices, engaging with theories from scholars associated with Actor–Network Theory, the Manchester School (anthropology), and the interpretive traditions of the School of American Anthropologists. Miller has contributed to debates about value, personhood, and consumption by integrating perspectives from the British Material Culture School, feminist scholars at institutions such as Goldsmiths, University of London, and media studies researchers at the Digital Anthropology Lab (UCL). He pioneered methodological innovations combining classic participant observation with digital trace analysis and collaborative web-based ethnography on platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and online marketplaces linked to the World Wide Web.

Major publications and books

Miller's publications include monographs and edited volumes that have become standard readings in anthropology and related fields. Notable books include The Comfort of Things, which examines domestic objects in London households; Tales from Facebook, a collaborative ethnography of social media practices; and works on consumption and materiality produced with colleagues at the London School of Economics publishing networks. His edited collections bring together contributors from the University of Cambridge, University of Manchester, and the Australian National University to address themes of globalization, media, and material life. Miller has contributed chapters and essays to volumes associated with presses at the University of Chicago Press and the Cambridge University Press, and his articles have appeared in journals such as the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, American Anthropologist, and interdisciplinary outlets connecting anthropology with museum studies at the Victoria and Albert Museum research series.

Awards and honours

Miller's scholarship has been recognized with fellowships and honours from major learned societies including election to the British Academy and awards from the Economic and Social Research Council. He has received prizes for ethnographic writing and public engagement from institutions affiliated with the Royal Anthropological Institute and recognition from cultural organizations such as the British Museum for contributions to museum practice. Miller has been granted research funding through councils and trusts associated with the European Research Council and has been invited to serve on advisory boards for centers at the London School of Economics and the University College London.

Personal life and legacy

Miller's personal commitments have included long-term collaborative projects with communities in Trinidad and urban neighborhoods in London and Rio, fostering partnerships between academic researchers and museum curators at institutions like the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. His legacy includes a generation of anthropologists trained in material and digital methods who hold positions at universities such as the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and Goldsmiths, University of London. His influence extends into public anthropology, museum practice, and the study of social media, shaping curricula at departments connected to the London School of Economics and informing policy discussions hosted by the British Academy and the Royal Anthropological Institute.

Category:British anthropologists Category:Living people