Joseph Hankins received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2009. His research focuses on the distribution of ethical, affective, and sensory obligation at the intersections of contemporary capitalism and political representation. His book, Working Skin: Making Leather, Making a Multicultural Japan, examines the politics of stigmatized labor in contemporary Japan. He teaches courses on capitalism and gender, liberalism and sympathy, and circulation and politics. He is affiliate with Critical Gender Studies, the Studio for Ethnographic Design, and the Center for New Racial Studies.