Dr Catherine Durose joins the Institute of Local Government Studies as Senior Lecturer and Director of Research. Catherine was previously a Senior Research Fellow at the Local Governance Research Unit at De Montfort University, Leicester where she also held an RCUK Fellowship. In 2011, Catherine was International Visiting Research Fellow at the Great Cities Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago and the Institute for Governance and Policy at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Catherine's recent academic work can be found in Public Administration, Political Studies, Policy and Politics, Local Government Studies and Parliamentary Affairs. Catherine also co-edited and contributed to a book, ‘Changing Local Government, Changing Citizens’ for Policy Press in 2009. Catherine is Editor of Local Government Studies and is on the Editorial Board of Policy and Politics.

Catherine has led and been involved in research supported by the Economic and Social Research Council, Arts and Humanities Research Council Connected Communities programme, the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG), the Equality and Human Rights Commission and other public bodies. Catherine has recently been appointed to CLG’s Analytical Advisory Group for the Neighbourhood Community Budget pilot initiative, having previously contributed to the Advisory Steering Group for the National Evaluation of Participatory Budgeting. Catherine will also act as Independent Advisor to the Office of Civil Society’s evaluation of the Community Organisers and Community First initiatives.

Catherine is involved in a wide-range of knowledge exchange activities. Catherine has recently shared her research through CLG’s Enquiry Week, the Guardian Local Government Network, Guardian Society, the Municipal Journal and Public Finance. Catherine has blogged for the DMU Policy Exchanges, LSE’s British Politics and Policy and tweets @elvisprestwich.

Catherine is interested in supervising doctoral researchers working on issues connected to her main research interests, set out below. If you are a prospective doctoral researcher, PhD projects are advertised on www.bham.findaphd.com. Catherine also welcomes proposals from qualified and motivated scholars to undertake PhD or post-doctoral research.

Research interests

Catherine’s research is situated in public administration and governance and concentrates on the changing relationships between the state, communities and citizens. Catherine focuses on local policy implementation and service delivery, practice and local knowledge, neighbourhood working and participation and empowerment.

Catherine is particularly interested in challenging research practice through methodological innovation using interpretive, co-productive and participatory research approaches.

Current and Recent Research Projects

• Interrogating Urban Crisis: Governance, Contestation and Critique (Urban Studies, from September 2013; Co-Investigator, Principal Investigator, Jonathan Davies, De Montfort University with Steven Griggs, De Montfort University, Ismael Blanco, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Jill Gross, CUNY and Helen Sullivan, University of Melbourne)
• Ways of Knowing: exploring the different registers, values and subjectivities of collaborative research (Arts and Humanities Research Council: Connected Communities programme, February 2013 to January 2014; Co-Investigator, Principal Investigator, Helen Graham, University of Leeds)
• Community Governance in a Context of Decentralisation (Arts and Humanities Research Council: Connected Communities programme, November 2012 to April 2013; Principal Investigator with Liz Richardson University of Manchester, Matthew Hilton, University of Birmingham)
• Re-defining Service Delivery (Arts and Humanities Research Council: Connected Communities programme, November 2012 to April 2013; Principal Investigator with Catherine Needham, Catherine Mangan, James Rees, Matthew Hilton, University of Birmingham)
• Evaluation of Community Organisers and Community First (Office of Civil Society, Cabinet Office, November 2012 to February 2015; Independent Advisor, with IPSOS MORI and nef consulting)
• Reframing Citizen-State Relationships in a Time of Austerity: Community Empowerment in England and Scotland (Arts and Humanities Research Council: Connected Communities programme, January 2012 to December 2012; Co-Investigator, Principal Investigator, Joe Painter, University of Durham with Tony Bovaird, University of Birmingham, Annette Hastings, University of Glasgow, Peter Matthews Herriot Watt University and Katie Schmuecker, IPPR North)
• Beyond the State? Third Party Government in Comparative Perspective (Economic and Social Research Council; January 2011 to January 2013, Co-Investigator, Principal Investigator Chris Skelcher, University of Birmingham with Jonathan Justice, University of Delaware)
• Addressing the Challenges of Reduced Public Spending in Local Government (ESRC Knowledge Transfer Partnership, January 2011 to December 2012; Academic Supervisor, Academic Lead, Steven Griggs with the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE)
• Towards Co-production in Research with Communities (Arts and Humanities Research Council Connected Communities programme, January 2011 to November 2011; Principal Investigator with Liz Richardson, University of Manchester, James Rees, University of Birmingham, Yasminah Beebeejaun, University of Manchester and Jo Richardson, De Montfort University)
• Illuminating the Evolution of Community Participation (Arts and Humanities Research Council, January 2011 to November 2011; Principal Investigator with Co-Investigators, Liz Richardson, University of Manchester, James Rees, University of Birmingham and Yasminah Beebeejaun, University of Manchester)
• Pathways to Politics (Equality and Human Rights Commission, September 2009 to June 2010; Principal Investigator with Liz Richardson, University of Manchester, Francesca Gains, University of Manchester, Ryan Combs, University of Manchester and Christina Eason, University of Sheffield)
• Policy Implications for Delivering Local Community Empowerment Initiatives to empower communities (Department for Communities and Local Government/ Local Authority Research Council Initiative, September 2008 to January 2009, Project Manager/ Co-ordinator (with Lawrence Pratchett, then De Montfort University, Vivien Lowndes, then De Montfort University, Gerry Stoker, University of Southampton, Graham Smith, University of Southampton)
• Empowering Communities to Influence Local Decision Making – a Systematic Review of the Evidence (Department for Communities and Local Government, March 2008 to March 2009; Project Manager/ Co-ordinator (with Lawrence Pratchett, then De Montfort University, Vivien Lowndes, then De Montfort University, Gerry Stoker, University of Southampton, Graham Smith, University of Southampton)
• Regenerating Urban Neighbourhoods: a cross-national comparison of city interventions in urban deprived neighbourhoods (convened by Professor Clarence Stone, George Washington University)

