Jeff Hearn

About Jeff Hearn

Research profile and interests

I am originally from London, UK, and studied Geography at Oxford, Urban Planning and Sociology at Oxford Brookes, and Organisation Studies at Leeds Universities, before teaching sociology, social policy, organisations and groups, men and masculinities, and social theory at Bradford University. It was at Bradford that I also completed my PhD on social planning, social theory and theories of patriarchy, and later ended 21 years working there as head of department that included Social Policy, Social Work and Women's Studies. In 1995 I moved to a Faculty of Social Sciences at Manchester University based in Social Policy, the first Professsorial Research Fellow (full professor) awarded in the faculty.

Since the late 1990s I have lived in the Nordic region, mainly in Finland, where I have worked at Oslo University in Norway as professor II in sociology, Hanken School of Economics in Finland as professor of management and organisation, and Linköping University in Sweden as professor of gender studies, before transferring to Örebro in 2013. I’m currently Senior Professor in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, based in Gender Studies, and the Centre for Feminist Social Studies, having previously been a Guest Research Professor here, and am also Professor of Sociology, University of Huddersfield, UK, Professor Emeritus, Hanken School of Economics, Finland, and Professor Extraordinarius, University of South Africa.

Having worked over many years in gender studies, organisation and management studies, social policy, and sociology, I have a broad critical approach to questions of social and political change. However, the area I am probably most known for is research in the sub-field of critical studies on men and masculinities. This area I have been involved with since the late 1970s, and have been genuinely surprised by how it has developed.

There are two other major areas I have worked on for a long time, namely, organisations, management and work, with special emphasis on gender, sexuality, diversity and intersectionality in and around organisations; and violence and violations, especially men’s violence to women and children.

Beyond those areas, my research interests are rather wide and include: postcolonialism and transnationalisations; social theory, methodology, material-discursive analysis; autoethnography, memory work; information society and ICTs; cultural studies; embodiment and ageing. My current research focuses mainly on transnationalisations, men and masculinities, sexuality, violence, work, and organisations.

The book, Rethinking Transnational Men, co-edited with Marina Blagojević and Katherine Harrison, was published 2013 with Routledge, the authored book, Men of the World: Genders, Globalizations, Transnational Times in 2015 with Sage on these issues. A collective book based on memory work with older men, Men’s Stories for a Change, was published in 2016, with the US publisher Common Ground Publishing, and Aging & Society. The book, Revenge Pornography: Gender, Sexuality, and Motivations, with Matthew Hall, was published with Routledge in 2017, and has just been republished in Korean.

Another book with Routledge, Engaging Youth in Activist Research and Pedagogical Praxis: Transnational and Intersectional Perspectives on Gender, Sex, and Race, edited with Tamara Shefer, Kopano Ratele and Floretta Boonzaier, was published in 2018, with multiple studies from Finland and South Africa, and the book, Unsustainable Institutions of Men; Transnational Dispersed Centres, Gender Power, Contradictions, edited with Ernesto Vasquez del Aguila, and Marina Hughson [formerly Blagojević] on men and transnational institutions, was published early 2019, also with Routledge. The book, ‘Age’ at ‘Work’: The Ambiguous Boundaries of  Organizations, Organizing and Ageing, authored with Wendy Parkin, is in press with Sage.

Background:

Education: PhD in Social Sciences (Bradford), MA Geography (Oxford), MA Organisation Studies (Leeds), PGDipTP Urban Planning and Sociology (Oxford Brookes), FAcSS (UK Academician), Honorary doctorate (Social Sciences, Lund)

Hertfordshire County Council 1970-1972; Northampton New Town Development Corporation 1972-1973; University of Bradford 1974-1995 (Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader, Head of Department); Research Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Manchester 1995-2003; Professor II, Sociology, Oslo University 1998-2001; Professor, Management and Organisation, Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, 2003-2015 (Professor Emeritus, 2015-); Professor of Sociology, University of Huddersfield, 2003-; Professor of Gender Studies (Critical Studies on Men), Linköping University 2005-2013; Visiting Professor in Universities of Gothenburg, Helsinki, Innsbruck, Linnaeus (Växjö), Lund, Radboud, Sunderland, Swedish School of Economics, Tampere, Uppsala, Åbo Academy.

Selected recent research and projects:

Principal Contractor EU FP5 The European Thematic Network on Research on Men in Europe (CROME)

Partner, EU FP6 Coordination Action on Human Rights Violations (CAHRV)

Director, Vinnova 4D Doing Driving, Doing Design: http://www.tema.liu.se/tema-g/vinnova-project?l=en

Partner, with Professor Liisa Husu, EU FP7 genSET Dialogue and Action for Gender Equality and Research Excellence in European Science: http://www.genderinscience.org/

Director, with Professor Robert Morrell, Vetenskapsrådet Sweden-South Africa Research Network on Hegemonic Masculinity

Member of Scientific Committee, the EU study on The Role of Men in Gender Equality.

