UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

Sociology, Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences

Dr Matthew Waites

Qualifications: BSc Politics (University of Bristol, 1994), MA Culture and Society (University of Essex, 1995), PhD (South Bank University, 1999).

Contact Details:
 Telephone: +44 (0)141 330 4049
Email: m.waites@lbss.gla.ac.uk

Positions held:
Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Glasgow, from August 2009 (previously Lecturer in Sociology from September 2006)

  • Postgraduate Convenor for Taught  Masters Programmes
    • Convenor, MRes Sociology and Research Methods (from 2007)
    • Co-Convenor, MSc in Equality and Human Rights (from 2008) (with Professor Nick Watson).  Coordinator of Equality and Human Rights core course, and Sexualities and Society option.
    • Convenor, MSc in Sociology (from 2009)
    • For details of these programmes and how to apply click here
  • Undergraduate Teaching
    • Global Civil Society and Human Rights, Honours course (from 2009)
    • Gender Divisions, Honours Course (2008-9 only)
    • Dissertation Supervisor
    • Level 1 (Coordinator 2006-2009)

Previous positions:
Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Sheffield Hallam University (2003-2006);
Lecturer in Sociology, Sheffield Hallam University (2002-2003);
Researcher, South Bank University (part-time 1998-1999; full-time 1999-2002);
Lecturer, occasional part-time, South Bank University (1996-2002);

Contemporary Politics

Esteem:

  • Member of Equality and Human Rights Commission LGB Research Network
  • Member of Editorial Board for Sociology (Journal of the British Sociological Association), since 2007
  • Member of Editorial Board for Sexualities Journal, since 2006
  • Member of the Editorial Board for Journal of LGBT Youth, since 2007
  • Member of Editorial Board of Journal of Gender Studies, since 2008.
  • Member of:
    • British Sociological Association
    • Socio-Legal Studies Association
    • Political Studies Association
    • International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society
    • Higher Education Academy.
    • International Centre for Gender and Women's Studies
  • Co-Convenor of the BSA Sociology of Rights Study Group, from 2009’ and a link to here: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/specialisms/socrights.htm
  • Referee of research grant applications for Economic and Social Research Council, Arts and Humanities Research Council and Big Lottery Fund
  • Referee of Journal Articles for British Journal of Sociology; Contemporary Politics; Society and Space - Environment and Planning D; Environment and Planning A; Sexualities; Sociology; Sociological Research Online; Sexualities, Evolution and Gender; Culture, Health and Sexuality; Men and Masculinities; Feminism and Psychology; Journal of Gender Studies; Journal of Youth Studies; Journal of LGBT Youth; Politics; Journal of the History of Sexuality
  • Referee of Book Proposals/Books for Routledge, Palgrave Macmillan, Oxford University Press.
  • Invited appearance on Radio 5 Live to discuss homophobia and hate crime (1 November 2009)
  • Quotation/discussion of work on the age of consent in publications including Children and Young People Now, The Independent, The Scotsman, The Daily Telegraph, The West Australian.

The Age of Consent

Research

Matthew Waites has an international reputation for research and publications on sexuality, human rights, and the age of consent, illustrated by participation in international events:

  • The Global Politics of LGBT Human Rights conference at University of Glasgow organised by Matthew Waites and Kelly Kollman (Department of Politics), 16 November 2007.  This international event, funded primarily by the University of Glasgow's Chancellor's Fund, was attended by over 100 people, including international and UK academics, and representatives of various international, European, and Scottish non-governmental organisations.  Selected papers have been published in a special issue of Contemporary Politics (Vol. 15, no.1, March 2009), which will also be published as a book.

  • Invited faculty member teaching at the Sexuality and Rights Alumni Institute, India (25-29 January 2008), an advanced forum for sexual and reproductive rights practitioners for NGOs across India, organised at Northpoint Centre of Learning in Khandala (near Pune) by CREA (Creating Resources for Empowerment Action) and TARSHI (Talking About Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues)

  • Invited Plenary Speaker Presentation 'The Fixity of Sexual Identities in Global Civil Society', at international conference Global Queeries: Sexualities, Globalities, Postcolonialities, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, 10-13 May 2006

