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Ralph Fevre

Professor Ralph Fevre

Teams and roles for Ralph Fevre

Overview

I came to Cardiff in 1995 after holding teaching and research posts in the University of Wales since 1982. I have published numerous academic articles and seven books on social science and social theory. I am an experienced writer of non-academic material, including journalism for The New Statesman and an op-ed for The Guardian. I have been commissioned to write a series for sixth-form students, provocative writing for opera-goers, and pieces for specialist magazines. With Angus Bancroft I wrote Dead White Men and Other Important People (Bloomsbury) which is an introduction to sociological theory which doubles as a novel. I have given talks to audiences of academics, policymakers and civil society organisations in the UK, Brazil, China, Canada, Hong Kong, Portugal and the US. My work has been profiled twice on Radio Four’s Thinking Allowed.  

Publication

2022

2020

2019

2017

2016

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2003

2002

2001

2000

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Cynadleddau

  • Jones, T. D. B., Robinson, A. L., Fevre, R. W. and Lewis, D. 2009. Assaults and violence in the workplace. Presented at: British Society of Criminology annual meeting, Cardiff, UK, 29 June - 1 July 2009.

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Research

 

My book Individualism and Inequality – the future of work and politics draws together many different strands of my research on the sociology of work and labour markets and empirical studies of migrant workers, discrimination, contingent employment, redundancies and unemployment, social identities, ill-treatment in the workplace, and individualism. The book also draws on my research in the sociology of education and particularly post-compulsory education and training, including informal learning, and the transition to work. Like my earlier critique of economic sociology, for example as summarised in my book The New Sociology of Economic Behaviour, my later book also draws on my social theory book, The Demoralization of Western Culture (published in 2000 and subsequently translated into Chinese). I have also written articles on social theory in relation to nationalism and national identity and published empirical studies of Welsh nationalism and national identity. Empirical research I have conducted in Wales includes work on the Welsh economy, and the participation of marginalised groups in governance. 

Other empirical research I have directed has been focused on fair treatment in the workplace, particularly of persons with disabilities. In its early stages this work influenced the delivery of the UK Equality Public Service Agreement and was cited by the UK minister for disabled people when asked to defend the EHRC’s record on disability rights.  In October 2010, the Equality and Human Rights Commission published their Triennial Review How fair is Britain? Equality, Human Rights and Good Relations in 2010. The chapter on employment in this influential, and widely-read, report made extensive use of the 2009 report on the Fair Treatment at Work Survey on which I was the lead author. It informed the strategic equality plans of hundreds of public bodies and the Equality Objectives of the Welsh Government. According to the UK Government, findings from the Survey formed ‘a fundamental part of the policy development process. For example, the survey has been used as one measure of the scale and nature of workplace conflict feeding into recent changes in relation to dispute resolution, whilst its measures of employee awareness of employment rights have fed into policy development on flexible working.’

Many aspects of the research on ill treatment at work were used by policy-makers, employers, trade unions and legal professionals. Our findings on the treatment of employees with disabilities helped the UK to fulfil its international treaty and convention obligations in respect of people with disabilities and the EHRC relied extensively on the research to fulfil its statutory role to promote equality and human rights. Our research provided one of the UK’s Equality Performance Indicators and recommendations from it were incorporated into UK legislation. Public-sector employers, including government departments, relied on it to meet their statutory duties. Hundreds of organisations used the research to promote better treatment for employees with disabilities and it shaped wider public debate.  

Teaching

As well as teaching at every level from introductory undergraduate to professional doctorate, I have also published articles for A-level sociology students and, with Angus Bancroft, Dead White Men and Other Important People, a textbook for first year students written as a novel. The first edition was published by Bloomsbury in 2010 and became a best-seller. It was translated into Korean and Chinese and a second edition was published in 2016.  We are currently working on a third edition.  

Biography

I have a first degree from Durham University and a PhD from Aberdeen University. I have held academic appointments at the Universities of Aberdeen, Bangor, Beijing Normal, Cardiff, Oxford and Swansea. I have been an Emeritus Professor at Cardiff University since 2018.   

   

Honours and awards

I have been a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales since 2012. 

Academic positions

In the Cardiff School of Social Sciences, I served a number of terms as Director of Undergraduate Studies, Director of Teaching and Learning and Director of Postgraduate Research. Between 2003 and 2005, I served as Deputy Director of the School. I have been an external examiner at the University of Leicester, University of Liverpool, Royal Holloway University of London and London School of Economics.  I served on the ESRC College and as a regular referee for ESRC research proposals. I was a consultant to the ESRC and Associate Research Fellow in the ESRC Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance. I had two spells, one as review editor, on the journal Work, Employment and Society. In 2002 I became Founding Editor of the Politics and Society in Wales Series published by the University of Wales Press.

Speaking engagements

I have given talks to audiences of academics, policymakers and civil society organisations in the UK, Brazil, China, Canada, Hong Kong, Portugal and the US, including at leading universities such as UC Berkeley and Tsinghua University. I have been invited to give talks to policy-makers in three UK government departments and to members of the Senedd. 

Contact Details

Email Fevre@cardiff.ac.uk

Social Work exchange with Beijing Normal University

Social Work exchange with Beijing Normal University

30 July 2018

External profiles