ÌÇÐÄlogoÈë¿Ú

Overview

Biography

I am guided by theÌýcentral principle to work across theory, policy and practice, for the purposes of social and racial justice. ThisÌýisÌýreflected in my experiences across research, academic, teaching and practice fields.

I think critically about policy; what it is, how it is made, and how it links to practice. My work cuts across critical policy studies and critical social policy and is interdisciplinary, informed byÌýonto-epistemic, critical feminist, critical race, anthropological and psychosocial frameworks.

I focus on policy-making and implementation,Ìýpublic service institutions, cultures, identities and experiences, and human power, agency and resistance. IÌýam especially interested in statutory actorsÌýworkingÌýin differentÌýlocations and with diverse remits, from local authorities to the civil service.

My Leverhulme Research Fellowship for 'Where Is The Power? Policy Ontologies In Theory and Practice' (2021) continues to inform my intellectual projects.ÌýI amÌýlead for international academic network Ìýand empirical study .

As an academic I have held lectureships at the University of Leeds, Kingston University and now ÌÇÐÄlogoÈë¿Ú, University of London, VisitingÌýFellowships at the University of New South Wales and University of Sydney.

I have over a decade’s experience of editorial, referee and learned society activity. IÌýwas member of the editorial collective (2011-2024) forÌý, a highly ranked, peer reviewed journal that provides an international forum for debate on social policy and welfare issues from socialist, feminist, anti-racist and radical perspectives. I have been twice elected to the Social Policy Association, most recently as Honorary Secretary.Ìý

Web profiles

Administrative responsibilities

• Subject Lead (co), Criminology

Visiting posts

• ESRC Visiting Fellowship, , 01 April 2009 to 01 July 2009
• WUN Visiting Fellowship, , 01 April 2011 to 01 June 2011

Professional memberships

• Social Policy Association

• White Spaces Network.

• BSA Psychoanalysis & Psychosocial Study Group

• Women, Crime & Criminal Justice Network

• Homeless Link

Honours and awards

• Research Fellowship , June 2021

ORCID

Research

Research interests

• Critical Policy Studies, Critical Social Policy
• Policy-making, Policy implementation
• Policy and welfare practice
• Human power, agency, resistance
• Public service institutions, cultures, identities and experiences
• Theoretical and methodological approaches: onto-epistemic, critical feminist, critical race, relational, emotions, reflexive, psychosocial
• Empirical foci: Civil Service, The Local-State (local authorities, non-profit sector), Homelessness

Research overview

MyÌýresearch contributes to critical and cultural approaches to policy-making. Drawing on onto-epistemic frameworks, IÌýthink critically about policy; what it is, how it is made, and how it links to practice.

To that end, I theorise the role of policy actors in the making-of policy phenomena like states, governments, institutions, policies and human actors themselves. And I think aboutÌýrelationships between these different phenomena to understand potential for resistance and social change through everyday, conscious and unconscious, social practices and actions.

As part of this work, I am currently undertaking empirical research,ÌýThe Understanding Policy Project.ÌýSupported by a Leverhulme Research Fellowship award, theÌýstudy uses qualitative methods to investigate howÌýsenior civil servants conceive of the interventions they are involved with, and their own sense of place and power in policymaking processes.

Previously, my research hasÌýbrought critical policy perspectives to homelessness studies, in exploring interventions with vulnerableÌýadults with ‘complex needs’,Ìýencompassing policy, legislation, models of support and everyday practices. I have been especially interested in experiencesÌýin lower status, under-professionalised, materially fragmented and ‘dirty work’ sectors.Ìý

Theoretically and methodologically, my research is informed by critical feminist, race, postcolonial, anthropological, psychosocial, affect and cultural studies.

Research Centres and Institutes

• Member,

Research clusters and groups

• Member, Policy, Practice and Activism Cluster (Law School)

Research projects

Supervision and teaching

Supervision

Supervisions external to ÌÇÐÄlogoÈë¿Ú:

1

Supervisions within ÌÇÐÄlogoÈë¿Ú:

4

I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students who are interested in undertaking research in any of my areas of research interest.

Critical Policy Studies,ÌýCritical Social Policy

Social Policy, Social Welfare

Policy-Making, Policy Implementation

Policy and welfare practice

Public service institutions, cultures, identities and experiences

Human power, agency, resistance

Empirical foci: Civil Service, The Local-State (local authorities, non-profit sector), Homelessness

Theoretical and methodological approaches: onto-epistemic, critical feminist, critical race, relational, emotions, reflexive, psychosocial

External supervisions:

Jessica Russell (p/t 2022-ongoing), Furnishing the White Paper: Exploring the Role of Lived Experience in Participatory Policymaking, Carnegie School of Education, Leeds Beckett University, UK

Current doctoral researchers

• LAURA WILLIAMS

  Nature of supervision:

  JOINT PRINCIPAL SUPERVISOR, Sep 2024

Doctoral alumni since 2013-14

• ABIGAIL JACKSON

  Nature of supervision:

  Joint Principal Supervisor, Feb 2021

  Title of thesis:

  Lost Property: Examining Dispossession in East London

  Awarded:

  2026

• BECKA SEGLOW HUDSON

  Nature of supervision:

  Joint Principal Supervisor, Jan 2020

  Title of thesis:

  Pathology and penal risk prediction: investigating the construction of personality disorder and decisions on captivity in British prisons.

  Description:

  This project looks at the construction of the mental disorder, 'personality disorder', widely considered to be the most overrepresented mental disorder in British prisons. The research looks at how this diagnosis is constructed and assessed, particularly through psychometric and risk assessments. It also considers how these tests factor into decision making about people's sentences, management and release. Becka has a background in anthropology and uses ethnographic methods in her research, alongside other tools. The project is historically informed, looking at the development of British prisons and psychometric tools used to assess those held in prison in British history, including in the British Empire.Ìý

  Awarded:

  2024

• EMMA YAPP

  Nature of supervision:

  Joint Principal Supervisor, Jul 2023

  Title of thesis:

  The Double-Edged Sword: Trauma, Mental Health, and Sexual Violence Testimony in England and Wales

  Awarded:

  2024

Teaching

My teaching is driven by the imperative to work across theory, policy and practice. It is research-led and interdisciplinary, cutting across policy, criminology, sociology, socio-legal, psychosocial, housing and urban studies. I have developed teaching programmes for policy-makers, practitioners and students at access, undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Presently, I convene two policy modules at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. I contribute to core criminology and research methods teaching and guest lecture on modules across the school of social sciences.

Teaching modules

• Analysing Public Policy
• Policy, Government and Social Control (Level 6)
• Criminology Research Methods (Level 5)

Publications

Business and community

Outreach