Research interests: sexualities; gender; youth and childhood; sociological, political and cultural theory; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people; feminist and queer theories; social movements; citizenship; human rights.  Interdisciplinary research has contributed to sociology, politics, law, socio-legal studies and history, and engages with cultural studies.  Research focuses on UK, international and global sexual politics, particularly in relation to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer sexual politics, but also other issues including youth and childhood.  Existing work has focused on young people's sexuality, especially historical and contemporary debates over age of consent laws, with themes including 'abuse', 'consent', and the role of the biomedical and psychological knowledge-claims in the public sphere.  Current research is exploring broader issues of equality and diversity, particularly debates over sexuality and gender in relation to human rights in global governmental organisations (the United Nations) and global civil society, as well as UK equality legislation creating a Commission for Equality and Human Rights.

Matthew has sought to promote research on LGBT lives in Scotland, for example by co-hosting and co-organising the second one-day seminar in the Economic and Social Research Council 'LGBT Lives' Seminar Series, on the theme 'Place/Space - Global Local' (University of Glasgow, 12 May 2009, co-organised with Ian Rivers, Richard Ward, Kelly Kollman and Jeff Meek).  The LGBT Lives ESRC seminar series focuses on promoting research on LGBT issues in Scotland; for details click here

Sexualities and Society

Publications:
Books, Authored:

The Age of Consent: Young People, Sexuality and Citizenship (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005)

  • The Age of Consent has been widely recognised as a valuable contribution to debates over the regulation of young people's sexual behaviour.  For example, its international comparative analysis was cited by the Canadian Bar Association's National Criminal Justice Section in its submission to the Canadian Parliament's Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, during a national debate over age of consent laws in Canada (2007)
  • Details and 'Introduction' chapter available on Palgrave Macmillan website
  • Detailed review for H-Childhood in H-Net: Humanities Humanities and Social Sciences Online
  • Further reviews include: Child and Family Law Quarterly (2007, vol 19, no 3); Youth and Policy (Summer 2007, no 96); Irish Journal of Family Law (2007, no 2); Police Journal (79, 4, Dec 2006); Gender and Education (vol 19, no 6, Nov 2007), Sexualities (Vol 11, no 3, June 2008).

Books, Edited:

Kelly Kollman and Matthew Waites (eds) The Global Politics of LGBT Human Rights (London: Routledge) (forthcoming November 2009)
Sexualities and Society: A Reader  edited by Jeffrey Weeks, Janet Holland and Matthew Waites (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2003)

Journals, Edited Issues:

Kelly Kollman and Matthew Waites (eds) The Global Politics of LGBT Human Rights, special issue of Contemporary Politics (Routledge), (Vol. 15, no.1, March 2009).

Refereed Journal Articles:

  • Critique of 'Sexual Orientation' and 'Gender Identity' in human rights discourse: global queer politics beyond the Yogyakarta Principles, in K. Kollman and M. Waites 'The Global Politics of LGBT Human Rights', special issue of Contemporary Politics vol. 15, no.1, March 2009, pp. 137-156.
  • The Global Politics of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Human Rights: An Introduction, K.Kollman and M.Waites, in K. Kollman and M. Waites 'The Global Politics of LGBT Human Rights', special issue of Contemporary Politics (Routledge), Vol. 15, no.1, March 2009, pp. 1-17.
  • Analysing Sexualities in the Shadow of War: Islam in Iran, the West and the Work of Reimagining Human Rights, Sexualities, Visions of Sexual Futures: 10th Anniversary Special Issue [invited contribution], vol. 11, nos 1-2, February/April 2008, pp 64-73
  • The Fixity of Sexual Identities in the Public Sphere: Biomedical Knowledge, Liberalism and the Heterosexual/Homosexual Binary in Late Modernity, Sexualities, Vol.8, no.5, December 2005, pp.539-569 - published as lead article.
  • Equality at Last?  Homosexuality, Heterosexuality and the Age of Consent in the United Kingdom, Sociology, Vol.37, no.4, November 2003, pp.637-656 - published as lead article.
  • Inventing a 'Lesbian Age of Consent'? The History of the Minimum Age for Sex between Women in the U.K., Social and Legal Studies, Vol. 11, no.3, September 2002, pp.323-342 - published as lead article. 
  • Regulation of Sexuality: Age of Consent, Section 28 and Sex Education, Parliamentary Affairs, Vol.54, no.3, July 2001, pp.495-508.
  • Homosexuality and the New Right: The Legacy of the 1980s for New Delineations of Homophobia, Sociological Research Online, Vol.5, no.1, May 2000, <http://www.socresonline.org.uk/>.

