He was a lecturer in sociology at Queen’s University Belfast, where his research focused on religion, racial and ethnic identities, reading practices and social theory. He was particularly interested in the use of ethnographic methods and in conceptualisations of power, practice and the self, especially in the work of the sociologist and anthropologist Pierre Bourdieu.
Matthew was born in Bristol to David, a university lecturer, and Eileen. Treading an academic path between theology and sociology, he obtained a first-class honours degree from the University of Nottingham in theology before completing a doctorate in sociology on “possession, power and the new age”. It was in Nottingham that we first met, in 1994, as I was about to embark on an MA in social work.
After working as a lecturer in sociology at Cambridge University, Matthew taught sociology at the American International University in Richmond upon Thames, and then sociology and anthropology at Roehampton University, in south-west London. He joined Queen’s University in 2006.
A committed, humane, optimistic and principled man, he believed strongly in trade unionism, and was often one of the first people on any university picket line. He liked political debate, and could be obdurate, but was the kindest and most generous person, compassionate and quick-witted. He was a lover of classical music, especially the revolutionary tones of Prokofiev and Shostakovich.
Matthew is survived by his wife, Véronique Altglas, also a lecturer in sociology at Queen’s, by his parents, his brothers Jim and Duncan, and his sister, Sarah.
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