- Kaiser, S., Suess, S., Cohen, R., Mikkelsen, E.N. and Pedersen, A.R. (2022). Working from home: Findings and prospects for further research. German Journal of Human Resource Management: Zeitschrift für Personalforschung, 36(3), pp. 205–212. doi:10.1177/23970022221106973.
- Cohen, R.L. (2020). ‘We’re not like that’: Crusader and Maverick Occupational Identity Resistance. Sociological Research Online, 25(1), pp. 136–153. doi:10.1177/1360780419867959.
- Bozkurt, Ö. and Lara Cohen, R. (2019). Repair work as good work: Craft and love in classic car restoration training. Human Relations, 72(6), pp. 1105–1128. doi:10.1177/0018726718786552.
- Cohen, R.L. (2019). Spatio–Temporal Unboundedness: A Feature, Not a Bug, of Self-Employment. American Behavioral Scientist, 63(2), pp. 262–284. doi:10.1177/0002764218794781.
- Cohen, R.L., Hardy, K. and Valdez, Z. (2019). Introduction to the Special Issue: Everyday Self-Employment. American Behavioral Scientist, 63(2), pp. 119–128. doi:10.1177/0002764218794786.
- Cohen, R.L. and Wolkowitz, C. (2018). The Feminization of Body Work. Gender, Work & Organization, 25(1), pp. 42–62. doi:10.1111/gwao.12186.
- Cohen, R.L. (2014). Playing with Numbers: Using Top Trumps as an Ice-Breaker and Introduction to Quantitative Methods. Enhancing Learning in the Social Sciences, 6(2), pp. 21–29. doi:10.11120/elss.2014.00030.
- Cohen, R.L. (2013). Femininity, Childhood and the Non-Making of a Sporting Celebrity: The Beth Tweddle Case. Sociological Research Online, 18(3).
- Cohen, R.L. (2011). Time, space and touch at work: Body work and labour process (re)organisation. Sociology of Health and Illness, 33(2), pp. 189–205. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9566.2010.01306.x.
- Twigg, J., Wolkowitz, C., Cohen, R.L. and Nettleton, S. (2011). Conceptualising body work in health and social care. Sociology of Health and Illness, 33(2), pp. 171–188. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9566.2010.01323.x.
- Cohen, R.L., Hughes, C. and Lampard, R. (2011). The methodological impact of feminism: A troubling issue for sociology? Sociology, 45(4), pp. 570–586. doi:10.1177/0038038511406599.
- Hughes, C. and Cohen, R.L. (2010). Feminists really do count: The complexity of feminist methodologies. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 13(3), pp. 189–196. doi:10.1080/13645579.2010.482249.
- Cohen, R.L. (2010). Rethinking 'mobile work': Boundaries of space, time and social relation in the working lives of mobile hairstylists. Work, Employment and Society, 24(1), pp. 65–84. doi:10.1177/0950017009353658.
- Cohen, R.L. (2010). When it pays to be friendly: employment relationships and emotional labour in hairstyling. SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW, 58(2), pp. 197–218. doi:10.1111/j.1467-954X.2010.01900.x.
- Cohen, R.L. (2008). Changing Places of Work - By Alan Felstead, Nick Jewson and Sally Walters. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 46(3), pp. 557–559. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8543.2008.00690_2.x.
Contact details
Address
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom
About
Overview
Rachel Lara Cohen is a Professor in Sociology, Work and Employment.
Professor Cohen joined City, University of London in January 2013. She has previously worked as a lecturer at the University of Surrey and the University of Warwick and visiting lecturer at St Petersburg State University. She obtained an MA and then PhD (both in Sociology) from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and between 2007and 2010 Dr Cohen was a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Between 2017 and 2020 Dr Cohen was Head of Department of Sociology at City.
Professor Cohen's main interests are in the sociology of work and employment; especially 'non-standard' work, namely self-employment, mobile work, homeworking, and work-life boundaries. She has explored the working lives and employment relations of paticular occupations, including hairdressers, car mechanics and accountants. Her research takes a mixed-methods approach. She co-edited a special issue of Sociology of Health and Illness on 'body work' (work which takes the bodies of others as its object) and an issue of American Behavioral Scientist on Everyday Self-Employment. She has also published on gender and sport.
