Brexit: Gains, Losses, and Dilemmas

In the United Kingdom and across the European Union, Brexit continues to be the key social, political and economic issue of the day. It reflects as much current societal concerns as the long and complex history of the UK’s relationship with the EU, as well as soundly echoes questions of social justice posed transnationally. This panel discussion launches the themed special section of Social Policy & Society (2018): UK’S Membership of the EU: Brexit and the Gains, Losses and Dilemmas for Social Policy.  The panel considers the gendered gains, losses and dilemmas of Brexit with respect to the UK-EU relationship in policy making and governance; the outcome of this relationship for the development of social, gender and worker’s rights; the likely re-shaping of the gender regime; and the issue of migration.

Dr Alessio D'Angelo is a London-based researcher, currently working as Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences at Middlesex University, where they are also co-director of the Social Policy Research Centre. They have experience in conducting both quantitative and qualitative research on a wide range of areas, including migration, ethnic diversity and identity, social exclusion and discrimination, service provision and needs, third sector and community organisations, social networks and social capital.

Professor Colette Fagan 

Professor Colette Fagan, FAcSS, is the University’s Vice-President for Research. She is responsible for leading and implementing the University’s research strategy and doctoral training.

Previously Colette was the Deputy Dean and Vice-Dean for Research for the Faculty of Humanities (2010–17).  She was elected to Senate in 2008 and in 2009 joined the University Board of Governors as a Senate-elected representative, with her term of office renewed twice by election (2009–18).  Her other board experience includes primary school governing body chair and parent governor (2008–11).

Colette’s research focus is on employment, working conditions and job quality; with particular interests in gender relations and inequalities in the workplace and in family life, working time and time use, and international comparative analysis. Her research has been supported by major national and international funders, including the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council and the European Union’s research framework programmes. Her record of knowledge exchange and impact formed one of the University’s REF 2014 impact cases for sociology. She is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and has held visiting academic appointments at the Wissenshaftzentrum (WZB) Berlin; RMIT Australia; and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. In October 2018 she was a Visiting Professor at the University of Sydney Business School.

Through her research she has been appointed to several high-level advisory bodies. She was a working group member and co-author of the British Academy’s 2016 report Crossing Paths: Interdisciplinary institutions, careers, education and applications. She is the UK national academic expert in the European Commission's Expert Network on Employment and Gender Equality (SAAGE) and one of the two academics appointed to Eurofound’s Advisory Board on Working Conditions and Sustainable Work (the European Commission’s tri-partite research and policy agency). Her previous advisory appointments to inform policy through research include the European Commission, the European Parliament, the United Nations’ International Labour Office and the OECD; plus reports for a range of government agencies, trade unions and employers’ associations in the EU, Australia, Japan and South Korea.

Professor Roberta Guerrina is Professor of Politics and an expert in EU gender politics and policies. She is interested in understanding the impact of gender (hierarchies) on key policy areas traditionally seen as gender neutral, such as Brexit, Security and Defence. Currently, she is working on the unintended gender consequences of the UK's withdrawal from the EU. She has published in the area of Brexit;  Women, Peace & Security; work-life balance; Identity politics and the idea of Europe.

Professor Linda Hantrais is Emeritus Professor of European Social Policy in the Department of Politics, History and International Relations, Loughborough University; Visiting Professor at the LSE Centre for International Studies; a Fellow of the UK's Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS), and Chair of its International Advisory Group. Her research interests span international comparative research theory, methods, management and practice, with particular reference to public policy and institutional structures in the European Union. Her publications include three editions of Social Policy in the European Union,  and several papers and reports on Brexit, EU and UK social policy.

 Professor Eleonore Kofman is a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Global Affairs at the London School of Economics. Eleonore received her D.Phil from Oxford University and is Professor of Gender, Migration and Citizenship and Co-Director of the Social Policy Research Centre at Middlesex University London.  She is a leading international scholar on gender and migration, and in particular on theoretical and policy aspects of family-related and skilled labour migrations.

Dr Annick Masselot is a Professor of Law at the School of Law of University of Canterbury, New Zealand.  Her research interests focuses on gender equality and equal treatment, social and employment law, reconciliation between work and family life, pregnancy and maternity rights in a comparative context. Annick is the author of Reconciling Work and Family Life in EU Law and Policy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) with E. Caracciolo di Torella. She has co-edited Importing EU Norms? Conceptual Framework and Empirical Findings (Springer, 2015). She is co-editor of the Journal of Common Market Studies.

Dr Ania Plomien is Assistant Professor in the Department of Gender Studies, London School of Economics. Her research focuses on the persistence and change of inequalities in Europe at the intersection of production and social reproduction from a feminist political economy perspective. Ania is a member of the Policy Advisory Group (Women’s Budget Group), has served as National Expert in the European Network of Experts on Gender Equality advising the European Commission, and has served as editorial board member of Work, Employment and Society. Recently, she has guest edited a themed section Social Policy and Society (2018) entitled ‘UK’s membership of the EU: Brexit and the gains, losses and dilemmas for social policy’.