Book Chapters and Encyclopedia Entries:

  • Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual NGOs in Britain: Past, Present and Future  in M. Hilton, N. Crowson and J. McKay (eds) (2009) NGOs in Contemporary Britain: Non-state Actors in Society and Politics since 1945 (Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan)
  • Sexual Politics in G. Ritzer (ed)(2009) The Concise Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)
  • Gay and Lesbian Movement in J.T. Sears (ed) (2008)  The Greenwood Encycopedia of Love, Courtship and Sexuality Through History (Westport Conneticut/London: Greenwood Press); pp 99-103
  • Sexual Politics in G. Ritzer (ed)(2007) The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.).
  • The Age of Consent and Sexual Consent in M. Cowling and P. Reynolds (eds.)(2004) Making Sense of Sexual Consent (Aldershot: Ashgate).
  • Introduction: Understanding Sexualities and Society (with J. Weeks and J. Holland), in J. Weeks, J.Holland and M.Waites (eds.)(2003) Sexualities and Society (Cambridge: Polity Press). 

Non-refereed Journal Articles:

  • Jeffrey Weeks: The History of Sexuality and the Challenge of Individualization, book review of Jeffrey Weeks The World We Have Won (London: Routledge, 2007), History Workshop Journal, forthcoming 2009.
  • Adult Sexual Abuse of a Child?, New Law Journal, vol 152, no 7047, Sept 13 2002, p 1342
  • Lesbian and gay theory, sexuality and citizenship, review article, Contemporary Politics, vol 2, no 3, Autumn 1996, pp 139-149

Refereed abstracts in journals:

  • Sexual Orientation and Human Rights, Culture, Health and Sexuality, vol 9, Supplement 1, special issue: IASSCS Conference 2007 - dis/organised pleasures, abstract book; pS11

Book Reviews in Sociology; International Feminist Journal of Politics; Gender, Place and Culture; Sexualities; Contemporary Politics; Men and Masculinities; Contemporary British History; Journal of Gender Studies.

Newspaper articles:
The law doesn't stop under-16s having sex, The Independent, Education and Careers section, 15 February 2007, p4

Research Grants:

  • Research Project: 'The Regulation of Sexuality: Autonomy, Protection and Consent', October 2001-August 2002. Research Grant £24,597 - South Bank University Research Development Fund (refereed).  Analysing debates over the regulation of young people’s sexual behaviour
  • LGBT Human Rights and Global Politics Conference.  Research Grant £2000.  Chancellor's Fund, University of Glasgow, 2007 (refereed).

PhD Supervision:

Examinations

  • External Examiner for Danny Beusch, Department of Sociology, University of Warwick, 11th December 2008.  Queering Nazism of Nazi Queers?  A Sociological Study of an Online Gay Nazi Fetish Group.
  • Internal Examiner for Francesca Stella, Department of Central and Eastern European Studies, University of Glasgow, 11th November 2008.  Lesbian identities and everyday space in contemporary urban Russia.

Successful completions:

  • Jen Birks Newspaper Campaigns, Publics and Politics, 2009 (supervised by Prof. Greg Philo; second supervisor M. Waites from 2007).  Funded by Ecominic and Social Research Council, UK.
  • Christine Rivers 'Interrogating Pathology: An Exploration of Mental Distress and Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Identity', 2006. Second supervisor.  London South Bank University (with Prof. Janet Holland Director of Studies and Prof. Jeffrey Weeks).

