Gerda is a Professor of Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow with a longstanding specialism in gambling and problem gambling; its causes, consequences and cultural meanings. She has written extensively on the empirical and theoretical issues around these topics, and her book, The Age of Chance: Gambling in Western Culture, won the Philip Abrams Prize for the best book in sociology for 2000. Her latest book is Addictive Consumption: Capitalism, Modernity and Excess.