What will you be researching in your time here?
I have a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship and will be working on research on women and girls in Britain from the 1970s to the present.
I am producing an archive using qualitative and visual data collected between the 1970s and 1990s. I am also planning to reinterview as many of the original participants as possible, who were first seen at age 4 and are now around 50. The original sample is quite diverse and the transcript data on them and their families reveals important aspects of the changes from the 1950s to the present, during which so much has altered, not only in relation to gender and sexuality but also class, ethnicity and race, work, economy, politics.
I aim to write up this work in book form to provide an addition to the several books and journal articles which already exist about the past aspects of the research.
Why did you want to visit LSE and the Department of Gender Studies as part of your research?
The department is a very important centre of gender studies globally and this provides an incredibly rich environment in which to think about my work and to share with and learn from others. In addition, I plan to use the resources of the Women’s Library at LSE to research background information, such as magazines, from the various periods of the research, which will allow me to deepen my cultural understand of the gendered history of this period.
What do you hope will be the impact of your research?
The archived data will be accessible to all researchers via the National Data Archive and thus allows a new generation of researchers to engage with these data. In addition to the book, I also plan a series of podcasts and videos for wider dissemination. It is also planned to engage policy makers in the outcomes of the research via a dissemination event.
What have you enjoyed most about visiting the department?
I am looking forward to being in the department and to taking part in its intellectual life as well as using the library and all that LSE has to offer.
Why is Gender Studies an important discipline to study and research?
Gender Studies has long been the basis of my work and for me it is crucial that gender studies is not supressed or abandoned. It continues to have a crucial and changing global role both intellectually and politically.
What is one of your favourite things to do in London?
I love the cultural life of London, which is incredibly exciting and stimulating. In addition, I love to walk around London and to swim in the Women’s Pond at Hampstead, to name but a few wonderful things…..