Member of Transversal Dialogues on Feminist Theorising and Intersectionality, with Prof Nina Lykke (Linköping University), Prof Liisa Husu and Emerita Prof Anna Jonasdottir (both Örebro University), Vetenskapsrådet (2012-16).

Member with Professor Liisa Husu, EU Project GenPORT: sharing knowledge and inspiring collaborative action on gender and science (2013-2017).

Senior Consultant, and Chair of Senior Management Team, Processes that buffer against youth mental health problems: A longitudinal-experimental approach, Psychology, Örebro University, FORMAS (2015-2018).

Member of Social and Economic Sustainability of Future Working life: Policies, (In)Equalities and Intersectionalities (WeAll), Strategic Research Funding/Academy of Finland, Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki University, Jyväskylä University (2015-).

Member of International Scientific Advisory Board, Gender Diversity Impact – Improving research and innovation through gender diversity, EU Horizon 2020 project (GEDII), Örebro University (2015-2018).

Director, Transrights – Gender citizenship and sexual rights in Europe: lives from a transnational perspective: Sweden section. University of Lisbon/ERC (2017-2018).

Pufendorf Visiting Research Fellow and Affiliated Professor, Crisis Research Theme, Pufendorf Institute for Advanced Studies, Lund University, Sweden (2019).

Research Director, GODESS (Gender, Organisation, Diversity, Equality, Social Sustainability in Transnational Times) Institute, directed by Dr Charlotta Niemistö, Hanken School of Economics (2018-2020).

Member, ’Regimes of Violence: Theorising and Explaining Variations in the Production of Violence in Welfare State Regimes’, directed by Dr Sofia Strid, Vetenskapsrådet (2018-2021).

Member, MASCAGE, Att beköna ålder: representationer av maskuliniteter och åldrande i samtida europeisk litteratur och film [“Gendering Age: Representations of Masculinities and Ageing in Contemporary European Literatures and Cinemas”], Directors, Dr Linn Sandberg, Dr José Armengol, Vetenskapsrådet/EU Gender-Net (2019-2022).

Recent assignments:

Presentations in 30+ countries

Many conference keynotes and plenary presentations, for example, at the International Sociological Association World Conference; the European Sociological Association Conference; Gender, Work & Organization Conference; European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education; Dilemmas in Human Service Organisations International Conference; 26th T.H. Marshall Lecture; Equal is Not Enough Conference; Men, Health and Well-being: Critical Insights Conference; Gender Studies in Debate International Congress.

Co-editor, NORMA: the International Journal for Masculinity Studies

Corresponding editor, Men and Masculinities

Co-managing editor, Routledge Advances in Feminist Studies and Intersectionality book series

Distinguished Advisory Board, Gender, Work & Organization

Member of editorial advisory boards of many other journals, including: Journal of Gender Studies; Sexualities; Leadership; Gender in Management; Sociology Compass; Qualitative Research in Organization and Management.

Former Co-Director of VR GEXcel Centre of Gender Excellence; Leader, GEXcel Theme 2 “Deconstructing the Hegemony of Men and Masculinities” and Theme 9 “Gendered sexualed transnationalisations”, leading to five GEXcel Work in Progress Reports

Former Member and Co-chair of Executive Board, GEXcel Collegium of Advanced Transdisciplinary Gender Studies

Former Member of Academic Board and Selection Committee, EDDA, the Icelandic Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence on Equality, Diversity, Development, Advancement

Inaugural Chair and Co-chairperson, RINGS (The International Research Network of Institutions of Advanced Gender Studies) (2014-2020)

Highlighted publications:

