Matthew Sparkes is an Assistant Professor in Sociology and a Director of Studies and Fellow in HSPS at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. He is the course organiser for SOC3 Global Social Problems and Sociology Dissertations, and the organiser of the Social Class Reading Group.

Matthew's research is centred on examining neoliberal political economy, its origins and associations with financialisation, and the class, gender, and cultural dynamics of these processes. His work makes use of a variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods, and cuts across social science scholarship in sociology, cultural studies, economics, politics, geography, and labour history.

Currently, Matthew's research interests lie in two main strands. The first strand focuses on the way pro-neoliberal actors and institutions utilise discursive classifications to (re)embed neoliberal policymaking, particularly in moments of crises, and the consequences of these processes. The second, and more dominant, strand extends his enquires into social stratification processes within credit markets, and how they intersect with and reanimate social inequalities to perpetuate (dis)advantages.

Previously, Matthew was a Teaching Associate in Research Methods at the Social Science Research Methods Programme (SSRMP), Cambridge (2019-2022), and a Teaching Associate in Sociology in the Department of Sociology, Cambridge (2014-2019). Before entering academia, Matthew worked as a Debt Advisor for StepChange Debt Charity. He earned his PhD in Sociology and MA in Social Research at the University of York, and his BA in Sociology from Leeds Metropolitan University.