About Me

New and different ways of doing, lead to new and different ways of telling and ultimately to new and different ways of knowing.

I am Visiting Professor at the Universities of Plymouth, Greenwich and Bath. A sociologist, my substantive interests are varied and include reproductive and non/parental identities; meanings and experiences of love; solitude and/or loneliness, gender, health and wellbeing; loss and the aftermath of death; travel and transport mobility; teaching and learning in higher education, and gender and identity. I remain fascinated by method/ological practices; by how what we do affects what we get and what to do with what we get.

In making a case for theorised subjectivity, rather than foregrounding objectivity, I begin with the subjective. I do not reject objectivity as an epistemological value but I do argue that we need to recognise subjectivity as an inevitably part of our work for if we do not, we are likely to miss (more of) the things that impact on our ability to speak as knowledge producers. Thus, I insist on the interrogation of the positionality of all those involved. Ironically, this ‘super-sensitivity’ to the relevance of the positionality (personhood) of the researcher and/or author (and of respondents) can feasibly lead to the conclusion that our work is more objective, in that if not value-free, it is value-explicit.

I work collaboratively, including with colleagues and students in other areas of the social sciences; in health, medicine and professions allied to medicine; in education; in sports science; in mathematics and in the arts. Some of these individuals agree with my epistemological approach, some do not. I share my position with others and in return learn new and different ways to work with, and present, individual and collective accounts of living in the social world.

I believe that self-conscious auto/biographical work clearly identifies the researcher’s role in constructing rather than discovering knowledge. It encourages reflection on the complex relationship between self and other, not least with reference to those who research and those who are researched. This highlights the problems with the historical insistence that the research process should be hygienic, neat, tidy and value free and accepts and embraces research as a messy, embodied, emotional, power-laden experience. Detailing what we do and accepting that how we do it affects what we get involves  responsible and accountable PROCESS(ES) resulting in  responsible and accountable PRODUCT(S).

Just as auto/biographical working has clear epistemological (and political) implications so too do creative approaches to collecting, analysing and presenting research data which can also engage and influence a variety of audiences through the  telling of academic stories in alternative, enlightening, entertaining ways.

For me writing is part of a ‘politics of belonging’; signifying who I am, what I value, where I stand, what differences I hope to influence and how I want to be viewed by others. Whenever something is bothering me (either negatively or positively) I start to write; to work out my own emotional and political relationship to an experience or an issue by writing, reflecting, and writing again. Writing helps me through times of stress and distress and adds to my pleasure when life feels good. In academic writing I aim for accessibility and I am always clear about how my own life experience influences what I study, how I study it and how I write about what I find. I suggest that creative writing - fiction and memoir, written for consumption  both in and outside of academia – is another valuable way, free of many of the strictures (e.g.  expected, often constraining, structures and reference requirements) of more established academic presentation, to attempt to make a positive difference.

I am passionate about supporting creative praxis as part of the challenge to the traditional academic approach to knowledge production, research and writing.  Creative practices enable us to oppose existing assumptions, explore different perspectives and express ourselves in engaging ways. Being willing to question established ways of academic working, embrace uncertainty, seek alternative explanations, experiment with new approaches and collaborate with different people involves curiosity, and adaptation. New and different ways of doing, lead to new and different ways of telling and ultimately to new and different ways of knowing.