Research
Research Interests
My research interests cover a range of areas and mainly focus around issues of 'race' and discrimination in the context of the UK and colonial Sierra Leone. I have a particular interest in migration that initially related to West African Kru people in Liverpool and Freetown (the subject of my doctoral thesis) and have a long standing interest in Black Liverpool, including historical settlement; 1980s urban unrest and Militant. I have also undertaken research on the historical political economy of diamonds in Sierra Leone, My most recent work on Neighbourhood Identity and Belonging in Liverpool 8 (British Academy Funded) is a collaborative project that builds on my long association with the area.
Research grants
Where we are not: the contribution of disconnection, division and exclusion to imaginative (im)mobility
ARTS AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH COUNCIL
October 2014 - March 2015
The Role of People and Place in Neighbourhood Identity: Belonging and Social Inclusion
BRITISH ACADEMY (UK)
June 2015 - June 2017
Black Liverpool - Identity and Belonging.
BRITISH ACADEMY (UK)
August 2003 - August 2005
Remembering Liverpool Labour Council 1983-87
THE BARRY AMIEL & NORMAN MELBURN TRUST (UK)
August 2012 - October 2012
Research collaborations
Dr Richard Phillips
Liverpool '81: Remembering the Riots
30 year reflection of the 1981 urban unrest in Liverpool
Dr Pete North
Militant Liverpool: A City of the Edge
30 year reflection on role of Militant in the 1980s Labour Council
Dr Gemma Catney and Leona Vaughn
The Role of People and Place in Neighbourhood Identity
British Academy Small Research grant
Dr. Diane Frost (Sociology) , Dr Helen Porter (SOCLAS) & Dr. Katinka Weber (SOCLAS)
KE between Dept of Sociology & SOCLAS, University of Liverpool and the Merseyside Slavery Museum, Liverpool