SLSJ Project Proposals
See below for a list of potential project proposals that would be overseen by academics in the School of Law and Social Justice.
If you have any queries or are interested in one of these proposed projects, please contact the Faculty PGR Team at hsspgr@liverpool.ac.uk in the first instance. Click here to visit the School of Law and Social Justice Postgraduate Research information pages.
International Law and Human Rights / Children’s Rights Unit
China’s Response to the Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Questions of State Capacity and Political Will
In October 2024, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued its Concluding Observations on China’s fulfilment of its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Recommendations in the Observations in relation to judicial independence, civil society and national human rights institutions, presume a liberalising direction in national governance. Recommendations in relation to persons with disabilities, regional disparities, unemployment appear feasible even without political liberalisation. This raises the question of whether socio-economic rights can be improved significantly without progress on civil and political rights.
This PhD project will explore the extent to which the Concluding Observations are plausible in terms of China’s political economy and governance norms. It will also explore to what extent the recommendations in the Concluding Observations correspond or differ from the Chinese government’s development and welfare agendas.
Turkey’s Response to the Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Questions of State Capacity and Political Will
2011, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued its Concluding Observations on Turkey’s fulfilment of its obligations under the ICESCR. Recommendations in the Observations in relation to justiciability of rights, human rights institutions and recognition of Kurdish people as a minority presumed a liberalising direction in national governance. Recommendations in relation to regional disparities, women’s employment and minimum wage presume a highly-capable state with the ability to assert itself at all levels of the economy, thereby approximating the western European mean.
This PhD project will explore the extent to which the Concluding Observations proved plausible in terms of Turkey’s political economy and governance norms in the years since 2011. It will also explore to what extent the recommendations in the Concluding Observations correspond or differ from the Turkish government’s development and welfare agendas.
Uzbekistan’s Response to the Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Questions of State Capacity and Political Will
On 31 March 2022, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued its Concluding Observations on Uzbekistan’s fulfilment of its obligations under the ICESCR. Recommendations in the Observations in relation to independence of the judiciary, civil society and corruption presume a liberalising direction in national governance. Recommendations in relation to climate change, persons with disabilities, youth unemployment, social security etc presume a highly-capable state with the ability to assert itself at all levels of the economy.
This PhD project will explore the extent to which the Concluding Observations are plausible in terms of Uzbekistan’s political economy and governance norms. It will also explore to what extent the recommendations in the Concluding Observations correspond or differ from the Uzbek government’s development and welfare agendas.
Bahrain’s Response to the Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Questions of State Capacity and Political Will
In March 2024, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued its Concluding Observations on Indonesia’s fulfilment of its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Recommendations in the Observations in relation to a National Human Rights institution and corruption, as well as business and human rights, presume a liberalising direction in national governance. Recommendations in relation to rights of indigenous people, conditions of work and social security presume a highly-capable state with the ability to assert itself at all levels of the economy.
This PhD project will explore the extent to which the Concluding Observations are plausible in terms of Indonesia’s political economy and governance norms. It will also explore to what extent the recommendations in the Concluding Observations correspond or differ from the Indonesian government’s development and welfare agendas.
Pakistan’s Response to the Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Questions of State Capacity and Political Will
In 2017, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued its Concluding Observations on Pakistan’s fulfilment of its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Recommendations in the Observations in relation to devolution, corruption and human rights defenders presumed a liberalising direction in national governance. Recommendations in relation to persons with disabilities, Afghan refugees, scheduled castes, conditions of work etc presume a highly-capable state with the ability to assert itself at all levels of the economy. Little progress has been made in many of these regards, with another report due to the Committee in the coming years
This PhD project will explore the extent to which the Concluding Observations are plausible in terms of Pakistan’s political economy and governance norms. It will also explore to what extent the recommendations in the Concluding Observations correspond or differ from the Pakistani government’s development and welfare agendas.
Qatar’s Response to the Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Questions of State Capacity and Political Will
In October 2023, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued its Concluding Observations on Qatar’s fulfilment of its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Recommendations in the Observations in relation to a National Human Rights institution, stateless persons, corruption and civil society presume a liberalising direction in national governance. Recommendations in relation to occupational safety, right to work, social security and housing etc presume a highly-capable state with the ability to assert itself at all levels of the economy.
