Sociology Research and Collaboration
Our research is steeped in sociology’s key areas of inquiry, from health and illness to families and relationships, and current social movements. Additionally our work covers contemporary forms of social change relating to cosmopolitan identities, migration and human trafficking, youth and popular culture, consumerism and contemporary social media.
Health, Ethics and Power
Medical sociology constitutes a key research theme within the sociology team. We are engaged in empirical and conceptual work at the intersection of health, policy and law around different axes of stratification (race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age and dis/ability) in relationship to questions of ethics, risk and power. Supported by British Academy funding, research has been conducted in the areas of: complementary & alternative medicine and medical pluralisms; genetics, ethnicity and diabetics; beginning and end of life; mental illness.
Education and Social Justice
The team is continually developing its expertise in the sociology of education, by conducting original research, practising research-informed teaching, and fostering collaborations with local schools, national examination boards, and the British Sociological Association. Supported by external funding from the British Academy, this research theme explores ethnic and generational encounters in higher education with specific focus upon 1) race, epistemology and colonial power in education systems – specifically on theoretically situating the recent ‘decolonising the curriculum / decolonising the University’ developments; 2) the massification and ‘schoolification’ of Higher Education and changing academic and student relationships; 3) in connection to theme one, the current mental health crisis in University students and staff.
Generations, Work and Youth Transitions
The recently re-validated the Sociology programme includes the development of innovative modules drawn from our research expertise the sociology of generations, parenting culture, and work. With support from the British Academy and the Wellcome Trust research has focused on: 1) intergenerational conflict and fairness; 2) the negotiation of structural change by working women and men.
Community Cohesion and Resistance
Supported by external funding from the Rockefeller Institute (in collaboration with the LSE) and Thanet District Council, a major strand of our research agenda involves community-based research around deprivation and regeneration. Specifically, our work focuses on community cohesion and polarisation in Margate and community protest/activism in relation to energy policy.
Through our community partnership schemes our team are engaged in research into areas of social exclusion, deprivation and challenge to marginalised groups. We provide sociologically informed ways to tackle these issues and offer policy initiatives by working closely with local charitable bodies.