Professor Alice Bloch

Professor Alice Bloch

Professor of Sociology

Department of Sociology

Overview

Professor Bloch joined the Department of Sociology at City University London in 2003. She has undertaken a number of research projects including research for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) exploring access and barriers to the labour market for refugees in the UK; with the International Organisation for Migration, examining the economic lives and transnational activities of Zimbabweans in the UK and South Africa; and for the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, exploring the lives and experiences of young undocumented migrants.

She has been awarded an Economic and Social Research Council grant (£289,318) to carry out a study, 'Undocumented Migrants, Ethnic Enclaves and Networks: Opportunities, traps or class-based constructs'. The research is a collaboration with Professor Sonia McKay from Working Lives Research Institute, London Metropolitan University.

Professor Bloch is currently writing a book with Professor Roger Zetter and Dr Nando Sigona (both Oxford University), 'Sans Papiers: The social and economic lives of undocumented migrants in the UK', to be published by Pluto in 2013.

Research interests

Professor Bloch's research explores the social and economic experiences of forced migrants. Her research focuses mainly on understanding lived experiences, particularly marginalisation and exclusion, rights and agency, engagement in transnational relations, social networks and community, economic strategies and labour market experiences and the ways in which they intersect with class, gender, ethnicity and power. She is also interested in methodology, especially innovative methodologies in relation to sensitive research with vulnerable groups, and in developing capacity- building strategies for longer term non-academic impact and engagement.  

One of Professor Bloch's recent research projects about young undocumented migrants in England is featured in City's Spotlight on Research section.

Selected research grants (as grant holder)


Selected publications

Books

Race, Multiculture and Social Policy, forthcoming 2012, Palgrave Macmillan (with Sarah Neal and John Solomos)

Irregular Migrants: Policy, Politics, Motives and Everyday Lives, forthcoming 2012, Routledge (co-edited with Milena Chimienti)

2010: Race and Ethnicity in the 21st Century, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (co-edited with John Solomos)

2002: Refugee Migration and Settlement in Britain, Basingstoke: Palgrave, ISBN 0 333 96923 5, pp. 229

Monographs and research reports

2009: No Right to Dream: The social and economic lives of young undocumented migrants, London: Paul Hamlyn Foundation (with Sigona, N. and Zetter, R.)

2005: The Development Potential of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora: A Survey of Zimbabweans Living in the UK and South Africa, Migration Research Series, No. 17, Geneva: International Organisation for Migration

2002: Refugees Opportunities and Barriers to Training and Employment,
 Research Report, 179, Leeds: Department for Work and Pensions

Journal editorships

2011: Ethnic and Racial Studies 'Undocumented migrants: policy, politics, motives and everyday lives', Vol. 34, No. 2 (with Milena Chimienti)

2002: Critical Social Policy, 'Asylum and Welfare', Vol. 22, No. 3 (with Liza Schuster)

2000: Journal of Refugee Studies, 'Changing Asylum Policies in Europe', Vol. 13, No.1 (with Liza Schuster and Treasa Galvin)

Journal articles

'The Labour Market Experiences and Stragtegies of Young Undocumented Migrants', Work, Employment and Society (forthcoming)

2011: 'Irregular Migration in a globalising world', Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 34, No. 8, pp. 1271-1285 (with Milena Chimienti)

2011: 'Migration routes and strategies of young undocumented migrants in England: a qualitative perspective', Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 34, No. 8 (Nando Sigona and Roger Zetter)

2010: 'The Right to Rights? Undocumented migrants from Zimbabwe living in South Africa', Sociology, Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 233-250

2008: 'Zimbabweans in Britain: Transnational activities and capabilities' Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 34, 2: 287-305

2008: 'Refugees in the UK Labour Market: The contention between economic integration and policy-led labour market restriction', Journal of Social Policy, 37, 1: 21-36

2007: 'Methodological Challenges for National and Multi-sited Comparative Survey Research', Journal of Refugee Studies 20, 2: 230-247

2005: 'At the Extremes of Exclusion: Deportation, Detention and Dispersal', Ethnic and Racial Studies 28, 3: 491-512 (with Liza Schuster)

Book chapters

2011 'Structured methods: Interviews, questionnaires and observation' chapter 11 in Seale, C. (ed.) Researching Society and Culture, London: Sage, Third edition (with Phellas, C. and Seale, C.)

2011 'Statistical reasoning: from one to two variables', chapter 11 in Seale, C. (ed.) Researching Society and Culture, London: Sage, Third edition

2010: 'Key questions in the sociology of race and ethnicity, in Bloch, A. and Solomos, J. (eds.), chapter 1 in Race and Ethnicity in the 21st Century, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (with  Solomos, J.)

2010: 'Race and ethnicity in Britain: Into the 21st century, in Bloch, A. and Solomos, J. (eds.), chapter 10 in Race and Ethnicity in the 21st Century, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (with Solomos, J.)

2010: 'Transnational Lives: The experiences of Zimbabwean's in Britain', chapter 6 in Crush, J. and Tervera, D. (eds) 'Zimbabwe's Exodus: Crisis, migration, survival', Southern African Migration Project, Kingston, Canada and Cape Town, South Africa

2009: 'Barriers to the labour market: refugees in Britain', in McKay, S.(ed.) 'Refugees, recent migrants and employment: challenging barriers and exploring pathways', London: Routledge