Research in the UCD School of Social Justice
The School runs a dynamic and strongly interdisciplinary research programme involving a wide range of both theoretical and empirical research on issues of equality, gender, social justice, human rights and public policy. The originality of its work lies in its dialogical and democratic approach to both the development and dissemination of research in the equality, gender and social justice fields. The work is driven by the desire to make research accessible and by the practice of linking egalitarian and feminist theory to action for social change. The research programmes, including a mixture of researcher-initiated and funded/commissioned research, are open and inclusive and are grounded in a wide range of disciplinary traditions.
The School has established research traditions in the following thematic areas:
- Egalitarian theory, egalitarian and feminist-based research methodologies
- Exploring theoretical links between egalitarian and human rights theory
- Gender (including Masculinity Studies and Gay and Lesbian Studies), feminist theory and feminist issues
- Affective equality – research on love, care and solidarity (empirical and theoretical work)
- Social class and economic inequalities - equality in education; equality and health
- Egalitarian analysis of disability issues
The School has been especially successful in tendering for or being invited to conduct funded research, and in engaging with research partnerships with civil society and statutory bodies, both nationally and internationally. In the last five years, the School has generated very significant research income from funded/commissioned research (see Appendices for a detailed list of all funded research projects, including budgetary information).
Both Equality Studies and Women’s Studies have been very successful in funded research in the areas of economic, social, health and educational policy in particular. Our d iverse funding sources include EU Framework Programme Funding; government departments and statutory agencies, NGO’s and philanthropic foundations.
European Commission (EC) (website: http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm ): Within Equality Studies, research funded by the EC includes the Equality and Social Inclusion project (2004-2006) funded under Strand 2 of the PEACE II/SEUPB Framework for Peace and Stability in Ireland, the EWI Egalitarian and Socially Inclusive Europe project (2006-2010) funded under Framework 6 Marie Curie Transfer-of-Knowledge Scheme, and the Religion and Education in a Multi-Cultural Society: The Influence of School and Home (REMC) project funded under Framework 7 (2008-2009) (See Appendix for more details). In addition, in 2007, Prof. Lynch was appointed to serve as a core member of NESSE, a network of internationally-recognised scholars working on social aspects of Education and Training which advises and supports the Directorate General on Education and Culture in the analysis of educational policies and reforms and of their implications at national, regional and European level. In 2008 Sara Cantillon was appointed as an expert member of the EU Research network of Socio-Economic Experts on non-discrimination.
Within Women’s Studies, Ursula Barry has since 1998 acted as a senior expert on a number of EU research networks. In 2009, she was appointed as a Senior Expert on the EU Research Network of Socio-Economic Experts on Non-Discrimination and was re-appointed (in 2008) as the Irish expert on the EU Research Network on Gender Equality and Employment (See Appendix for more details). In addition to a substantial research output, Ursula Barry’s appointment to these networks has enabled researchers within Women’s Studies to make an important contribution within the EU as well as the Irish gender research and policy area.
Government Departments : These include (i) Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform (website: www.justice.ie ), including COSC, the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (website:www.cosc.ie;) (ii) Department of Foreign Affairs, Irish Aid, Development Education section (website: http://www.irishaid.gov.ie/ ) and (iii) Department of Education, Gender Equality Unit (website: http://www.education.ie ). This research outlined in detail in the Appendix concerns a range of equality-based research questions with important policy relevance for a range of Irish government departments.
Statutory Agencies : Included here are: (i) National Disability Authority (website: http://www.nda.ie/ ); (ii) Equality Authority (website: http://www.equality.ie/ ); (iii) Combat Poverty Agency (website: http://www.cpa.ie/ ); (iv) AONTAS (website: http://www.aontas.com ); (v) Crisis Pregnancy Agency (website: http://www.crisispregnancy.ie/ ); (vi) North East Regional Planning Committee on Violence Against Women (website: http://www.nehb.ie/womenshealth/news/reportlaunch280404.htm ); (vii) National Counselling Service (website: www.hse-ncs.ie ). This research outlined in detail in the Appendix addresses a range of policy relevant questions, including those related to disability, education, women and health, gender-based violence and rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals to access their rights under equality law.
Non-Governmental Organisations: Included is the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland (see http://www.rcni.ie ). (See Appendix for details of this research.)
Philanthropic Foundations : Atlantic Philanthropies who funded the Chair in Equality Studies.
In line with its core objective to promote theoretical and empirical research informed by transformative, emancipatory and feminist research principles, the School’s research programme is of the highest standard judged by the following criteria:
Innovation and ground-breaking nature of theoretical and empirical research : Much of the research undertaken by staff in School is world-leading in terms of its uniqueness and innovation, both reflecting and advancing current theoretical and methodological debates. The fact that the EWI was awarded 2nd place in the Social Sciences in Europe (from a pool of over 300 applicants in 2006) for its Transfer of Knowledge programme on Creating an Egalitarian and Socially Inclusive Europe (ESIE) demonstrates the high standing of research work in the School. An examination of the nature of the research outputs indicates a good mix of researcher-initiated theoretical and (mainly funded) empirically informed work, which according to the 2008 RAE review of sociology is an indication of the strongest (sociology) departments (in UK universities) (p. 6) (see report at http://www.rae.ac.uk/pubs/2009/ov/ ).
