Dr Jesse Potter

After studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology at San Francisco State University, I came to the London School of Economics in 2004 where I completed my MSc - during which time I was awarded the Hobhouse Memorial Award. My doctoral and postdoctoral work - also undertaken at the LSE - explored themes of self and biography as they take place in a transitional context; how individuals come to understand themselves within and through significant work-life changes.

I have been a member of the Sociology Team at CCCU since 2015.

I am module lead on the following modules:

• 'Work, Self and Society'
• 'Space, Place and Social Exclusion'
• 'Youth and Popular Culture'
• 'Place, Policy and Social Exclusion'

The substantive core of my research surrounds issues of biography and biographical process – how individuals construct worthwhile and meaningful lives – in particular as they relate to work and career, employment, narrative, and ‘turn to self’ paradigms such as individualisation and the mainstreaming of ‘self-help’ discourse.

More generally, I am interested in the way that social structural and discursive factors are understood and negotiated within everyday activities and practices, and how contemporary economic and organisational arrangements have impacted the possibility for fulfilling and meaningful working-lives.

My current research, similarly, explores issues of self and biography within the context of transitional narratives taking place during and after the Covid-19 Pandemic. I am also presently working, alongside Drs Anwesa Chatterjee, Sarah Cant, and Jennie Bristow, on a project looking at higher education students' experiences of university during and after the Covid-19 Pandemic.