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Rob Smith

@robinjsmith.bsky.social
665 followers 431 following 158 posts

Professor of Sociology at Cardiff University and Visiting Prof at The University of the Witwatersrand. Ethnography, Ethnomethodology, and MCA, of all sorts of settings including policing, mountain rescue work, and public space.

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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
If you are working on practice and perception in high-stakes environments - where timely noticings (or, indeed, “missings”) of interactional and environmental significances are highly consequential - do consider submitting a paper to our panel! www.iiemca27.org/calls #iiemca27 #emca
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Urban scene with banner across the street that reads I Heart Melville
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Easily the most intense rescue I’ve been involved in… Called to a Casualty hanging inverted from top of cliff after falling and left leg catching a tree root. Amazing teamwork from all Central Brecon MRT colleagues to secure, lower, treat, and evacuate. #EMCA #Fieldwork #MountainRescue
Me stood at bottom of cliff, roped to a safety line, looking up at casualty hanging inverted, 30ft up vegetated cliff.
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
First time back at the BSA conference in a long while to speak on a panel launching this lovely collection of walking essays. I’ll be speaking briefly on walking as organised practice of care in the search for missing persons. 1600 in room 4.206. @britsoci.bsky.social #sociology #britsoc26
Book cover of Walking: A sociological field guide, on a banner outside Manchester University.
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Such a good couple of days of talking through different approaches to language and interaction in Macau. Highlights were learning about developments in Chinese social and digital media, and drawing from an abundance of positive energy from a special bunch of local and Hong Kong PhDs. #EMCA
Me stood at front a full seminar room, talking through an example of gestalt contexture and switch.
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
And on to Macau for a workshop on EM/CA, discourse, and ethnography. #EMCA
University of Macau letter sculpture in front of campus. A lake, grass and trees, and somewhat grand modern university buildings in background.
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Two days of data sessions and dim sum in Hong Kong.
Fishing boats in harbour with low rise buildings, sky scrapers and hills of Hong Kong island in the background.
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
The cracks are where the light gets in, and shines out.
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
“Every single moment is implicated in all of time” A real treat, as usual, to welcome Barbara Adam back to Cardiff. Essential ideas for thinking open futures.
Barbara Adam stood at lectern to left of PowerPoint slide of “Opening statement”
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Dr Patricia Jimenez presenting on the uses and troubles with MCA across her projects on members’ sense-making practices. Questions of producing adequate descriptions of occasioned patternings of categorial orders. #EMCA #MCA
Image of Patricia sat at a table, presenting in front of a PowerPoint screen.
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
All set for three days of Intro to MCA (sponsored by the WGSSS) and a meeting of the EMCA Doctoral Network. Huge thanks to Patrik Dahl for his organisational prowess. Schedule includes bonus pun for the MCA heads. #EMCA #MCA
Four handbooks for the Intro to MCA course, fanned out, with WGSSS logoClose up of schedule featuring a “walk to the food market” (a play on Hester and Francis’ “walk to the supermarket” paper)
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
Just spent a while looking for a photo from a missing person search for a talk I’m giving next week. This. This was the photo… Fortunately, there’s more in the detail* of the account that goes with it! #ethnography #fieldwork
Impenetrable undergrowth/bracken
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Definitely struggling with the cold winter here. Bring a coat! #IIEMCA27
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
First visit to the Wits campus. A real honour to be Visiting Professor in the School of Human and Community Development until 2028.
Main building of Wits University. A grand affair with colonial style pillars at the rear of a large lawn.
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
What a great first day in Johannesburg! Already looking forward to #IIEMCA27 @iiemca27.bsky.social
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Holding the actual thing felt a bit special. There’s just so much care gone in to this and it shows in the introductory chapters. #emca
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
When you submit your carefully formatted ms to the publisher Vs When the proofs come back
The well-known image of the botched repair job (right) on a painting of Jesus from 1930 (left) which leaves him looking like “Monkey Jesus.”
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Sewing some EM seeds at Paderborn University and the centre for Constructing Explainability #EMCA
Picture of myself at lectern with title slide “Actions-in-context”
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Congratulations to my dear Finnish colleagues for living in the happiest country in the world, again! 🇫🇮
Image of F1 driver Kimi Räikkönen looking serious
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Strong “spend the cash before April” vibes in the civic centre…
Roadworks and some sort of “improvement” to the public realm
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
The “Cities and Mobilities” students engaged in the work of producing place and animating the map by following a tourist trail around Cardiff. It threw up some really nice practices of coordination, orientation, and discovery. #MScSociology
Group of students stood in front of a war memorial (circle of large pillars in white stone with a central fountain with three greened bronze figures around it)
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
The sketch maps tutorial is always a favourite session of mine. Chiasmatic reflexivity in action. I also think we had a first today…One group managed to very successfully and accurately follow a map to a completely wrong destination. #EMCA
Four images of sketch maps on A4 paper, each different containing roughly drawn routes made up of lines arrows and objects
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
I’ve started running again after a way too long lay off (for various reasons). It’s so good to be back and feels like rediscovering a part of myself. I could barely run at all at the start of year, and it’s amazing seeing how the body adapts. The world always seems a little better from up high…
Grassy/craggy mountain top view on a sunny day, looking across a valley to another rounded peak. Craig yr Allt looking toward the Garth
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
Doing tutorial exercises on instructed action with 250+ students is a bit of a challenge, but I think we got there… #emca
Two origami swans atop a copy of Studies in Ethnomethodology.
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Couldn’t resist joining in with the book shelf snaps. Mundane Reason hasn’t been mentioned yet. Absolute classic, but hard to find. (And, yes, I need to tidy up… but this is a working collection!)
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
We don’t do inaugural lectures at Cardiff but it was really nice to be able to talk with colleagues today about categorisation practices, gestalt contexture, and analysing possible descriptions. #EMCA
Image of me at a lectern
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Thought I’d give the baby and mommy a rest when introducing MCA tomorrow… #EMCA
Transcript of people being angry and surprised that a hotdog shaped car has crashed through window of store.
They’re looking for the driver and want to call the cops.
A guy dressed in a hotdog suit is pretending he WASN’T the driver.
A woman says “Sir that’s clearly your car”
Guy in the hotdog suit says WRONG!Image of guy in a hotdog suit
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
If we’re at the sharing cat pictures stage of the culture, here’s ours… 🤦‍♂️
A mess of a cat, fast asleep, kind of sprawled slash falling off the arm of a settee.
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Rob Smith @robinjsmith.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
Yesterday was a long day of assessing trainees navigation skills in the morning, followed by a call-out in the evening. One day, I’ll be writing a book about this… #mountainrescue #fieldwork
Two mountain rescue trainees navigation in open ground Mountain rescue worker in the dark, lit by head torch, walking to casualty
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