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Rebecca Donaldson

Rebecca's PhD project title is 'Growing Together: A Feminist Ethnography of Community Food Activism in North-East England.' Read more about Rebecca's research.

Project title

Growing Together: A Feminist Ethnography of Community Food Activism in North-East England.

Supervisors

Research clusters

About Rebecca

I'm from County Durham and have a background in Fine Art. I worked for several years in the voluntary sector across the North-East where I closely felt and observed the impacts of austerity. This propelled me towards my MA in Sociology and Social research and fuelled my interest in organisational responses to austerity.

Project description

Working from a feminist perspective, this PhD focuses on the work of community food projects, using ethnographic and arts-based methods to gain deeper insights into their approaches, impacts for members and communities, and challenges they face within the broader context of austerity and ‘cost of living crisis’.

I will consider if and how through food sharing practices these projects may re-ascribe responsibilities for life-sustaining care away from the individual (i.e., women as is set out in neoliberal rhetoric) towards the collective, also creating spaces for developing discourses around interconnected social inequalities and injustices.

Research interests

  • Food-work and inequalities
  • Food justice and food sovereignty movements
  • Voluntary sector and welfare state responsibilities
  • Organisational responses to austerity
  • Gender inequalities and gender-based violence
  • Ethics of care, care as commons
  • Arts-based Methods

Personal interests

I have a background in Fine Art and love all things creative. I’m also a keen swimmer (in the sea, the pool, wherever), and love cooking and sewing.

I also host a bi-monthly radio show called Rose Tinted at Slack's Radio - https://slacks.world/

Publications

Wright, KAM., McAreavey, R., Donaldson, R. (2024) The Impact of Brexit on Women in Northern Ireland. Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

Presentations

UACES, 2023: Where are the women? The Gendered Impact of Brexit in Northern Ireland (with Prof. Katharine AM Wright and Prof. Ruth McAreavey).

Teaching

  • SOC1032: Politics and Society
  • SOC3094: Class in Everyday Life

Academic qualifications

  • 2022: Masters in Sociology and Social Research
  • 2020: British Association for Art Therapy: Foundation in Art Therapy Practice.
  • 2016: BA in Fine Art (Painting), UAL: Wimbledon College of Art.

Contact

Email: r.donaldson4@newcastle.ac.uk
Website: https://rdonaldson4.wixsite.com/rebecca-lucy-donalds

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