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Social Theory, Identities and Social Transformation

The Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology

Building on the intellectual legacy of the Birmingham School of Cultural Studies, the Social Theory, Identities and Social Transformation research theme explores a wide range of empirical issues through theoretically-engaged scholarship. Our level of analysis spans from “micro”-level social interaction in everyday life to “macro”-level social change around the world. Drawing upon both qualitative and quantitative methods, we study core sociological topics such as ideology, inequality, gender, knowledge, behavior, social movement and social justice.

Researchers affiliated with this research theme work closely with the Birmingham Sociology Network while also participating in interdisciplinary dialogues with related fields such as gender studies, media studies, global studies, linguistic anthropology, political philosophy, and social psychology. Together, we engage in vibrant and innovative writing and research that contributes to our understanding of critical theories of patriarchy, structural racism, cultural domination, modernity, neoliberalism, democracy, and the state

Theme lead: Yuchen Yang

Selected publications

Ascêncio, Inês, Miguel R. Ramos, Marcelo Moriconi, and Sibila Marques. 2025. “Leaders or Villains? The Role of Corruption in Shapping the Stereotype of Politicians.” European Journal of Social Psychology 55(2):294–310. Doi: 10.1002/ejsp.3143

Benson, Michaela, Craven Craven, and Nando Sigona. 2025. “Brexit and the emergence of a transnational European community of practice: from grassroots mobilisations to supranational political opportunity structures in the struggle for citizens’ rights,” Journal of Common Market Studies https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.70023

Benson, Michaela., Nando Sigona. 2024. “Reimagining, Repositioning, Rebordering: Intersections of the Biopolitical and Geopolitical in the UK’s Post-Brexit Migration Regime (and Why It Matters for Migration Research).” International Migration Review, 58(4), 2040-2065. https://doi.org/10.1177/01979183241275457

Brooks-Wilson, Sarah. 2005. “Doing Car-Based Youth Justice Appointments during Young People’s Mobility Transitions.” In G. Martin & E. Pearce (eds), Research Handbook on Youth Criminology. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Cruickshank, Justin. 2025. ‘Machiavelli contra the Ghost of Hegel: From Dewey’s Ethical Way of Life to Republicanism’, in R. Queiroz (ed.) Understanding the Value of Democracy in the 21st Century. London: Springer.

Rogan, Frankie and Foster, Emma. 2025. “Gender, austerity and crisis in an age of catastrophe.” In Kettell, Steven, Kerr, Peter and Tepe, Daniela eds. What went wrong with Britain? An audit of Tory failure, Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Yang, Yuchen. 2025. “Gender Uptake: Theorizing the Semiotics of (Un)Doing Gender.” Sociological Theory: http://doi.org/10.1177/07352751251368897 [Winner, 2025 ASA Junior Theorist Award, 2025 SSSI Herbert Blumer Award, 2023 ASA EMCA Graduate Student Paper Award].

Benchekroun, Rachel, Rachel Humphris, and Nando Sigona. 2024. “Mothering in hostile environments: migrant families negotiating the welfare and immigration regime nexus.” Critical Social Policy https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02610183231223956

Ögtem-Young, Özlem. 2024. “Belonging-assemblage: Experiences of unaccompanied young people seeking asylum in the UK”. Sociology, 58(3), 641-658.

Ögtem-Young, Özlem. 2024. The Shape of Belonging for Unaccompanied Young Migrants. Bristol: Policy Press.

Ramos, Miguel R., Danying Li, Matthew R. Bennett, Unaysah Mogra, Douglas S. Massey, and Miles Hewstone. 2024. “Variety Is the Spice of Life: Diverse Social Networks Are Associated With Social Cohesion and Well-Being.” Psychological Science 35(6):665–680. Doi:10.1177/09567976241243370.

Rogan, Frankie. 2024. “Evolving Notions of Consumption, “Influencing,” and Postfeminist Femininity in Digital Cultures: A Perspective Piece.” Global Storytelling: Journal of Digital and Moving Images, 4(1): 2. doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/gs.5859

Winer, Canton, Megan Carroll, Yuchen Yang, Katherine Linder, and Brittney Miles. 2024. “‘I Didn’t Know Ace Was a Thing’: Bisexuality and Pansexuality as Identity Pathways in Asexual Identity Formation.” Sexualities 27(1–2):267–289. https://doi.org/10.1177/13634607221085485 [Winner, 2025 ASA Sexualities Distinguished Article Award].