This PhD project will explore the extent to which the Concluding Observations are plausible in terms of Qatar’s political economy and governance norms. It will also explore to what extent the recommendations in the Concluding Observations correspond or differ from the Qatari government’s development and welfare agendas.
Law and Practice of the Council of Europe and its Treaties
This project examines the workings and effectiveness of the Council of Europe, the largest European organisation dedicated to promoting democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. It will consider various treaties concluded within the Council, including the European Convention on Human Rights, the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs, the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, and many others.
The project explores the effectiveness and impact of the Council of Europe, as well as how this impact can be assessed and enhanced. Although primarily focused on law, the project welcomes cross-disciplinary proposals that examine and analyse the activities of the Council of Europe, its bodies, and its missions.
Professor Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Transition from Conflict to Peace
This PhD project will examine the role of international human rights law, specifically economic, social and cultural rights (ESCRs) in building and sustaining peace in states affected by conflict and repression. Whilst significant progress has been made in recognising that human rights play a role in the stabilisation of political conditions required for post-conflict recovery, further research is required to investigate how human rights can support such states to move beyond political stabilisation to build sustainable peace and development. This project will examine how ESCRs have been utilised to date and identify how they can be better used to support peacebuilding, sustainable development, and economic and social justice for all in specific conflict-affected contexts.
The specific scope of the research can be tailored to the researchers’ interests but suggested relevant significant issues include ESCRs and transitional justice; peace-making, peace agreements, conflict prevention; domestic implementation (including national human rights institutions); sustainable development and post-conflict peacebuilding; international assistance and cooperation and marginalised groups.
The UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at 60: Achievements, Challenges and Looking to the Future
This PhD project will focus on the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). As the advent of the 60th anniversary of the twin United Nations International Covenants on Human Rights is upon us, the project will consider and reflect on the achievements of the ICESCR to date identifying good practice but also limitations to its scope and content, process and procedure and implementation at domestic level.
The specific scope of the research can be tailored to the researchers’ interests but suggested topical issues include the operation of the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR; the role of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and standard setting and development of the law of the Covenant; lack of an international court for human rights including socio-economic rights, implementation of the Covenant at domestic level; substantive gaps in content and ‘new’ human rights; the intersections with other human rights instruments and procedures; international relations and political will, and the related question of the adequacy and sustainability of resources.
Children’s Rights in the Majority World
Despite the positive impact that international legal frameworks on children’s rights have had for many of the world’s children, recent scholarship has shown a rising concern with potential dissonance between the needs and interest of children in the Global South, and how they are reflected in international law. Critical children’s rights research aims to problematise dominant discourses on childhood and children’s rights, exploring ways of understanding the rights of children beyond universalist approaches. We are looking for students interested in doing a PhD. and wishing to explore the tensions and issues that arise from implementing international children’s rights law in the Global South, and in particular in postcolonial settings. We encourage critical research with a strong theoretical structure and enticing case-studies that engages deeply with the issues, needs and interests of children in the majority world.
Law and Technology / Banking / Criminal Justice Unit
AI tools as a solution for Money Laundering Detection: Challenges and Legal Implications
The proposed project will examine the use of AI tools to detect and prevent money laundering activities. AI technologies have proven effective in identifying suspicious patterns within complex financial transactions. However, these tools raise several challenges, both practical and legal. False positives remain a significant concern, overwhelming investigators and reducing operational efficacy. Additionally, AI may inadvertently reinforce biases or infringe on the fundamental rights of users. Anti-Money Laundering (AML) systems often require extensive data sharing, raising questions about the implications of AI on fundamental rights. Furthermore, criminals are increasingly leveraging AI to develop more sophisticated money laundering techniques, creating an ongoing challenge for regulators. The project aims to analyse these issues and assess the adequacy of current legal frameworks.
Dr Andreas Karapatakis (with Professor V. Mitsilegas)
Digital Evidence and Financial Crime Investigations
A key development in the field of investigations on serious transnational and financial crime has been the use of electronic and digital evidence. The research project will examine the legal challenges posed by the use of digital evidence in criminal investigations from a comparative, transnational and international law perspective. Research will include the impact of digitalisation on cross-border cooperation between judicial and law enforcement authorities, as well as on the challenges that digital evidence pose on the development of cooperation mechanisms between state authorities and private providers in that regard. The research will be informed by key global paradigms on the transfer of digital evidence from private providers to the state, including the EU e-evidence package and the US Cloud Act.
