Latest news
Global Denim
Daniel Miller and Sophie Woodward (eds), 2010 (Berg)
On any given day nearly half the world's population is wearing blue jeans. This is entirely extraordinary. Yet there has never been a serious attempt to understand the causes, nature and consequences of denim as 'the' global garment of our world. This book takes up that challenge with gusto. It gives clear, if surprising, explanations for why this is the case; challenging the accepted history of jeans and showing why the reasons cannot be commercial. While discussing the consequences of denim at the global level, the book consists of some exemplary studies by anthropologists of what blue jeans mean in a variety of local situations. These range from the discussion of hip-hop jeans in Germany, denim and sex in Milan through to the connection between denim and recycling in the US. But through all these intensively researched ethnographies of local denim we build our understanding of the most curious of all features of blue jeans - the rise of global denim. More details.
New grant
Relative Strangers, ESRC, 1 October 2010 to 31 March 2013. Carol Smart and Petra Nordqvist.
New Morgan Centre research project on experiences of donor conception in families
Carol Smart and Petra Nordqvist have been given funding the ESRC for a new research project which will explore the experiences of heterosexual and lesbian couples who have children via donor conception. The project researches couples' processes of disclosure to extended family and kin, and also the perceived place of donor conceived children in family networks. More details.
The Mitchell Centre for Social Network Analysis was formally launched in Spring 2010. This is an interdisciplinary centre, growing out of collaboration between sociologists and social statiticians. More details.
New publications
Nick Crossley's latest book, Towards Relational Sociology, was published by Routledge this August (2010)
May, V. (forthcoming) 'Self, belonging and social change', Sociology.
May, V. (forthcoming) 'Changing notions of lone motherhood in 20th century Finland', Women's History Review.
May, V. (2010) 'Lone motherhood as a category of practice', Sociological Review, 58(3): 429-443
Professor Sue Heath joins the Morgan Centre
Professor Sue Heath joins us from September 2010 as Co-Director for the Morgan Centre for Relationships and Personal Life. Sue is co-director of both the ESRC Centre for Population Change and the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods. Her research interests are in the sociology of youth and the sociology of education. Much of her recent research and writing has focused on single young adults, household formation and the redefinition of 'adulthood', reflecting her broader interest in processes of transition to adulthood.
Professor Dame Janet Finch joins the Morgan Centre
Professor Dame Janet Finch joins us from September 2010 as Emeritus Professor of Sociology from Keele University where she has been Vice Chancellor since 1995. Her research expertise lies principally in studies of family relationships, especially relationships across generations. She has held a number of research grants and published extensively on this, and related, topics. Janet has recently been appointed Chair Designate of Main Panel C of the forthcoming Research Excellence Framework exercise.