Brooks-Wilson, Sarah. 2023. “The Youth Justice Commute (Or the Institutional Construction of Youth Transportation Poverty).” Youth Justice 24(2):271–288. https://doi.org/10.1177/14732254231202683

Caulfield, Laura, Sarah Brooks-Wilson, Jane Booth, and Mark Monaghan. 2023. “Engaging Parents to Reduce Youth Violence: Evidence from a Youth Justice Board Pathfinder Programme.” Crime Prevention and Community Safety 25:401–426. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41300-023-00190-4

Godin, Marie and Nando Sigona. 2023. “Infrastructuring exit migration: Migration decision-making in EU families who left the UK after the 2016 EU referendum.” The Sociological Review https://doi.org/10.1177/00380261231194506

Yang, Yuchen. 2023. “Gender Uncoupled: Asexual People Making Sense of High School Sex Talk.” Sexualities 26(3):372–387. https://doi.org/10.1177/13634607211033865

Zambelli, Elena, Michaela Benson, and Nando Sigona. 2023. “Brexit rebordering, sticky relationships and the production of mixed-status families.” Sociology https://doi.org/10.1177/00380385231194966

Cruickshank, Justin. 2022. “Objectivity and Normativity.” In S. Balihar and G. Calder (eds), Ethics, Economy and Social Science: Dialogues with Andrew Sayer. Abingdon: Routledge.

Cruickshank, Justin. and Abbinnett, Ross. (Eds.) 2022. The Social Production of Knowledge in a Neoliberal Age: Debating the Challenges facing Higher Education. London: Rowman and Littlefield International (Philosophy: Collective Studies in Knowledge and Society series).

Leggett, Will. 2022. “Can Mindfulness really change the world? The political character of meditative practices.” Critical Policy Studies 16(3)261–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/19460171.2021.1932541

Rogan, Frankie. 2022. Digital Femininities: The Gendered Construction of Cultural and Political Identities Online, London: Routledge: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429356117

Yang, Yuchen. 2022. “The Art Worlds of Gender Performance: Cosplay, Embodiment, and the Collective Accomplishment of Gender.” The Journal of Chinese Sociology 9(1):9 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40711-022-00168-z [Winner, 2023 SSSI Herbert Blumer Award; Honorable Mention, 2023 ASA Body & Embodiment Graduate Student Paper Award].

Bennett, Matthew R., Meenakshi Parameshwaran, Katharina Schmid, Miguel Ramos, and Miles Hewstone. 2021. “Effects of Neighbourhood Religious Diversity and Religious and National Identity on Neighbourhood Trust.” Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 25(5):1248–1268. doi:10.1177/1368430221990095.

Ramos, Miguel R., Sandy Schumann, and Miles Hewstone. 2021. “The Role of Short-Term and Longer Term Immigration Trends on Voting for Populist Radical Right Parties in

Europe.” Social Psychological and Personality Science 13(4):816–826. doi:10.1177/19485506211043681.

Bai, Xuechunzi, Miguel R. Ramos, and Susan T. Fiske. 2020. “As Diversity Increases, People Paradoxically Perceive Social Groups as More Similar.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 117(23):12741–12749. doi:10.1073/pnas.2000333117.

Cruickshank, Justin. 2020. “The Expansion of Prevent: On the Politics of Legibility, Opacity and Decolonial Critique.” New Formations 100–101: 43–59.

Yang, Yuchen. 2020. “What’s Hegemonic about Hegemonic Masculinity? Legitimation and Beyond.” Sociological Theory 38(4):318–333. https://doi.org/10.1177/0735275120960792 [Winner, 2022 ASA Sex & Gender Distinguished Article Award, 2021 ASA Shils-Coleman Prize].

Leggett, Will. 2017. Politics and Social Theory: The Inescapably Social, the Irreducibly Political. London and New York: Palgrave.