Professor V. Mitsilegas (with Dr Andreas Karapatakis)
Law and Technology / Criminal Justice Unit
Criminal Justice in the Digital Age
To examine the impact of digitalisation and technological evolution (including the use of AI) on criminal procedure, covering topics such as the use of videoconferencing in criminal trials and the assessment and use of digital and AI -generated evidence. The project will investigate the impact of digitalisation on fair trial and explore ways in which law reform can address the challenges of technology.
Professor V. Mitsilegas (with Dr Andreas Karapatakis)
Law and Technology / Technology, Law & Society Unit
The Law and Regulation of Decentralised Finance – how to mitigate risk and support equality?
Decentralised Finance (DeFi) comprises smart contract-based lending, borrowing, and exchange platforms that operate on blockchain technology. Because DeFi eliminates the traditional entry barriers of legacy finance and enables peer-to-peer lending, it is viewed as a revolutionary construct capable of disrupting legacy finance and democratising financial access for the most marginalised citizens often excluded by legacy finance processes. However, these potential advantages of DeFi are overshadowed by its inherent risks, such as the necessity for over-collateralization and technological risks (e.g., those related to smart contracts). This project will holistically examine the risks and benefits of DeFi from an economic equality perspective. It will compare and contrast the emerging international regulatory approaches to DeFi to determine whether these regulations are effectively designed to address the unique risks of DeFi while allowing its revolutionary and egalitarian characteristics to thrive. The project will emphasise innovative smart contract-based on-chain regulatory possibilities alongside traditional financial regulatory approaches. It will be interdisciplinary, utilising a theoretical and methodological framework that integrates law, economics, and computer science.
How to support international monetary competition – CBDCs v Stablecoins?
Blockchain is a disruptive technology that creates opportunities to improve international payment systems by eliminating the need for a centralised third party to authorise and execute transactions. However, most crypto assets operating on the blockchain are not suitable for use as a medium of exchange due to their value volatility and the scalability issues of their native blockchain. There are two alternatives that could potentially mitigate these risks and use blockchain as the foundation for an open international payment system. Stablecoins are privately issued cryptocurrencies whose value is tied to another asset (such as a fiat currency) to address the volatility issue. Stablecoins can leverage certain advantages of blockchain, such as decentralised, permissionless, and transparent governance. Nonetheless, they may pose specific risks, including smart contract vulnerabilities or the lack of a lender of last resort in the event of a run on the stablecoin. Conversely, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are digital fiat currencies that benefit from government backing, although they do not fully capitalise on the openness and decentralisation that blockchain governance offers. This project will compare the individual benefits and risks of stablecoins and CBDCs as monetary instruments. It will examine the potential for monetary competition between CBDCs and stablecoins, particularly in light of emerging regulatory principles that target both constructs. The project will take an interdisciplinary approach, utilising a theoretical and methodological framework that integrates law, economics, and computer science. Specifically, it will employ methods of regulatory and currency competition, including the Hayekian model.
Feminist Researcher Academic Network (FRAN)
Blind spots in Contemporary Feminist Legal Theory
Feminist legal scholarship highlights how law/legal institutions derive from and perpetuate inequalities, as well as re-envisioning them to promote social justice. Certain areas, however, remain under theorised, either because they are overlooked or because they are topics which highlight tensions within feminist theory.
Adopting feminist socio-legal methods and drawing on concepts such as intersectionality and legal embodiment, this project will analyse case studies which may be deemed ‘blind spots’ in contemporary feminist critique. Indicative case studies include how feminist approaches may inform or challenge alternative approaches to legal gender and responses to human/non-human relationships.
The candidate will propose one/two further contexts which may be considered blind spots in contemporary feminist legal scholarship. In teasing out why these areas have evaded critique as well as identifying themes in feminist and legal discourse across these case studies, this project seeks to provide new insights into the complex relationship between law and theory.
