PhD Title

Intersecting Biographies of Care: Indian migrant nurses in a globalising care economy

Research

My research contributes to the academic literature on the globalisation of care, by exploring the understandings of care that care migrants bring with them when they move from one country to another, and how these conceptualisations may influence their experiences and performances of care, both in the workplace and in transnational caregiving practices. Located in the literature on the global care chain and the transnational family, the research argues that pre-migration understandings and configurations of care must be considered when looking at the movement of care workers. At a time of increased mobility of care workers, the global has been the scale of most theorisations on care migration; local configurations and understandings of care are not considered in the analysis of the intersections of care and migration. Looking at how how a group of skilled care migrants conceptualise and understand care in the context of their life experiences and mobilities, this research argues that 'biographies of care' influence experiences and practices of care. This study will involve semi-structured biographical interviews with female Indian nurses, and qualitative care diaries in order to contextualise and extend the analysis in an attempt to bring local considerations into global conceptual frameworks.

Supervision

• Prof. Lynn Jamieson
• Dr. Julie Brownlie

 

Previous Studies

• MSc Development Studies (Distinction), University College Dublin
• BSocSc with Distinction (Sociology and Anthropology), National University of Ireland, Maynooth

 

Publications

• (fortcoming) 'Transnational Mobilities and Intersectionalities Across Time and Space: An Indian Nurses’ Migration Trajectory', Working Paper Series “Gender, Diversity and Migration”, Faculty of Social Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt.
• (forthcoming) Book Review 'Transnational Families, Migration & the Circulation of Care', edited by L. Baldassar & L. Merla. Sociology
• 2013. Book Review 'Feminism and Migration: Cross-Cultural Engagements', edited by Glenda Tibe Bonifacio. Gender and Development 21, 2

 

Conferences & Presentations

• 2015 'Using Zines as a Creative Teaching Tool' (with Mary Hanlon), presentation at the Communication Carnival: a promenade presentation of creative and committed experiments in social science communication, Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF) Annual Workshop: Social Science as Communication, Edinburgh 
• 2015 'Better We Keep Our Rosaries in Our Hand, so People will Think we are Catholic', paper presentation at The British Sociological Association Annual Conference: Glasgow Caledonian University.
• 2015 'Beyond 9-5: Invisible Work in Higher Education' panel presentation with Órla Murray and Julie Brownlie at New Directions, Sociology Student and Staff Conference: The University of Edinburgh. Moderator: Milla Järvelin.
• 2015  'When food irrupts on the research scene', panel presentation with Isabelle Darmon, Niamh Moore and Mary Hanlon.at New Directions, Sociology Student and Staff Conference: The University of Edinburgh. Moderator: Kurt Olson
• 2014 'Transnational Mobilities and Intersectionalities Across Time and Space: An Indian Nurses’ Migration Trajectory', paper presentation at summer school, Multiple Inequalities in the Age of Transnationalization: Implications for Concepts and Methods, Frankfurt, Germany
• 2014 'The spectrum of agency: Indian nurses on the move', paper presentation at British Sociological Association Annual Conference: Leeds, UK
• 2014 'Victims or Victors? Indian nurses in the UK', paper presentation at New Directions, Sociology Student and Staff Conference: University of Edinburgh
• 2013 'Biographies of Care: Indian nurses in the UK', poster presentation at 'Family Life in the Age of Migration and Mobility: Theory, Policy and Practice'. Convenors: Prof. Helma Lutz, Dr Majella Kilkey & Dr Ewa Palenga-Möllenbeck, 16-20 September Norrköping, Sweden

 

Teaching

Lecturing

• 2015 Guest lecturer for Sociology of Emotions, [honours & postgraduate], School of Social & Political Science, University of Edinburgh.
• 2014 Guest speaker for Global Politics of Sex & Gender, [honours], School of Social & Political Science, University of Edinburgh.

Tutoring

 

Research Posts

• Research Assistant: Clayoquot Sound Eco/feminist Archive, University of Edinburgh
• PhD Intern - Distance Education Project, University of Edinburgh
• Research Assistant: Irish Qualitative Data Archive, National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis, Ireland
• Research Assistant: Opt-In Programme, Fingal Centre for the Unemployed Ltd, Dublin. Analysis of health and policy legislation in Ireland designed to combat educational disadvantage

 

Events

• 2014-2015 Organiser of bi-annual Sociology PhD Writing Retreat

 

Awards

• 2012-2015 College of Humanities and Social Science Studentship, University of Edinburgh

• 2014 PhD Conference and Fieldwork Fund, The University of Edinburgh

• 2008 Professor Liam Ryan Prize, Best Results in Final Year Sociology, NUIM

• 2007 Dublin Docklands Authority's Third Level Scholarship Programme