Recognition of the innovative aspects of this work by international scholars is an endorsement of the importance and uniqueness of these contributions. Examples include the fact that Equality: From Theory to Action (Baker, Lynch, Cantillon and Walsh, 2004) was the subject of two journal symposia and that the Journal of Sociology of Education is planning a symposium on our forthcoming book Affective Equality: Love Care and Injustice (Lynch, Baker and Lyons, 2009). In addition, invitations to members of the School to serve as experts on EU Research Networks is another indication of the innovative and ground-breaking nature of our research.
The award of a prestigious EC Marie Curie Transfer-of-Knowledge Programme (2006-2010) to the UCD EWI has created new opportunities for building research capacities and for taking the research programme of the School in new and innovative directions.
Coherent yet diverse and wide-ranging research programme : There is considerable diversity both in the research interests and activities of School staff as well as the particular disciplinary and methodological approaches. Across the two Centres, a coherency applies to the overall research strategy in the sense that research is focused on developing an interdisciplinary understanding of equality and feminism, thereby promoting a greater understanding and concern for equality and feminism both within Ireland and internationally. Within Equality Studies, research interests include examining and understanding patterns of inequality, explanations of inequality, principles of equality and equality objectives, egalitarian social, political and economic institutions and strategies for change. Within Women’s Studies, the research programme is also specifically focused on developing new and more profound understandings of gender relations and of women's historical and contemporary relations, through the interaction of gender, class, sexuality, ethnicity, age, (dis)ability and other social forces, and on challenging inequalities through rigorous scholarship and analysis.
Within the School’s body of research are particular research areas which commenced with small scale funded projects. Examples include Women’s Studies’ research on concealed pregnancy and Equality Studies’ research on domestic, sexual and gender based violence. Using the approach of ‘starting small’ allows the School to acquire a certain level of expertise in relation to particular issues of interest; such areas can then be developed and expanded when opportunities for more open and larger research projects arise (for example through EC FP7 funding).
Quality of research output as measured by international peer review : The School’s research output over the past five years comprises both a large volume of books and book chapters, published by recognised national and international academic publishers, and articles in national and international peer-reviewed journals (see Appendix for a list of publications).
Quality of research output as measure by public relevance : The audience for School research includes a diverse range of individuals, groups and communities both inside and outside the traditional academy. At the national level, examples of research with significant public relevance include work conducted with bodies such as the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities; the National Economic and Social Forum; the National Women’s Council of Ireland; the National Disability Authority and the Equality Authority. At the European level, research with significant public relevance includes the ongoing engagement of both Centres with the EU in framing policy on gender mainstreaming non-discrimination and education and training policy (see Appendix). Overall, the established practice of networking and collaboration at national, EU and international levels and the development of research-led partnerships with civil society organizations is indicative of the quality and public relevance of a large part of the School’s research output. In summary, the body of research produced by the School provides new models and frameworks, not only for understanding inequalities and injustices but also for changing them, which is achieved through ongoing dialogue within and outside the academy. A particular emphasis is placed on disseminating research findings to policymakers and practitioners as well as to members of the wider academic community.
Promotion of a strong research culture: Apart from the intrinsic appeal of research, the opportunity to transfer knowledge (to ‘make a difference’), recognition from peers and communities that the research being conducted is relevant and useful, and the opportunity to be part of a collegial network of people with a common interest are all appealing aspects of the type of research we do, and a significant part also of what promotes a good research culture in the School. Recognition of the importance, status and/or relevance of the research being undertaken from people internal and external to the university (peers, practitioners, public, end users) or organisations (community groups, NGOs, government) nationally or internationally is key to what has to date promoted a strong research culture within the School. The significant body of funded research conducted by the School on behalf of the EU, various government departments, statutory and voluntary organizations is evidence in itself of a very strong research culture. Furthermore, the many organizations that have funded their employees to study in the School is a further illustration of a School with an extremely strong research and teaching culture.A participatory governance style and a decentralised approach to the organisation of research has also contributed to a very positive and strong research culture, as has the presence of individuals with strong histories of attracting grants.
Early stage researchers are supported and encouraged with good opportunities for collaboration and mentoring: examples include joint publishing with PhD supervisor and provision of research scholarships. More established academics and researchers are equally supported with good opportunities for collaboration (for example, on funded research applications) and mentoring (for example, through research seminars and more informally where members of staff are encouraged to circulate their work in progress for commentary).
Overall, all of the academic, outreach and research staff within the School are engaged in research and publishing.The Marie Curie ToK Programme has played a very significant role here in facilitating 12 experienced academics to spend between 3 and 12 months in UCD as well as facilitating a further 15 academics to spend 3 months at corresponding partner Centres of Excellence.
