The majority of research in this UoA is officially classified as world-leading or internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance and rigour.
The following academic unit forms the submission to UoA 23:
Sociology at Newcastle produces research that is theoretically innovative, conceptually informed, empirically rigorous, and where appropriate developed collaboratively with research users.
The unit comprises three well-established research clusters. Find out about staff and projects in these areas:
Sexuality, gender and citizenship struggles: influencing policies and building capacity to challenge exclusion
Research on sexual and gender inequalities in accessing citizenship has produced significant impacts by:
informing and influencing policy debate and formation in the UK and EU, and within Nepali governmental organisations, NGOs, and with international donors and agencies working in the region
assisting the development of advocacy and policy implementation on sexualities equalities in the UK through capacity building in local authorities, healthcare, voluntary and community organisations, and on post-trafficking citizenship issues through capacity building in NGOs concerned with human rights in Nepal and internationally
The struggle for material democratisation: contributing to the defence of essential water and sanitation services in Latin America
Lack of access to water and sanitation services is a long-term material deficit in Latin American democracies, worsened since the 1980s by privatisation and commodification policies. Research at Newcastle since 2005 has played a major role in supporting policy change to defend and enhance public services by providing evidence-based grounds for policy interventions and informed citizen participation. It has:
supported implementation of Brazil's first National Basic Sanitation Law and Plan for Basic Sanitation
contributed to campaigns against commodification and privatisation and to re-publicise privatised WSS, improving the quality of public debate
informed training activities in influential public and civil society organizations
Bringing tissue providers' voices into the ethical governance of clinical research
Clinical research is heavily dependent on individuals providing tissues for experimentation and therapeutic developments. Since the Declaration of Helsinki (1964) the ethical protection of tissue providers has been a central concern. However, tissue providers have rarely been included in designing those protections.
Research at Newcastle (2001–2011) has contributed to changing that since 2008 by bringing providers' perspectives to the attention of key audiences: clinical research funders, policy advisers, and practising scientists.
In terms of significance and reach this research has:
impacted on guidelines for the ethical conduct of clinical research by adding a new perspective
strengthened the guidance provided by two major international advisory bodies
contributed to the ethical protection of over 500,000 research participants