Current PhD students:

  • Phillippa Robertson-Rieck, To what extent has disabled rights policy become embodied by young disabled persons today, from 2009, co-supervision with Prof. Nick Watson.
  • Sylivia Morgan, Ber-dashing the binary, dealing with difference: a study of transgender phenomena in Scotland, from 2009.  First supervisor.
  • Christian Holz, Applying 'Fuzzy Logic' to Global Civil Society.  Understanding the Environmental Protection Movement, from 2009.  First supervisor.
  • Meghan Ferriter, Marketing Football: Teams, Players and Celebrity, an International Approach, from 2008.  First supervisor.  
  • Carin Runciman, 'Rethinking Citizenship and Identity in South Africa' (from 2007, co-supervision with Prof. Satnam Virdee).  Funded by University of Glasgow Postgraduate Scholarship.
  • Lisa Curtice 'The Limits to Citizenship and Community Care: The Experiences of Adults with High Support Needs Living in the Community' (Supervised by Prof. N. Watson, with M. Waites from 2008)
  • For details on current PhD students see: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/sociology/postgraduateresearvhdegreesphd/currentresearchstudents/

Invited Presentations in the United Kingdom:

  • Humanism and Human Rights, invited after dinner speech at the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) annual weekend conference, Newcastle, 5th September 2009 (Report 'Humanism and LGBT Human rights' in GALHA NEWS)
  • The Global Politics of 'Sexual Orientation', 'Gender Identity' and Human Rights: Homonationalism and LGBT Critical Cosmopolitanism, opening keynote at ESRC Seminar Series 'LGBT Lives', Seminar 2 'Place/Space-Global/Local', University of Glasgow, 12 May 2009.
  • Challenging Disciplinary Politics, Imagining Radical Pluralism at Making History Personal: Celebrating the Work and Contribution of Professor Jeffrey Weeks, The Morgan Centre for the Study of Relationships and Personal Life, Department of Sociology, University of Manchester, 28 Novemner 2008.
  • Critique of "Sexual Orientation" and "Gender Identity" in Global LGBT Human Rights Discourse: The Exclusions of Global Civil Society, Sociology Seminar Series, Unversity of Newcastle, 16 January 2008.
  • Bisexuality, 'Sexual Orientation' and Human Rights: The Global Politics of Sexual Identities, Critical Sexology Seminar Series: International Approaches to Bisexuality, London South Bank University, 7 November 2007.
  • The Age of Consent: the Future of Research, Debates and Politics, Children and Young People Research Group Seminar, Faculty of Health and Social Care, Open University, 17 November 2007.
  • Should the Age of Consent be Lowered? Young People, Sexual Citizenship and the Case for "Age-Span" Provisions, School of Sport and Education Seminar Series, Brunel University, Friday 9th March 2007.
  • A Proposal for Reform of the Age of Consent, invited paper for the Department of Sociology seminar series, University of Nottingham, 29 November 2006
  • The Fixity of Sexual Identities in the Public Sphere: Liberalism, Biomedical Knowledge and the Heterosexual/Homosexual Binary in Late Modernity, Department of Sociology Seminar Series, University of Surrey, April 2006
  • Reconcetualising the Age of Consent: An Argument for Change.  ESRC Gender, Sexuality and Law:  Theory and Practice workshop series 'Sex in Criminal Justice' workshop, 18-19 March 2005, University of Westminster, London
  • Narratives of Fixed Sexual Identity in the Public Sphere.  Invited paper for University of East London's Centre for Narrative Research, Narrative workshop VII, 'Narratives of/on Sexuality' at King's College, Cambridge, 28 October 2004
  • Age of Consent Laws in the UK: Sexuality, Competence and Citizenship.  Invited paper to ESRC Beyond Boundaries: Borders, Bodies and Bonds seminar series, seminar 3: Child Labour and Child Prostitution.  University of Nottigham, 18 April 2002

Further International and UK Conference Papers (recent examples):

  • Homocosmopolitanism: Beyond the queer critique of Homonationalism to analysis of Homocosmopolitanism in Global Politics and Sociology, British Sociological Association conference, University of Cardiff, 16-18 April 2009.
  • Conflict, Citizenship and Civil Society, The European Sociological Association conference, Glasgow (September 2007)
  • Gender Unbound: AHRC Centre for Law, Gender and Sexuality, international conference, University of Keele (July 2007)
  • NGO: Non Governmental Organisations and  Politics in Contemporary Britain, University of Birmingham (July 2007)
  • Dis/organised Pleasures: Changing Bodies, Rights and Cultures, International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society (IASSCS). Lima, Peru (27-29 June 2007)
  • Sexual Orientation, Human Rights and Global Politics, Political Studies Association Conference, Unversity of Bath, 11-13 April 2007
  • Childhood and Youth: Choice and Participation, International Conference, Unviersity of Sheffield, 4-6 July 2006