Research Initiatives

Centre of Governance and Human Rights

CGHR thinks critically and innovatively to foster citizen voice and solidarity-building towards a just, inclusive and better world. Across the world, societies and polities face rapid transformations in technology, alongside upheavals in climate, health, conflict and global order, and demands to address historic and new...

Culture and Politics Research Group

The Culture and Politics Research Group (CPRG) brings together scholars interested in power, conflict, and ideas. CPRG's aim is to build a collaborative community of scholars. CPRG is a space for postgraduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty members to discuss the impact of selected readings on their...

Gender & Sexuality Research Cluster

The Gender & Sexuality Research Cluster is a multidisciplinary community that brings together postgraduate students and faculty dedicated to the study of gender and sexualities (broadly construed). Our approach is intersectional, recognising the interconnectedness of these categories with other social markers such as...

The Individual in the Labour Market

We are an interdisciplinary research support group established by members of the Department of Sociology which attracts students, postdocs and teaching staff from anthropology, psychology, management, human geography, law, politics and economics.

Social Class Reading Group

The Social Class Reading Group provides an open and welcoming space to explore the role and significance of social class in the 21st century. It is a welcoming space for open discussions, and we encourage participation from postgraduates, postdocs, lecturers, and researchers across disciplines who are interested in this...

Sociology in Fiction - text against an image of books and bookshelves

Sociology in Fiction Research Cluster

The Sociology in Fiction research cluster is community of postgraduate students, postdoctoral researchers and faculty members interested in exploring the relationship between literature and social theory.

A futuristic AI interface with glowing blue neural network patterns on a dark background, symbolizing advanced artificial intelligence. The interface is filled with holographic projections of data streams, code, and 3D brain-like structures, showcasing th

Sociology of AI Research Group

This research group shines the sociological spotlight on artificial intelligence, to answer questions such as: How can sociology help us understand the rise of AI and its attendant problematics? What can our theory say about the empirical data around AI, and what can the empirical data around AI say about our theory? What...

Talking History

Talking History is a study group for sociology postgraduate students conducting historical research. Format Talking History is a study group for sociology postgraduate students conducting historical research. It meets once a term in four-hour sessions, including a potluck lunch break. Proceedings commence with the History...

Technology and New Media Research Cluster

The research cluster's aim is to bring together academics from a range of backgrounds with an interest in technology and new media in order to explore and discuss recent and ongoing research. We welcome all students (undergraduate and postgraduate), staff, and visiting scholars to attend and participate in any/all sessions...

The Theory Hub

The Theory Hub is a research group coordinated by Filipe Carreira da Silva that brings together faculty and students interested in social and political theory broadly construed. Based at the University of Cambridge since 2016, the Theory Hub is active in four main areas: the Theory Hub Advanced Training (since 2018)...

Working Time Reduction Research Network

The Working Time Reduction Research Network brings together researchers from universities and research institutes with a core interest in working time reduction. We are interested in collective working time reduction, whether at the level of employers, the national level, or through collective bargaining by trade unions...

Decolonise Sociology

Decolonise Sociology is a working group created in 2017 by the Department of Sociology to assist with the active decolonisation of the department. The group consists of student and faculty members, and the original remit formulated by the group is as follows: The group aims to support the department in decolonising its...

Seeing Sociology: Sociology, Film & Visual Art- Research Cluster

This research cluster brings together all those who are interested in exploring the connections between disciplinary sociology and the medium of film. There are a number of members of the department who are exploring these intersections - either through making films, working collaboratively with filmmakers and visual...