Professor Rebecca Kay
- Professor of Russian Gender Studies (Central and East European Studies)
telephone: 01413302847
email: Rebecca.Kay@glasgow.ac.uk
Research interests
Research Biography
Social Support and Migration in Scotland:
I am currently PI of a large ESRC funded research project exploring Social Support and Migration in Scotland (SSAMIS) which started in November 2013, and will run for four years. The project aims to study perspectives and experiences of 'social security' amongst migrants from Central Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union in Scotland, and how experiences of 'social security' (used in a holistic sense to mean the ways migrants make themselves socially, economically, personally and culturally secure in a new environment) impact upon longer term intentions regarding settlement in Scotland. A further aim of the project is, through its long-term and deep engagement with migrant communities, to deliver new and original empirical data which will prove to be of benefit not only in terms of its academic contribution, but also through its practical and policy relevance. As part of the project we have thus prioritised a participatory action research element. See the Project Website for further details, like us on Facebook: ssamisproject, or follow us on Twitter @ssamisproject.
Social Security, Care and the Withdrawing State in Rural Russia:
My most recent previous project explored intersecting issues of care, welfare and social security in the context of a Siberian village. This was funded in 2009-10 by a grant from the British Academy. The project involved a detailed study of the gendered nature of experiences and practices of care, welfare and social security in contemporary Russia, and the ways in which people draw on a variety of state/non-state, formal/informal resources in order to create forms of material and social security for themselves and others. For more details please visit the project page
Gender, Identity and Socio-Economic Transformations:
I have been interested in studying gendered experiences of socio-economic, cultural and political transformation in contemporary Russia since the early 1990s. My doctoral research focused on women's experiences in the early years of post-Soviet transformation and considered women's engagement with grassroots women's organisations as a means of negotiating these gendered transformations. Perhaps inevitably, questions emerged from this research regarding the impacts of gender on men's lives and experiences. My next project, considered the lives and concerns of men in provincial Russia.
I am a founder member and former co-convener of the Glasgow Refugee, Asylum and Migration Network.
Research Interests
- Care, Welfare and Social Security
- Migration, especially from Central and Eastern Europe to Scotland
- Ethnographic and participatory research
- Gender politics and identity
- Russian culture and society
Grants
I am currently PI of a large ESRC funded research project exploring Social Support and Migration in Scotland (SSAMIS) which started in November 2013, and will run for four years.
The project aims to study perspectives and experiences of 'social security' amongst migrants from Central Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union in Scotland, and how experiences of 'social security' (used in a holistic sense to mean the ways migrants make themselves socially, economically, personally and culturally secure in a new environment) impact upon longer term intentions regarding settlement in Scotland.
A further aim of the project is, through its long-term and deep engagement with migrant communities, to deliver new and original empirical data which will prove to be of benefit not only in terms of its academic contribution, but also through its practical and policy relevance. As part of the project we have thus prioritised a participatory action research element.
See the Project Website for further details.
Follow us on twitter @ssamisproject; Like us on Facebook ssamisproject
Supervision
Postgraduate Supervision
I greatly enjoy postgraduate supervision and will be happy to consider proposals from students interested in pursuing postgraduate research related to any of my areas of experience. The department of Central and East European Studies has a policy of joint supervision and I am pleased to be involved in the supervision of students where I can offer either methodological or thematic insight in collaboration with colleagues. I am currently supervisor to 5 PhD students.
Currently supervised PhD topics include:
- Exploring the socio-legal aspects of low-level corruption: A study of informal economic transactions of long-term local residents and migrants in Scotland and Hungary. Fanni Gyurko (co-supervised with Helen Hardmann and Moya Flynn, CEES)
- Liberating the Eastern Slave’ - the role of the Zhenotdel (Women’s Bureau) of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in Central Asia of the 1920s’. Anne McShane (co-supervised with Maud Bracke, History)
- Language Preservation and Social Integration amongst Russian-Speaking Families in Scotland. Nina Ivashinenko (co-supervised with Moya Flynn, CEES and Hazel Crichton, Education)
- The Influence of Japanese Popular Culture on Russian Youth Subcutural Communities. Natalia Khalymonchik (co-supervised with Moya Flynn, CEES and Francesca Stella, Sociology)
- Gendered Everyday Experiences of Welfare and Neoliberalism in the Czech Republic. Amy Watson (co-supervised with Moya Flynn and Clare McManus, CEES)
PhD theses successfully defended:
- Katy Turton , Forgotten Lives: The role of Ana, Ol'ga and Mariia Ul'ianova in the Russian Revolution, 1864-1937. 2004
- Courtney Bain, Entrepreneurship in Russia: Patterns and Problems of its Development in the Post-Soviet Period. 2006
- Vikki Turbine, Women's perceptions of human rights and rights-based approaches in everyday life: a case study from provincial Russia. 2007
- Francesca Stella , Lesbian identities and everyday spaces in contemporary urban Russia. 2009
- Jackie Kirkham, A Comparative Study of Voluntary/Non-Governmental Sector Provision of Health Services in Romania and the Republic of Moldova. 2010
- Rebecca Reynolds, Natural Resources, Ethnicity and Conflict in the Ferghana Valley, Kyrghyzstan. 2011
- Eleanor Bindman, The European Union and Human Rights NGOs in Russia during Putin's Second Term. 2012
- Holly Porteous, Representations of Women in Contemporary Russian Culture. 2014
- Taulant Guma, Negotiations of social security welfare and risk amongst migrant populations from former socialist countries residing in Glasgow. 2015
- Poppy Kohner, Performing Violent Identities: challenging the script of victims and perpetrators of violence. 2016
Teaching
Undergraduate Teaching
- Honours Option: Social History and Cultural Politics in Twentieth Century Russia
- Honours Option: Cultural Politics and Social Diversity in Contemporary Russia and Post-Socialist Europe
Postgraduate Teaching
Within Central & East European Studies:
- MSc Option: Gender and Society in Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia (Semester 2)
- Contributes to:
- Research Methods for Studying Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia (Semester 1)
- Thematic Issues in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies (Semester 1)
Beyond Central & East European Studies:
- Critical Perspectives on Securities and Vulnerabilities (Global Securities)