Dr Sarah Singh and Professor Marie Fox
Re-evaluating ‘Familialisation’: Theories of Family Property in Current and Historical Perspective
This project will reassess the utility and reach of the concept of ‘familialisation’, a term coined by John Dewar which describes ‘the process by which both judges and the legislature have modified general principles of land law or trusts to accommodate the specific needs of family members.’ Taking a theoretical and historical approach, it will examine the applicability of familialisation to current issues in family law, as well as the historical developments of law surrounding family property. It will assess the extent to which judges continue to engage in familialisation, whether this is appropriate in light of changing conceptions of the family, or whether a new theory of family property applies more aptly. Such questions will be placed in historical perspective to ascertain the utility of familialisation in exploration of shifts in family property regimes. It will provide a fresh perspective to current debates surrounding theoretical approaches to family law.
Dr Emily Ireland and Professor Nicola Barker
Healthcare Law and Regulation Unit (HLRU)
The Implications of Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing (DCGT) for Family Formation/Connections
The growth in affordable direct to consumer DNA (DTCGT) tests has enabled individuals to (often unwittingly) access information about genetic relationships that have major health, familial, social and legal. implications. Such often undermines the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Acts which was one concern raised in a 2023 HFE Authority (HFEA) consultation. The focus in this doctorate would be on how technologies such as DTCGT can be better regulated and how this might intersect with laws governing assisted conception. The project would explore the viability of hybrid regulatory structures, encompassing reproductive, genetic and digital technologies and how the various interests at stake can be protected. The methodology would combine doctrinal legal research with socio-legal methods, including analysis of contractual terms and conditions, consultations and law reform proposals and media coverage. It could include new empirical/comparative research, but equally the research could draw on archived data from the ESRC-funded ConnecteDNA project (2021-25).
Dr Danielle Griffiths (Primary) and Professor Marie Fox (Secondary)
Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology
Assessing the harm associated with alcohol related crime
This project will develop a pioneering methodology to estimate the harm associated with alcohol-related crime. Whilst estimates from the Crime Survey from England and Wales suggest around two in every five violent crimes are thought to be alcohol-related, these rely on victim self-reports and only relate to violent offences. They are thus limited in assessing the share of crime involving alcohol. Other measures, such as those used to underpin economic estimates of the cost of alcohol-related crime, are similarly flawed and dated. This project will harness the potential of administrative criminal justice data sources, such as those made available via the DataFirst programme, as well as publicly available sources, such as the ONS Crime Severity Score, to more accurately assess the extent to which crimes proceeded against by the criminal justice system involving alcohol are more serious and so quantify their harmful impact.
Contextualising Gender and Sentencing: An Exploration of Judicial Decision-Making in Specific Crime Categories
This study investigates whether and how judges’ perceptions of gender—both of defendants and themselves—shape sentencing disparities. By employing a mixed-methods approach, the research combines quantitative sentencing data analysis with qualitative insights from judicial opinions and interviews. It explores variations across crime categories where gendered narratives may be particularly salient, such as violent offenses, domestic crimes, and financial fraud. The project also considers intersections with race, class, and legal traditions to understand how implicit biases or structural factors affect judicial discretion. By contextualising gender within sentencing practices, this study contributes to criminological and socio-legal debates on judicial impartiality, equity, and the role of gender norms in legal decision-making, ultimately informing policy discussions on sentencing reforms and judicial training programs.
Critical Southern Criminological Perspectives in State-Corporate Violence and Resistance in Postcolonial Contexts
Joe Greener and Laura Naegler are interested in PhD proposals which seek to extend critical criminological knowledge in Global South contexts, with a particular interest in projects seeking to highlight the connection between global inequality, crime and violence. Projects would seek to harness postcolonial, de-colonial and anti-imperialist perspectives with a particular focus on critically enhancing perspectives within ‘Southern criminology.’ We are open to a diversity of topic areas, such as corporate crime, policing, imprisonment, authoritarian modes of government, military intervention and border controls; but at their heart projects should seek to uncover new knowledge around current structures of global inequality and violence. Projects which place resistance and political organization against repressive state and corporate actions are also welcome. Projects should seek to explore situations in any region outside of the metropole, including Africa, Asia, Latin America or Eastern Europe.