Professor Cohen is Co-Investigator on a three year ESRC-funded research project, 'L-Earning: Rethinking young women's working lives' (2022-2025). This project explores young women’s early experiences of work – including work while studying – and how these experiences may contribute to gendered inequalities in later life. Further details: https://ywworking.co.uk
Professor Cohen has published and run events on feminism and quantitative methods, and co-edited an issue of The International Journal of Social Research Methodology on this topic. She has also published on statistical literacy and learning.
From 2013 (until 2017) Professor Cohen was PI and founding Coordinator of City Q-Step Centre, to develop the data literacy of social science students who typically lack strong mathematical backgrounds (https://www.city.ac.uk/arts-social-sciences/sociology/city-q-step-centre).
Professor Cohen is a recent-past Convenor of the BSA Study Group on Work, Employment and Economic Life. She is Associate Editor of Work in the Global Economy. She has previously been on the editorial board of the European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology and the editorial board of Work, Employment and Society (2010-2016), She was editor of Radical Statistics (2012-2016). She was a co-organiser of the 2018 Work, Employment and Society Conference in Belfast.
Professor Cohen is an Elected Senator at City (and previously Senior Elected Senator). She is past-Vice-President of City UCU and was a member of UCU National Executive Committee (2016-18).
Beyond academia she writes and co-hosts a podcast about women's football.
Qualifications
- Senior Fellow, Higher Education Academy, United Kingdom, 2021
- Postgraduate Certificate in Academic and Professional Practice, University of Warwick, 2008
- PhD Sociology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States, 1997 – 2005
- MA Sociology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States, 1995 – 1997
- BA Politics and Modern History, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, 1990 – 1993
Administrative roles
- Head of Department of Sociology, City, University of London, Sep 2017 – Dec 2020
- City Q-Step Centre Coordinator, City, University of London, Sep 2013 – Sep 2017
- Undergraduate Programme Director, City, University of London, May 2013 – Aug 2016
Research
Research interests
- employment relations and non-standard work (e.g. self-employment, homework and mobile work)
- work-life boundaries
- the times and spaces of work
- work within specific occupations and occupational labour process variation
- body work'/'body labour'
- worker-customer relations, including 'emotional labour'
- young people's working lives
- work while studying
- gender and sport or other topics relating to sporting life
- feminist research methods
- mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) research
- quantitative methods and learning in sociology
Areas of PhD supervision
I have broad sociological interests, am interested in academic learning and welcome requests to supervise PhDs.
I consider all requests and have supervised projects across diverse areas. However, I especally welcome anyone interested in the area of the sociology of work and employment or economic or comparative sociology, especially projects which fit with my research interests (as above).
I am also excited about working with researchers undertaking interdisciplinary research or who want to explore innovation in the production or use of data.
If you are interested in undertaking a research degree, get in touch by email to set up a chat so that we can discuss what it might involve. It is helpful if you already have a good idea of what you want to do but to initiate a conversation you do not need a fully polished proposal.
Research students
Lydia Hughes
Attendance: 2023 – present
Thesis title: A Crisis of Care: Workers' experience in the adult care sector
Role: 1st Supervisor
Jessica Simpson
Attendance: 2015 – 2020, full-time
Thesis title: Student involvement in stripping and service work: what happens after university?
Role: 1st Supervisor
Rima Saini
Attendance: 2014 – 2019
Thesis title: Negotiating visible minority ethnic and ‘middle-class’ social identity in the UK
Role: 1st Supervisor
Gabriella Caminotto
Attendance: 2013 – 2018
Thesis title: Doing 'women's work': Gendered discourses in UK higher education administration
Role: 2nd Supervisor
Liz Gilfillan
Attendance: 2013 – 2017, part-time
Thesis title: A statistical study of the relationship between ethnic diversity and social quality in local areas in England
Further information: I was not the initial supervisor but took over when I joined City.
