Dr Esther Muddiman

(she/her)

Publication

• Date
• Type
• Promoted

Research

My research interests span sociology, education, civil society and social justice:

• Youth activism and intergenerational justice
• Higher education and civil society
• Family and civic engagement
• Children's Rights
• Social theory, critical theory, critical pedagogy
• Creative methods

Youth activism, intergenerational justice and family influences on civic engagement

My work explores why and how some people get involved in collective or ‘publicly minded’ activities – things like volunteering, political campaigning, labour organisation or environmental activism. Young people, in particular, are often identified in the media as leading campaigns for climate action, but what can this tell us about intergenerational relationships and ideas about justice and collective responsibility?  I am co-founder of the SOCSI Youth Activism Project and am currently conducting research with young people involved with protesting and other forms of campaigning. My work is informed by an intersectional feminist ethics of care, and by practice and relational theories. 

My PhD research explored university students’ constructions of civic responsibility, and more recently I’ve written a book about how experiences in the family home can equip people to engage with political or community action – including chapters on family arguments, dinnertime etiquette and female caring roles.The role of food and mealtimes emerged as a central part of both family life, and a key lens through which to understand the moral and environmental undertones of what we choose to eat. I am particularly interested in the recent popularity or mainstreaming of vegan or plant-based diets and how the way that we talk about different food practices are infused with ideas about class, moral virtues, wellness, environmental responsibility and sub-cultural significance. I successfully bid for SPARKing impact funding for a workshop exploring ethical and environmental food futures in Wales. The event brought together different stakeholders to explore the key challenges to implementing fair and sustainable food provision.

During my time at WISERD I worked closely with series editors to deliver the Civil Society and Social Change book series published by Policy Press. In 2017 I presented a workshop on Young People and Brexit at the Hay Festival with colleagues, exploring perceptions of a ‘generational divide’ and familial influences on young peoples’ political engagement in relation to education and engagement with different medias. A more recent workshop exploring family arguments through an intergenerational lens was cancelled due to COVID-19. I have also worked with partners at EYST to explore youth ethnic minority experiences of Brexit.

Children's rights

I currently lead on an ESRC funded project in WISERD as part of the Civil Society Research Centre that investigates the articulation of Children’s Rights in different countries around the world, paying attention to ‘voice’, participation, inclusivity and stratification. I have also contributed to the development and distribution of the WISERD Education Multi-Cohort Study and have written blogs on the role of children in climate activism , and on how children and young people have been influenced by COVID-19.

Higher education and civil society

In both my research and my teaching, I am informed by a humanist understanding of the role of education in fostering human flourishing and emancipation, informed by human capabilities theory and critical pedagogy. My PhD research explored the extent to which universities are seen to foster (or stifle) skills and values beneficial to civil society, against a backdrop of massification and an intensified focus on graduate employability. My international comparative case study provides insights into the motivations and perspectives of students studying Business and Sociology in Britain and Singapore. More recently I have focussed on the experiences of those working in the HE sector and have written about the increasing use of casualised labour in UK academia. 

Social theory, critical theory and critical pedagogy

I enjoy engaging with various theoretical literature from classical social theory and critical theory to more contemporary theorisations of society that recognise the intersecting forms of discriminiation and inequality. I have a particular interest in broadly humanist, feminist and ecological approaches to understanding the social world, and in both my writing and my teaching I am alive to efforts to decolonise university curricula and to recognise and valorise the intellectual contributions of 'non-traditional' scholars. I am currently working on a project that explores the history of the Glamorgan Building, the current base of the school of social sciences, in relation to colonial and imperial heritage, and how this might impact on the ways that we interact with the building today. 

Creative methods

I enjoy experimenting with different methods and have three particular areas of interest:

• Family Tree Mapping: With help from undergraduate research placement students I developed a way of mapping out family trees with interview participants and marking the different values and behaviours that get shared between different members as a vehicle for in depth discussions about identity, belonging and family practices. This method has potential for other projects exploring the themes of intergenerational justice and the (lack of) resilience of particular ideas or behaviours over time.

• Participant Marginalia: Analysis of participant marginalia is not well-developed in the social sciences, but a handful of studies demonstrate the importance of listening when participants ‘speak back’ and suggest that paying attention to this type of data can help to further our understanding of participant identities and the power dynamics embedded in the research process.

• Q Methodology: I have used Q methodology to explore individual subjectivities in relation to professional identities in a previous research post. Whilst under-used in the social sciences it has the potential to enhance the collection of sensitive data in areas such as social desirability, acquiescence, extreme response style and attitudes towards controversial issues. I have delivered workshops on Q methodology to a range of postgraduate researchers and medical practitioners both in Cardiff and at a partner institution in Taiwan.

Teaching

Current Teaching

I currently teach on the following modules:

• Undergraduate: Sociology of Education, Radical Education, Solving Educational Problems, Decolonising Social Sciences, Environment and Human Health. 
• Postgraduate: Social Contexts of Education

Relevant training and affiliations

• Fellow of Advance HE
• iACT Mental Health First Aider

Biography

Before I became a lecturer I spent six years as a post-doctoral researcher at Cardiff University. I joined WISERD in 2016 to work on a project exploring the role of family in peoples’ accounts of civic engagement – focussing on the values and behaviours that get shared between different generations. I then spent some time working on the Civil Society and Social Change book series before beginning an ESRC funded project on the civic expansion of children's rights. 

Prior to joining WISERD I worked at CUREMeDE where my primary focus was a longitudinal mixed methods evaluation of a generalist postgraduate medical education training programme. In this role I explored the rising importance of medical generalism and how it may trouble existing categories of professional identity.

I initially moved to Cardiff from the West Midlands in 2005 as an art and graphic design student. I studied for my BScEcon degree in Sociology at Cardiff University and continued in the School of Social Sciences to complete an ESRC funded MSc in Social Research Methods, and PhD focussing on the educational experiences and civic values of university students in Britain and Singapore.

Academic positions

• 2016- present: Research Associate at WISERD
• 2014-2016: Research Associate at CUREMeDE
• 2010-2014: PhD Candidate, Cardiff University
• 2010-2014: Graduate Tutor, Cardiff University

Supervisions

• Inequalities in education: experiences and outcomes
• Critical university studies 
• Activism, protest and social movements
• Civil society and volunteering
• Life stages and intergenerational relationships 
• Youth engagement, intergenerational justice
• Decolonial, post-colonial and anti-colonial critique 

Current supervision

Rania Vamvaka-Tatsi

Research student

Jack Hogton

Research student

Penny Dinh

Research student

Rhianna Murphy

Research student

Kristina Addis

Research student

Laura Owens

Research student