About us: our vision
Right now, many people in our society unfairly find themselves at the bottom of the pile, facing multiple and often intersecting forms of injustice on the basis of their race, gender, health, age, income, migrant status and other factors. The Centre for Communities and Social Justice (CaSJ) critically reflects on the relationships between power and social injustice; investigates how local, community-focused processes can transform societies; and identifies solutions to harness social inclusion as a driver for social change. By disrupting dominant narratives on inequality and social justice, ultimately, we want our interdisciplinary and intersectional research to empower marginalised and under-represented individuals and groups, human and nonhuman, both here in the UK and around the world, and to create a more equal yet diverse, inclusive and democratic society.
We aim to:
- Drive positive social change and achieve social justice with marginalised voices
- Create spaces for advocacy in different areas of justice ranging from racial to gender migrant, health and environmental and multi-species justice. This includes theorising contemporary modes of community participation, connectedness and social justice.
- Engage widely with community organisations, NGOs, policymakers, students, activists, and local and central government to identify where and when social justice, or possibilities for it, can be advocated for and how this is socially recognised.
- Foster a network of skilled researchers who work thematically, collaboratively and horizontally in support of – and in partnership with – marginalised individuals and groups.
- Provide research training for our members, including PGR students, in creative and participatory methodologies with community and public sector partners. This includes co-design and co-delivery of projects, co-evaluation of policy and practice, and co-production of research outputs.
- Advance pedagogic research and research-informed teaching and encourage the involvement of students in live research enquiries in partnership with the Undergraduate Research Hub.
Our impact on the world
The CaSJ is a world-leading research centre whose work seeks to strengthen social justice, address intersectional inequalities and develop actions, policies and programmes with communities to effect change. Every member of the Centre wants their research to have a positive impact, be it supporting more inclusive practices of care, facilitating greater access to justice, contributing to dialogues within the community and public sectors or shaping new policy at local, national, and international levels.
Our interdisciplinary research directly addresses the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For example:
- Work on migration and access to justice in the London Boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, Tower Hamlets and Newham, highlighting how refugees from war and poverty often lack recourse to public funds, supports No Poverty (SDG1).
- Current research into the banning of sexual entertainment venues by local authorities, which prevents women from working, supports Gender Equality (SDG5) and Reduced Inequality (SDG10).
- Projects on access to care for forensic mental health patients and the use of arts-based research methodologies in a wide range of sectors, including the management of marine resources in UK, support Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (SDG10).
- Current multi-species research that addresses the ways we can protect the planet from climate disaster will have benefits for human and nonhuman populations alike, supporting Climate action (SDG 13).
Who we are
An interdisciplinary approach
We believe that the best way to drive beneficial social change is by tackling aspects of justice from different disciplinary perspectives. Indeed, cross-cutting, cutting-edge research is often essential to address the complex, multidimensional global challenges confronting us in the twenty-first century. The CaSJ therefore brings together an interdisciplinary network of researchers working within sociology, social policy, criminology, law, human geography and community theatre and performance. Regardless of expertise and background, all members see their research as a form of activism to support marginalised human and nonhuman groups and communities.
Partners
The Centre for Communities and Social Justice works closely with a wide variety of external partners. These include migrant organisations, such as Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network; civic engagement organisations, such as Citizens UK; advocacy groups, such as the National Sexual Entertainment Venue Coalition and Harm Reduction Malta; and arts and cultural organisations such as the Criminal Justice Arts Alliance’s research network.
We also collaborate with the Royal Borough of Greenwich and other local authorities, as well as with healthcare providers, such as the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, and the Victorian Institute for Forensic Mental Health in Melbourne (Australia). Research has also been conducted in collaboration with United Nations Population Fund on access to reproductive health in crisis situations.
We have forged partnerships with many other higher education institutions in the UK and worldwide, among them the University of Bergamo (Italy), the University of West Finland, the University of Malmö (Sweden) and the University of Delhi (India), British University of Egypt and the University of Minas Gerais (Brazil), as well as City University New York and Princeton University (USA).
Our members also collaborate closely with other Research Centres within the University of Greenwich, including: the Centres for Transformative and Global Justice; Creative Futures; Research in Language and Heritage; Spatial and Digital Ecologies; Sound and Image as part of the Institute for Inclusive Communities and Environments. Our members also collaborate with the Natural Resources Institute and the Institute for Lifecourse Development.
