Dr Vanessa May
Lecturer
Email: vanessa.may@manchester.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 161 275 0263
Research interests
The self, family, post-divorce parenting, lone motherhood, mixed methods, narrative analysis, biographical methods.
I have recently been involved in the research project Inter/Generational Dynamics. This was one of our Realities projects which ran from 2008 to 2011.
I am currently working on data derived from a Mass Observation directive on belonging. I am also involved in a Finnish research project 'Children’s socio-emotional wellbeing and daily family life in a 24-h economy' which is led by Dr Anna Rönkä at JAMK University of Applied Sciences, Finland.
Books
May, V. (ed) (2011) Sociology of Personal Life, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 978-0-230-27896-7
May, V. (2001) Lone Motherhood in Finnish Women's Life Stories: Creating Meaning in a Narrative Context (2001) Abo: Abo Akademi University Press ISBN 951-765-054-X
Journal articles
May, V. (2011) ‘Self, belonging and social change’, Sociology, 45(3): 363-78
May, V. (2011) ‘Changing notions of lone motherhood in 20th century Finland’, Women’s History Review, 20(1): 127-143
May, V. (2010) ‘Lone motherhood as a category of practice’, Sociological Review, 58(3): 429-443.
May, V. (2008) 'On being a 'good' mother: The moral presentation of self' Sociology 42: 470-486 View article online [new window]
May, V. (2007) 'The use of mixed methods in a study of residence and contact disputes between divorced and separated parents' International Journal of Social Research Methodology 10: 295-306
Mason, J., May, V., and Clarke, L. (2007) 'Ambivalence and the paradoxes of grandparenting', Sociological Review, 55: 687-706 View article online [new window]
May, V., (2005) ‘Divorce in Finnish women's life stories: Defining ‘moral’ behaviour’, Women’s Studies International Forum, 28. View article online [new window].
May, V., (2004) ‘Narrative identity and the re-conceptualization of lone motherhood’, Narrative Inquiry, 14: 169-189. Publisher's copyright statement [new window].
May, V., (2004) 'Meanings of lone motherhood within a broader family context’, Sociological Review, (2004) 52: 390-403. View article online [new window].
May, V., and Smart, C. (2004) ‘Silence in court? – hearing children in residence and contact disputes’, Child and Family Law Quarterly, (2004) 16: 305-315. Publishers' copyright statement [new window].
Smart, C., and May, V. (2004) ‘Why can’t they agree: the underlying complexity of contact and residence disputes’, Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, (2004) 26: 347-360. Publisher's copyright statement [new window].
May, V. (2003) ‘Lone motherhood past and present: The life stories of Finnish lone mothers’, Nordic Journal of Women’s Studies, 11: 27 -39. Publisher's copyright statement [new window].
May, V. (2001) ‘Metodologiska val och deras epistemologiska konsekvenser i studien av biografiskt material' [Methodological choices and their consequences in the study of biographical material] Dansk Sociologi, 12(3): 53-69
Chapters in books
May, V., Mason, J. & Clarke, L. (forthcoming) ‘Being there yet not interfering: The paradoxes of grandparenting’ in Arber, S. & Timonen, V. Contemporary Grandparenting: Changing Family Relationships in a Global World, Cambridge: Policy Press.
May, V. & Griffin, A. (forthcoming 2011) ‘Narrative analysis and interpretive phenomenological analysis’ in Seale, C. (ed.) Researching Society and Culture (3rd ed), London: Sage.
May, V. (2009) 'How families still matter' in Doing Social Science, F Devine & S Heath (eds) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Smart, C. and May, V (2007) 'The parenting contest and ongoing conflict over residence and contact', in Parenting after partnering, M Maclean (ed.) Oxford: Hart Publishing ISBN 978-1-84113-782-7
May, V. (2006) 'Den sunda familjen: Ideologi moter det vardagliga livet' in Det sunda livets tranga ramar: Essaer om det socialt konstruerade konet (Forskningsinstitutet Strifter Nr 22), S Wrede & E Oinas (eds.) Helsingfors: Svenska social - och kommunalhogskolan vid Helsingfors universitet ISBN 952-10-3144-1
May, V. (2004) 'Lone motherhood in historical context: Changing elements in narrative identity' in Narrative, memory & identity: Theoretical and methodological issues, D Robinson, C Horrocks, N Kelly & B Roberts (eds) Huddersfield: University of Huddersfield Press. ISBN 1 96218 049 0
Research reports
May, V. (2003) Residence and Contact Disputes in Court, Volume 1, C Smart, V May, A Wade & C Furniss, Department for Constitutional Affairs, Research Series No 6/03, pp 138, London ISBN 1 84099 052 X
May, V. (2005) Residence and Contact Disputes in Court, Volume 2, C Smart & V May, Department for Constitutional Affairs, Research Series No 4/05, pp 129, London ISBN 1 84099 060 0
Phd Supervision
I am available to supervise students in areas such as self/identity and social change, family life, post-divorce parenting, and intergenerational relationships. I am also happy to supervise PhD projects that involve the use of biographical and narrative methods, as well as mixed methods.
Current PhD Students
- Neil Armitage: Cosmopolitan Selves and Belongings: Young Adults’ Tales from Two European Cities. Co-supervisor with David Cutts.
- Susan Agabawi: The Perceptions of Barriers to Exiting Female Commercial Sex work in Massage Parlours in Bury. Co-supervisor with Arpana Verma and James Nazroo.
- Emma Temple-Malt: After the Act: Narratives of Display and the Significance of Civil Partnership. Co-supervisor with Brian Heaphy.
- Adi Moreno: Surrogacy and 'Gay Dads' as a Case Study for Family Discourse Analysis. Co-supervisor with Brian Heaphy.
Courses taught
SOCY20402 Self and Society
SOCY30061 Urban Sociology
SOCY30842 A Sociology of Family Life and Intimacy