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22 March 2013: National recognition for Professor Lydia Morris

Professor Lydia Morris has become the third academic in our Department to be elected as Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences.

The award recognises Lydia’s significant contribution to research in her field but also her contribution to social science more broadly.

Professor Eamonn Carrabine, Head of Department, said: “I would like to congratulate Lydia on behalf of our department on this wonderful achievement. To be recognised by your peers in this way is a true reflection of Lydia’s commitment to research in the social sciences. She has made a significant contribution to a number of inter-related fields and I understand that she was the only sociologist to be elected to the Academy this year, which is yet further evidence of her distinction in the field, and I am delighted for her.”

Lydia began researching in the area of anthropology, but later applied anthropological questions and methods to the sociological study of social and economic change in the UK, resulting in three books and over 20 journal articles. Much of this work concerned aspects of labour market change and gender relations, but also extended to an analysis of the concept of the underclass in Britain. This began with a consideration of welfare rights and social citizenship, but led to her later highly influential work in the sociology of human rights. She has published a further 20 journal articles, three monographs and an edited collection in this area.

The award of Academician is a scholarly distinction by the Academy of Social Sciences, presented to people who have significant achievements to their name and have contributed to social science more broadly than normal demands of their job. This contribution can be in the area of thought leadership, practitioner applications or policy development.

Lydia joins Professors Miriam Glucksmann and Joan Busfield to become one of the most distinguished academics in the UK for the social sciences.