Funding
The CaSJ’s work is supported by, among others, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), EU Horizon, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Welsh Government. Our members have also delivered evaluation and consultancies for UN Women, the Criminal Justice Alliance, the Royal Borough of Greenwich, the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, the West London NHS Trust, Health Education England, the Wildlife and Countryside Link and Natural England. We are seeking funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust.
Our research
Collaborative, participatory and impactful research
Every member of the Centre for Communities and Social Justice is dedicated to delivering impactful research. Whether working on penal reform, gendered violence, educational provision within the criminal justice system or building sustainable communities, the need to effect practical, real-world change shapes all our projects from the outset. We achieve this through close collaboration with internal and external partners, co-designing and co-producing innovative research approaches. These entail a range of creative, innovative and participatory methodologies and epistemologies, including arts-based interventions, autoethnographic practices, and discourse and narrative analysis.
Our research is organised around four interlinked thematic strands:
- Communities and lived experience
- Gender, sexualities and feminist justice
- Migration and community networks
- Policy evidence and practice
Communities and lived experience
Here, we link research expertise and networks in relation to social justice through community, place and livelihoods engagement, and activist-based scholarship. We foreground lived experience on community projects, enabling marginalised voices to come to the fore. Among examples of our work in this area is our collaboration with community groups, such as Creating Ground, Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network and Greenwich Inclusion Project, contributing to generate the necessary evidence for the Royal Borough of Greenwich to obtain accreditation as a ‘Borough of Sanctuary.’
Gender, sexualities and feminist justice
This strand focuses on gender and sexual identities, politics and intersecting inequalities, as well as specific strengths in feminist criminal justice related to violence, deviance and justice, including activism-based research. Work in this area include a participatory evaluation of Middle Eastern Women Organisation and society (MEWso’s) services, a UN Women exploratory report on the rights, status and needs of hidden LGBTQI+ communities, and participatory action research with the National Sexual Entertainment Venue Coalition. The latter project produced training and resources for sex workers, supporting communities to carry out their own research for future campaigns on social justice issues.
Migration and community network
This research informs academic debates, policymaking and community-based initiatives for sustainable and integrated migration processes, and networks, focusing on urban landscapes. We have a particular focus on undocumented children and families, asylum groups and those with no recourse to public funds. An example of research within the migration and community network strand explored participatory and arts-based methods for civic engagement in migrant support organizations. This project, funded by AHRC, was a collaboration with the Open University.
Policy evidence and practice
In the policy evidence and practice strand we work with innovative methods, co-produced with policy-makers, practitioners and lived experience service users across a range of social issues. These include criminal justice reform, housing and homelessness, health disparities, tackling mental ill-health and well-being among children, young people, families, migrant communities, and sex workers. One recent project in this area, funded by ESRC and NERC, looked at the sustainable management of marine resources in the UK, with a particular focus on diverse values and arts-based research.
Teaching and training
All CASJ members, from junior researchers to senior academics, teach in a variety of subject areas, delivering research-informed teaching across our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Our members benefit from training, mentoring and career development, in areas such as grant-writing, creative and participatory methodologies, and media engagement. We also run structured writing retreats, such as a recent two-day writing workshop in Henley. Furthermore, we are in the process of establishing a professional
doctorate programme to provide postgraduate training for professional practitioners, enabling them to develop research skills and gain academic qualifications, empowering them within their existing roles.
Teaching and training
All CASJ members, from junior researchers to senior academics, teach in a variety of subject areas, delivering research-informed teaching across our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Our members benefit from training, mentoring and career development, in areas such as grant-writing, creative and participatory methodologies, and media engagement. We also run structured writing retreats, such as a recent two-day writing workshop in Henley. Furthermore, we are in the process of establishing a professional
doctorate programme to provide postgraduate training for professional practitioners, enabling them to develop research skills and gain academic qualifications, empowering them within their existing roles.
News and events
The Centre for Communities and Social Justice runs a programme of exciting, hybrid-accessible and interactive events, which are open to the community. These include book launches, roundtable discussions, TEDx talks, community radio shows, podcasts and animations.
