David Norman Smith hails from the San Francisco Bay Area, where he received an A.B. in economics from the University of California in 1974. After earning a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1988, Smith joined the sociology faculty at the University of Kansas, where, from 2012-2016, he also served as department chair.

Smith's many publications include Marx's Capital Illustrated (Haymarket Books, 2014, with art by Phil Evans), which has now appeared in ten languages; George Orwell Illustrated (Haymarket Books, 2018, with art by Mike Mosher); and articles on capitalism, the working class, charisma, authoritarianism, genocide, critical theory, and more in journals including Sociological Theory, Research in Political Economy, The American Psychologist, Antisemitism Studies, and Rethinking Marxism.

Smith's recent publications include "The Anger Games: Who Voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 Election, and Why?" (Critical Sociology, 2018, with Eric Hanley); "Sharing, Not Selling: Marx Against Value" (Continental Thought & Theory, 2017); "Theory and Class Consciousness," in The Handbook of Critical Theory (Palgrave, 2017, edited by Michael Thompson); "Capitalism's Future," in the volume of the same name edited by Daniel Krier and Mark Worrell (Haymarket Books, 2016); "The Adventures of Professor Piketty" (Critical Sociology, 2015, illustrated by Tom Johnson); and "Charisma Disenchanted: Max Weber and His Critics" (Current Perspectives in Social Theory, 2013).

A seasoned activist, Smith was named Public Citizen of the Year in 2004 by the National Association of Social Workers (Kansas) in recognition of his efforts on behalf of the successful living wage campaign in Lawrence. For Yale University Press, he is currently editing Marx's World: Global Society and Capital Accumulation in Marx's Late Manuscripts.