Dr Rebecca Hewer
Job Title
Lecturer (Chancellor's Fellow)

Room number
6.22Building (Address)
Chrystal MacMillan BuildingStreet (Address)
15a George SquareCity (Address)
EdinburghPost code (Address)
EH8 9LDResearch interests
Research interests
Recent Publications
Hewer, Rebecca. “Governance by Gaslight: The Reproductive Politics of the Two-Child Limit.” Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, Aug. 2024, p. jxae011, https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxae011. Hewer, Rebecca MF. “The Language of Violence: Exploring the Contested Relationship Between Violence Against Women and Sex-Work/Prostitution.” Social & Legal Studies, Nov. 2022 Hewer, R. M. (2021). Sex-Work, Prostitution and Policy: A Feminist Discourse Analysis (1st ed. 2021 edition). Palgrave Macmillan. Cowan, S. Giles, HJ. Hewer, R. Kaufman, B. Kenny, M. Morris, S. & Nicoll-Baines, K. (2020) Sex and Gender Equality: a response to Murray and Hunter Blackburn. Scottish Affairs (Online First) Cowan, S., & Hewer, R. (2020). Vulnerability, Victimhood and Sex Offences. In C. Ashford & A. Maine (Eds.), Research Handbook on Gender, Sexuality and the Law. Edward Elgar. Hewer, R. (2019) Vulnerability and the Consenting Subject: Reimagining Informed Consent in Embryo Donation Feminist Legal Studies 27(3):287-310 Hewer, R. Smith, K. & Fergie, G. (2019). The Social Functionality of Humour in Group-Based Research, Qualitative Health Research, 29(3):431-444 (Online First 2018) Hewer, R. (2019). A Gossamer Consensus: Discourses of Vulnerability in the Westminster Prostitution Policy Subsystem, Social and Legal Studies 28(2): 227-249 (Online First 2018) |
Background
My research explores the socio-legal regulation of women's bodies, the politics of knowledge production (particularly as it relates to policy making) and feminist utopianism. I have expertise in sex-work, violence against women and girls, reproductive governance, social and political theory, critical discourse analysis, and utopia as method.
At present, I am pursuing two research agendas concurrently. The first explores the reproductive politics of UK fiscal policy, particularly the controversial 'two-child limit' and its non-consensual conception exception, i.e. the rape clause. As part of this work, I am undertaking BA/Leverhulme funded research that critically evaluates how eligibility for the rape clause is certified in practice. The second explores the promise of radical utopianism as it relates to the production of feminist social policy. As part of this work, myself and colleagues have formulated an innovative methodological approach, which brings together critical policy analysis and utopia as method in the hopes of producing exciting new forms of speculative knowledge. See here for more details.
I am a member of the GENDER.ED core team, and lead the 'Gender and Sexuality Studies Reading Group', a multidisciplinary network of gender and sexuality scholars who meet regularly to discuss canonical and cutting edge texts.
I hold a PhD in Social Policy from the University of Edinburgh and I am a qualified (non-practicing) barrister in the jurisdiction of England and Wales.
Works within
Staff Hours and Guidance
In Semester 1 my office hours are Monday 2pm-5pm (term time only).
To schedule a meeting outside of this time, please drop me an email.
I am on sabbatical in Semester 2 and will not have office hours.