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Overview

Dr Stephen Burrell

Assistant Professor (Research)


Affiliations
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Assistant Professor (Research) in the Department of Sociology  
Fellow of the Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing  

Biography

I am currently undertaking a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship exploring the connections between the climate crisis, masculinity and violence, and how to engage men and boys in building more caring relationships with the environment.

I am a Deputy Director of the Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse (CRiVA). Sandy Ruxton and I host an educational podcast called 'Now and Men: Current conversations about men's lives', and I am interested in the pedagogical role that podcasting can play. We have a dedicated website sharing all of CRiVA's research on Men, Masculinities and Social Change.

I completed my PhD at Durham in 2019, which investigated work with men and boys to prevent men’s violence against women in England, including how young men make sense of violence prevention campaigns. Subsequently I undertook an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship on the role of the business sector in preventing violence against women, and how to engage with men about gender equality in the workplace.

Prof Nicole Westmarland, Sandy Ruxton and I have carried out research for the Government Equalities Office about the impacts of masculine gender norms in the UK today, which resulted in a report and engagement toolkit. We have also co-authored an open access book with international colleagues, 'Men's Activism to End Violence Against Women: Voices from Spain, Sweden and the UK' (Policy Press, 2021).

My research has examined the gendered impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. This has included co-authoring report for the international NGO Equimundo with Ruxton on the connections between masculinities and Covid-19, researching the consequences of the pandemic for work with men and boys in Europe, and how to build gender equality in the North East business sector in its wake. With Westmarland and colleagues we have also explored the experiences of male victim-survivors of domestic abuse during Covid-19.

I am a trustee for White Ribbon UK and steering group chair for Changing Relations CIC. Since I first started studying sociology, feminist ideas have had a profound impact on me, and these continue to provide the main inspiration for my work. I am therefore also interested in men's varied responses to feminism.

Follow me on Twitter: @the_daily_panda

Research interests

  • Men and masculinities
  • Violence and abuse
  • Primary prevention
  • Gender inequality
  • Environmental harm
  • Masculinities and Covid-19
  • (Pro-)Feminist social movements

Research groups

Research Projects

  • Why do some men take a public stance against men's violence against women, and how can more men be encouraged to do so?

Publications

Authored book

Book review

Chapter in book

Doctoral Thesis

  • Burrell, S.R. (2019). Engaging men and boys in the prevention of men's violence against women in England. Department of Sociology. Durham University. PhD: 1-284.

Journal Article

Newspaper/Magazine Article

  • Burrell, S.R. (2022). How might supporting the Lionesses bring about change among men? White Ribbon UK
  • Burrell, S.R. & Ruxton, S. (2022). Roe v Wade: Men benefit from abortion rights too – and should speak about them more. The Conversation
  • Burrell, S.R. (2022). Conversing about men and masculinities – An example of public sociology through podcasting. Everyday Society
  • Burrell, S.R., Westmarland, N. & Ruxton, S. (2021). Sarah Everard, police culture and the 'masculinised' workplaces we can all help change. The Conversation
  • Burrell, S.R. (2021). Gareth Southgate’s England team have shown us more caring ways of being a man. Transforming Society
  • Baker, B., Alemann, C., Burrell, S.R., Griffith, D.M., Heidari, S., Kelland, J., Lal, A. & Mukherjee, S. (2021). Men and COVID-19: Where’s the policy? BMJ Global Health
  • Burrell, S.R., Westmarland, N. & Ruxton, S. (2021). How men can be allies to women right now. The Conversation
  • Burrell, S.R. (2020). The climate crisis as masculine violence? Engaging men in caring for the planet. Leverhulme Trust
  • Burrell, S.R. & Ruxton, S. (2020). Coronavirus reveals just how deep macho stereotypes run through society. The Conversation
  • Burrell, S.R. (2019). It's time men take on the responsibility for ending male violence. White Ribbon UK
  • Burrell, S.R. (2018). Changing men and masculinities in the wake of #MeToo. British Sociological Association

Report

Supervision students