Dr Joe Greener / Dr Laura Naegler
Dangerous Ideas: Understanding and Preventing Young People’s Engagement with Hateful Values and Beliefs
The recent sentencing of Axel Rudakabana, Kyle Clifford and Nicholas Prosper - men convicted of acts of multi-casualty violence against girls and women - highlight both the issue of how to prevent acts of violence motivated by ideologies of hate and the failures of agencies responsible for identifying and managing risk. These - and other -cases also raise questions about how hateful and harmful ideas are cultivated in online milieu, how effective education and awareness raising programmes are and the powers of professionals involved in preventing structural forms of gendered violence. This PhD project addresses these vital questions through close engagement with practitioners working in roles where encounters with young people expressing misogynistic and other forms of hateful beliefs are part of everyday practice. Interviews and shadowing observations with Prevent and probation officers, school safeguarding leads, social workers, youth workers, mental health support professionals, community groups and CSOs involved in violence prevention form the basis of examining what the most prescient issues are and how current gaps in the system can be addressed to prevent future violence.
Professor Gabe Mythen / Dr Laura Naegler
Defining and investigating preventable deaths in NHS mental healthcare in England and Wales
There is a dearth of research into the deaths of people with mental health diagnoses in England and Wales. This reflects a lack of data about these deaths, and a lack of parameters defining what constitutes a ‘preventable death’ in relation to mental healthcare. This PhD project will construct a working definition of ‘preventable death’ in such cases by surveying deaths in psychiatric detention; inpatient units; and in the community. It will investigate the factors leading to such deaths by using secondary data to construct a quantitative overview that includes a demographic breakdown of who dies; where they die; and the circumstances in which they die. Analysis of this quantitative data will then enable a qualitative approach to be formulated that involves interviews with bereaved families, their legal teams, coroners, and healthcare professionals to develop deeper understandings of how such deaths occur, and to what extent they might be considered preventable.
Do the ‘crime drop’ and ‘drinking decline’ collide?
Two significant trends concerning both alcohol consumption and crime have been observed this century: the crime drop and the drinking decline. The former ‘crime drop’ relates to the fact that many countries have seen declining crime rates since the early 1990s. The latter relates to a trend, over roughly the same period, which has seen the number of people abstaining from alcohol increase and is thought to be driven by younger age cohorts. Some exploratory analysis conducted by the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) highlighted that alcohol-related violence in England and Wales has also been declining. It also posed suggested hypotheses which might explain the mechanisms behind these findings. However, this specific decline remains unexplained and unexamined, and no studies have tested these hypotheses or further explored variations in age and period effects or victim/offender profiles in alcohol-related crime. This PhD will address this evidence gap.
Judicial accountability for self-inflicted deaths in prison
Imprisonment is associated with high rates of self-inflicted death, both because of the characteristics of imprisoned populations and because of their experiences of custody. Existing accountability processes such as inquests and reports by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) tend to focus their attention on how people’s imprisonment has been carried out, and rarely consider whether the decision to imprison the person may have contributed to the self-inflicted death. This PhD will explore whether judges could or should be held accountable for the self-inflicted deaths of those they imprison by considering evidence that sentencing might contribute to their death. It will further examine the relative merits and challenges of accountability processes by focusing more on this issue. The thesis will construct a documentary database consisting of inquest verdicts, Prevention of Future Deaths reports (produced by coroners), and reports by the PPO. Analysis of the database will generate questions informing a qualitative deep dive into this topic via interviews conducted with regulators, judges and bereaved family members.
Dr Alice Ievins / Dr David Baker
Mapping the Networks: A Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Bride Trafficking Routes
This research project investigates the geographical patterns and temporal dynamics of bride trafficking. Using crime script analysis and spatial mapping techniques, this study deconstructs the logistical processes involved in trafficking, from recruitment to transportation and victim exploitation. It examines how cross-border bride trafficking networks operate, considering the influence of legal frameworks, socio-economic disparities, and cultural norms in shaping these routes. By integrating qualitative interviews with law enforcement, NGOs, and survivors, along with quantitative data on trafficking cases, the research identifies key transit hubs, hotspots, and shifting patterns over time. This project contributes to criminological scholarship on organised crime and human trafficking by offering a nuanced understanding of the structural and relational factors enabling bride trafficking. The findings aim to inform policy interventions and enhance law enforcement strategies for disrupting trafficking networks effectively.
