David Bissell

University of Melbourne, Australian National University

Papers

Total Citations

150

H-Index

About

David Bissell is a leading social and cultural geographer whose work explores the intersections of technology, labor, and everyday life. His research focuses on how digital technologies, automation, and robotics are reshaping human experiences of work, skill, and care. Bissell’s highly cited paper “Geographies of digital skill” (2017, 82 citations) critically examines how digital competencies are unevenly distributed and performed, challenging simplistic narratives of technological progress. In “Whither labor geography and the rise of the robots?” (2017, 49 citations), he issues a compelling call for geographers to engage with the profound transformations of labor markets driven by automation, arguing that social and cultural geography must expand its focus to address these shifts. More recently, in “Robotics, Affective Displacement, and the Automation of Care” (2021, 19 citations), Bissell offers a groundbreaking retheorization of displacement, showing how robots are not simply replacing human workers but are reconfiguring the very sites and relations of care. His work is notable for its conceptual innovation and its urgent relevance to contemporary debates about the future of work, making him a vital voice in understanding the human dimensions of technological change.