Cruickshank, Justin. and Abbinnett, Ross. (eds) 2019. Social Epistemology special issue on Neoliberalism, Technocracy and Higher Education, 33 (4). Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tsep20/33/4?nav=tocList

Rogan, Frankie and Budgeon, Shelley. 2018. “The Personal is Political: Assessing Feminist Fundamentals in the Digital Age”, Social Sciences 7(8): 132: https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7080132

Staff members

  • Dr Ross Abbinnett

    Senior Lecturer in Sociology

    Dr Ross Abbinnett is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology in the School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham

  • Dr Sadiya Akram

    Associate Professor in Sociology

    Sadiya Akram is a specialist in the politics of race at the University of Birmingham. Her research explores the varied ways in which racially marginalised groups mobilise.

  • Dr Jennifer Allsopp

    Birmingham Fellow

    Jennifer's research centres on how people move and mobilise to support what they perceive to be viable futures for themselves, their families and their societies in the context of migration.

  • Dr Justyna Bandola-Gill

    Assistant Professor in Sociology and Social Policy

    Dr Justyna Bandola-Gill is exploring the evolving paradigms of evidence-based policymaking in the face of emerging governing technologies, particularly AI.

  • Dr Nathaniel Barron

    Teaching Associate in Sociology

    Dr Nathaniel Barron is a Teaching Associate in Sociology in the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology at the University of Birmingham

  • Dr Sarah Brooks-Wilson

    Lecturer in Criminology

    Dr Sarah Brooks-Wilson is a Lecturer in Criminology in the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology at the University of Birmingham

  • Dr Shelley Budgeon

    Honorary Senior Lecturer

    Dr Shelley Budgeon is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Sociology in the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology, School of Social Policy and Society, University of Birmingham.

  • Dr Justin Cruickshank

    Senior Lecturer

    Dr Justin Cruickshank is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology, in the School of Social Policy at the University of Birmingham

  • Lillian Sol Cueva

    Research Fellow in Energy Vulnerability

    Lillian Sol Cueva is an interdisciplinary academic with expertise in energy research, feminist studies and social science.

  • Dr Tom Farnhill

    Lecturer in Social Policy

    Dr Tom Farnhill is a Lecturer in Social Policy in the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology in the School of Social Policy and Society at the University of Birmingham

  • Dr James Gregory

    Assistant Professor

    Dr James Gregory is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Policy and Society in the University of Birmingham.

  • Tina Hearn

    Lecturer in Social Policy

    Staff profile for Tina Hearn. Lecturer in Social Policy and Director of Widening Participation and Outreach, Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology, School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham.

  • Dr Laura Kelly

    Associate Professor in Criminal Justice

    Staff profile for Dr Laura Kelly, Research Fellow, School of Social Policy at the University of Birmingham

  • Dr Andrew Knops

    Lecturer in Sociology

    Dr Andrew Knops is a lecturer in Sociology in the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology in the School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham.

  • Professor Will Leggett

    Professor of Political Sociology

    Dr Will Leggett is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Policy, Sociology at the University of Birmingham.

  • Dr Angelo Martins Junior

    Associate Professor in Sociology & Criminology

    Angelo Martins Jr is an Assistant Professor in Sociology at the University of Birmingham

  • Dr Özlem Ögtem-Young

    Research Fellow

    Dr Özlem Ögtem-Young is a research fellow and research lead (Poverty, Precarity, Saving and Debt) in the Department of Social Policy, Sociology at the University of Birmingham.

  • Dr Miguel Ribeiro Ramos

    Senior Lecturer

    Dr Miguel Ribeiro Ramos is a Senior Lecturer is the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology in the School of Social Policy and Society at the University of Birmingham

  • Dr Frankie Rogan

    Associate Professor of Sociology

    Dr Rogan teaches and researches in the areas of gender, sexuality, media and culture.

  • Professor Nando Sigona

    Chair of International Migration and Forced Displacement

    Professor Nando Sigona is a sociologist with research and teaching experience in migration, refugee and ethnic studies. He is also the Director of the Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS).

  • Dr Chris Q Smith

    Assistant Professor in Sociology & Social Policy

    Dr Chris Q Smith is an Assistant Professor in Sociology & Social Policy at the University of Birmingham

  • Dr Neil Stephens

    Associate Professor in Technology and Society

    Neil Stephens is Associate Professor in Technology and Society in the School of Social Policy and Society at the University of Birmingham

  • Dr Yuchen Yang

    Assistant Professor in Sociology

    Dr Yuchen Yang is an Assistant Professor in Sociology.