The Gender of Oppression (Wheatsheaf, St Martin's Press, 1987)
'Sex' at 'Work' (with Wendy Parkin, Wheatsheaf, St. Martin’s Press, 1987; Prentice Hall/St Martin's Press, 1995)
The Sexuality of Organization (edited with Gibson Burrell, Deborah Sheppard and Peta Tancred-Sherriff, Sage, 1989)
Men, Masculinities and Social Theory (edited with David Morgan, Unwin Hyman/Routledge, 1990; Routledge, 2014)
Taking Child Abuse Seriously: Contemporary Issues in Child Protection Theory and Practice (with The Violence Against Children Study Group, Unwin Hyman, 1990; Routledge, 1993)
Men in the Public Eye (Routledge, 1992)
Men as Managers, Managers As Men (edited with David Collinson, Sage, 1996)
Men, Gender Divisions and Welfare (edited with Jeanette Edwards and Jennie Popay, Routledge, 1998)
The Violences of Men (Sage, 1998)
Children, Child Abuse and Child Protection: Placing Children Centrally (with The Violence Against Children Study Group, John Wiley, 1999)
Consuming Cultures: Power and Resistance (edited with Sasha Roseneil, Macmillan, St Martin’s Press, New York, 1999)
Transforming Politics: Power and Resistance (edited with Paul Bagguley, Macmillan. St Martin’s Press, 1999)
Information Society and the Workplace: Spaces, Boundaries and Agency (edited with Tuula Heiskanen, Routledge, 2004)
Gender, Sexuality and Violence in Organizations (with Wendy Parkin, Sage, 2001)
Handbook of Studies on Men and Masculinities (edited with Michael Kimmel and Raewyn Connell, Sage, 2005)
Men and Masculinities in Europe (with Keith Pringle et al., Whiting & Birch 2006, 2nd ed. 2013)
European Perspectives on Men and Masculinities (with Keith Pringle and members of CROME, Palgrave Macmillan 2006/2009)
Sex, Violence and the Body: The Erotics of Wounding (edited with Viv Burr, Palgrave Macmillan)
Managers Talk About Gender (with Rebecca Piekkari and Marjut Jyrkinen, Edita, 2009)
The Limits of Gendered Citizenship (edited with Elzbieta Oleksy and Dorota Golanska, Routledge, 2011)
Men and Masculinities around the World: Transforming Men's Practices (edited with Elisabetta Ruspini, Bob Pease and Keith Pringle, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012)
Study on the Role of Men in Gender Equality (with Elli Scambor et al., European Commission, 2013)
Rethinking Transnational Men (edited with Marina Blagojević and Katherine Harrison, Routledge, 2013)
Opening Up New Opportunities for Gender Equality Work (with Anna-Maija Lämsä et al., Edita, 2015)
Men of the World: Genders, Globalizations, Transnational Times (Sage, 2015)
Men’s Stories for a Change: Ageing Men Remember (with Randy Barber, Vic Blake,  David Jackson, Richard Johnson, Zbyszek Luczynski, and Dan McEwan, Common Ground, 2016)
Revenge Pornography: Gender, Sexuality, and Motivations (with Matthew  Hall, Routledge, 2017; also in Korean)
Engaging Youth in Activist Research and Pedagogical Praxis: Transnational Perspectives on Gender, Sex, and Race (edited with Tamara Shefer, Kopano Ratele and Floretta Boonzaier, Routledge, 2018)
Unsustainable Institutions of Men: Transnational Dispersed Centres, Gender Power, Contradictions (edited with Ernesto Vasquez del Aguila, and Marina Hughson, Routledge, 2019)
‘Age’ at ‘Work’: Ambiguous Boundaries of Organizations, Organizing and Ageing (with Wendy Parkin, Sage, in press)

Edited/co-edited journal special issues include:

Gender, Work and Organization (1998) on qualitative studies on ambiguity, contradiction and paradox.

Women in Management Review (2006) (with Adelina Broadbridge) on Women in Management: Perspectives from the European Academy of Management

Sexualities (2007) (with Robert Morrell, Deevia Bhana and Relebohile Moletsane) on sexualities in Southern Africa

NORMA: The Nordic Journal of Masculinity Studies (2007) on the implications of theoretical debates on masculinity for the life course, and debates on the life course for masculinity life course research.

British Journal of Management (2008) (with Adelina Broadbridge) on new research directions in gender and management

Men and Masculinities (2014) on international studies on men, masculinities and gender equality: an emerging focus of research and policy?

NORMA: International Journal of Masculinity Studies (2015) (with Kopano Ratele and Tamara Shefer) on men, masculinities and young people: North-South dialogues

Gender, rovné přiležitotosti, výzkum [Gender, Equal Opportunities, Research] (2015) (with Iva Smídová and Ivan Vodochodský) on challenging men and masculinities: the Czech context and beyond

150+ articles in refereed international journals, for example, British Journal of Management; British Journal of Social Work; Clinical Rehabilitation; Critical Social Policy; Culture and Organization; Culture, Health & Sexuality; Current Sociology; Development; Ekonomiska Samfundets Tidskrift; Evaluation: the International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice; Equality, Diversity and Inclusion; European Journal of Women’s Studies; Feminism & Psychology; Feministische Studien; Feminist Theory; Futura; Gender, Work & Organization; Interdisciplinary Science Reviews; International Journal of Social Research Methodology; International Journal of Social Welfare; International Review of Women and Leadership; Internationella studier; Journal of Advanced Nursing; The Journal of Business Ethics; Journal of Clinical Nursing; Journal of Gender Studies; Journal of Marketing Management; Leadership; Men and Masculinities; NORA: Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research; NORMA: International Journal for Masculinity Studies; Organization; Organization Studies; Political Geography; Policy & Politics; Probation Journal; Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management; Scandinavian Journal of Public Health; Sexualities; Socialist History; Socialmedicinsk Tidskrift/Journal of Social Medicine;  Social Politics; Sociology; Sociological Review; Theory, Culture & Society; Theory & Society; Violence & Victims; Violence Against Women; Women in Management Review; Working with Older People.

730 published items in all. Published in: Arabic, Bengali, English, Chinese, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Romanian, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish languages; and also in Australian, Canadian, Danish, South African, UK, and USA publications.