Delaram Ghanimifard
Attendance: 2013 – 2016
Thesis title: Representations of Power Relations in Tehran Urban Spaces
Role: 1st Supervisor
Further information: I was not the initial supervisor but took over when I joined City.
Nongluck Pussayapibul
Attendance: 2013 – 2016, part-time
Thesis title: Quality of Life Strategy for Camden’s Older Citizens
Role: 1st Supervisor
Further information: I was not the initial supervisor but took over when I joined City.
Publications
Publications by category
Books (4)
- Wolkowitz, C., Cohen, R., Sanders, T. and Hardy, K. (Eds.), (2013). Body/Sex/Work: Intimate, embodied and sexualised labour. London: Palgrave. ISBN 978-1-137-02190-8.
- Hughes, C. and Cohen, R.L. (Eds.), (2013). Feminism Counts Quantitative Methods and Researching Gender. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-98621-8.
- Wolkowitz, C., Cohen, R.L., Sanders, T. and Hardy, K. (Eds.), (2013). Body/Sex/Work. Macmillan Education UK. ISBN 978-1-137-02190-8.
- Twigg, J., Wolkowitz, C., Cohen, R.L. and Nettleton, S. (Eds.), (2011). Body Work in Health and Social Care Critical Themes, New Agendas. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-4443-4584-1.
Chapters (7)
- Cohen, R. (2015). Towards a quantitative feminist sociology: the possibilities of a methodological oxymoron. In McKie, L. and Ryan, L. (Eds.), An End to the Crisis of Empirical Sociology? Trends and Challenges in Social Research (pp. 117–135). London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-82867-4.
- Cohen, R.L., Hardy, K., Sanders, T. and Wolkowitz, C. (2013). The Body/Sex/Work Nexus: A Critical Perspective on Body Work and Sex Work. Body/Sex/Work (pp. 3–27). Macmillan Education UK. ISBN 978-1-137-02190-8.
- Sanders, T., Cohen, R.L. and Hardy, K. (2013). Hairdressing/Undressing: Comparing Labour Relations in Self-Employed Body Work. Body/Sex/Work (pp. 110–125). Macmillan Education UK. ISBN 978-1-137-02190-8.
- Cohen, R.L. (2011). Time, Space and Touch at Work: Body Work and Labour Process (Re)Organisation. (pp. 19–35). Wiley. ISBN 978-1-4443-4987-0.
- Twigg, J., Wolkowitz, C., Cohen, R.L. and Nettleton, S. (2011). Conceptualising Body Work in Health and Social Care. (pp. 1–18). Wiley. ISBN 978-1-4443-4987-0.
- Cohen, R.L. (2008). Work relations and the multiple dimensions of the work-life boundary: Hairstyling at home. In Warhurst, C., Eikhof, D.R. and Haunschild, A. (Eds.), Work less, live more? (pp. 115–135). Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN 978-0-230-53560-2.
- Cohen, R. Types of work and labour. In Gall, G. (Ed.), HANDBOOK ON THE POLITICS OF LABOUR, WORK AND EMPLOYMENT London: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
Journal articles (15)
Professional activities
Editorial activity (4)
- Work in the Global Economy, Associate Editor, 2020 – present.
- European Journal for Cultural and Political Sociology, Editorial Board Member, 2013 – 2018.
- Radical Statistics, Editor, 2012 – 2016.
- Work, Employment and Society, Editorial Board Member, 2010 – 2016.
Online articles (6)
- RFEF has given us a glimpse of the institutional misogyny women footballers face. (2023). Impetus
- I don't need to be inspired. (2023). Impetus
- CareRooms initiative is another assault on domestic labour. (2017). The Conversation
- #RealBurghley isn’t about Damian Lewis or class war. It’s about our brilliant school. (2016). The Guardian
- Crises in care: compassion and body work. (2015). Discover Society http://www.discoversociety.org/2015/01/03/crises-in-care-compassion-and-body-work/
- UK Self-Employment Boom: Why This Labour Market Trend is Worrying. (2014). International Business Times http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/uk-self-employment-boom-why-this-labour-market-trend-worrying-1461006