Self-inflicted death among people arrested for sexual offences
Data from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) suggests that around half of those who die by suicide following police custody have been arrested for sexual offences, and those arrested for offences related to indecent images of children are at particular risk. In 2019 the College of Policing issued advice for managing the risk of suicide among this group. However, very little is known about why suicides occur among this vulnerable group of people. The PhD will address this under-examined topic by constructing a documentary database comprising inquest verdicts, Prevention of Future Deaths reports (produced by coroners), and investigation reports by the IOPC. Analysis of the database will generate questions informing a qualitative deep dive into this topic via interviews conducted with coroners, regulators, senior police officers, other relevant stakeholders and bereaved family members.
Dr Alice Ievins / Dr David Baker
The impact of new drink spiking laws
This PhD will assess the impact of newly proposed drink spiking laws on bringing perpetrators to justice and protecting victims. Owing to a new stream of data to be collected by police and courts on these offences the candidate will quantitatively examine patterns in charges, prosecutions and sentencing for spiking offences to reveal how the law is being used and with what effect. The candidate will also potentially secure qualitative insights from the events industry, victim survivors and third sector VAWG organisations to understand how legislation and policy change is understood and operationalised on the ground. This mixed methods project will yield important insights into how well any new law is working with relevant policy and practice insights.
Dr Carly Lightowlers / Professor Fiona Measham / Professor Anna Carline
The Present and Future of Artificial Intelligence: AI in Social, Historical and Practical Perspective
The aim of this doctoral project is to provide a bridge between, on the one hand, work in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Machine Learning (ML) techniques which are its most successful leading edge and, on the other, the humanities and social sciences. AI and ML are at the forefront of computational innovations in our increasingly digital world and the data which constitute it. The ubiquity and range of usages of digital data have ensured that AI and ML techniques, particularly Generative AI technologies like the Large Language Models produced by OpenAI, Google, and others but also more specialised products, are finding places in a multitude of domains across academia, industry, government, and more, all the way through to everyday life. Though the humanities and social science have produced studies of topics relevant to AI and computational innovation more generally, these typically focus on ‘high level’, general or abstract aspects of the technologies in question. In contrast, little attention has yet been paid to the “shop work” of producing and working with these technologies and the practical reasoning that informs those practices. As a consequence, the content of algorithms and algorithmic work remains underexplored. AI and ML thus present an important challenge for the humanities and the social sciences: namely, how can we provide a more nuanced and contextualised perspective on these highly significant but still poorly-understood technologies? This research will take that question up through work on the past, present and future of AI through hands-on engagement with code, algorithms and associated technologies in collaboration with partners inside and outside academia.
Dr Phil Brooker / Professor Michael Mair
The Political Economy of the Local
'The local' is often positioned invidiously with 'the centre' as a site of social, political and governmental action and, indeed, transformation. Not only is 'the local' treated as parochial and hence trivial it is seen as epistemically opaque, effectively unknowable. However, as the history of cities like Liverpool, regions like the North West and, indeed, particular sectors of the economy at the national level which are strongly rooted in the thick ties of space and place demonstrate, rather than being sideshows, 'the local' emerges as a decisive site for social, political and governmental dynamics of continuity and change. As the very crucible of our lives, this doctoral research project will take up the local, and its political economy, to challenge received understanding of the worlds we inhabit and move through. With Liverpool as one site for research, alongside related regional and economic sectors both nationally and internationally, the project, working with partners, will help shift the way we conceive the local and its significance.
Professor Michael Mair / Dr Paul Jones
University Students’ Experiences of Decolonising the Curriculum
It has now been more than a decade since calls to decolonise university curricula became commonplace. During this time, there have been various responses to these calls. In some instances, these calls have been ignored or dismissed. Elsewhere, efforts have been made to revamp syllabi and pedagogies in ways that correspond with a decolonial agenda. This doctoral project will seek to examine university students’ perspectives and engagement with these initiatives. It will try to ascertain the perceptions that university students have about decolonising the curriculum as well as looking at how this has been present or absent in their studies. This doctoral research will be based on empirical research with university students at 3 HE campuses in the North West of England. This research will address a notable gap in existing literature which is the lack of empirical research about student populations’ experience of academic decolonisation.