About
I was, for a number of years, a civil servant working in both management and policy roles. I left to complete a PhD, sponsored by the National Audit Office, and retain an interest in all things public service and public policy. In research, this has included work on the concept of accountability and on urban regeneration partnerships. More recently, and with colleagues, I have written on community land trusts and housing policy. This interest continues and embraces other forms of community activism and social enterprise. However, my main research interests at present are in policing. Again with colleagues, I was involved in a six-year (2013-2019) ethnographic study of police discretion, observing uniformed officers in the course of their duties. This work has been written up, with a first book published Open Access by Hart in 2020 and a second with Routledge in 2023. I was also Vice Chair of an EU COST Action on Police Stops from 2018-23. This research reflects a coming together of two interests, in public services and in ethnographic research. In particular, that interest focuses on street-level bureaucrats, the subject of a forthcoming book (2025) with Routledge. Since 2006, I have been part of the organising team for the annual Ethnography Symposium (www.liverpool.ac.uk/ethnography) and, from 2012-2021, co-founder and co-editor of the Journal of Organizational Ethnography.
Prizes or Honours
- Fellow (Joint University Council, 2020)