Recent publications include:

Durose, C., Beebeejaun, Y., Rees, J., Richardson, J. and Richardson, L. (2013) ‘Beyond Text: exploring ethos and method in co-producing research with communities’ Community Development Journal

http://cdj.oxfordjournals.org.ezproxyd.bham.ac.uk/content/early/2013/02/14/cdj.bst008.full.pdf+html

Durose, C., Richardson, L., Combs, R., Eason, C. and Gains, F. (2013) ‘“Acceptable difference”: diversity, representation and careerism in UK politics’ Parliamentary Affairs

http://pa.oxfordjournals.org.ezproxyd.bham.ac.uk/content/early/2012/12/23/pa.gss085.full.pdf+html

Durose, C. and Rees, J. (2012) ‘The rise and fall of neighbourhood in the New Labour era’ Policy and Politics 40(1) 39-55

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/tpp/pap/pre-prints/pp152

Durose, C., Beebeejaun, Y., Rees, J., Richardson, J. and Richardson, L. (2012) Towards Co-production in Research with Communities AHRC Connected Communities programme

http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/FundingOpportunities/Documents/CC%20scoping%20studies/DuroseTowards.pdf

Durose, C., Beebeejaun, Y., Rees, J. and Richardson, L. (2012) Illuminating the Evolution of Community Participation in Policy AHRC Connected Communities programme

http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/FundingOpportunities/Documents/CC%20scoping%20studies/DuroseIlluminating.pdf

Durose, C. (2011) ‘Re-visiting Lipsky: front line work in UK local governance’ Political Studies 59(4) 978-995

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2011.00886.x/full

Durose, C. and Lowndes, V. (2010) ‘Neighbourhood governance: contested rationales within a multi-level setting – a study of Manchester’ Local Government Studies 36(3) 341-359

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a923076204~frm=titlelink

Durose, C., Greasley, S. and Richardson, L. (eds. 2009) Changing local governance, changing citizens Bristol, Policy Press

Durose, C. and Richardson, L. (2009) ‘Neighbourhood: a site for policy action, governance… and empowerment?’ in Durose, C., Greasley, S. and Richardson, L. (eds.) Changing local governance, changing citizens Bristol, Policy Press

Durose, C. and Gains, F. (2007) ‘Engendering the Machinery of Governance’ in C. Annesley, F. Gains, K. Rummery (eds.) Women and New Labour: Engendering Politics and Policy Bristol, Policy Press

Durose, C. (2009) ‘Front line workers and “local knowledge”: neighbourhood stories in contemporary UK local governance’ Public Administration 87(1) 35-49

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpl/padm/2009/00000087/00000001/art00004

Brannan, T., Durose, C., John, P. and Wolman, H. (2008) ‘Assessing Best Practice as a means of innovation’ Local Government Studies 34(1) 23-38

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a788155373~db=all~jumptype=rss

Durose, C. (2007) ‘Beyond “street level bureaucrats”? Re-interpreting the role of front line public sector workers’ Critical Policy Studies 1(2) 196-213

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=jour~content=a919810303

Durose, C. and Rummery, K. (2006) ‘Governance and Collaboration’ Social Policy and Society 5(2) 1-7

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=431681