Dr Robert Gibb

  • Senior Lecturer (Sociological & Cultural Studies)

telephone: 01413306399
email: Robert.Gibb@glasgow.ac.uk

R802 Level 8, Sociology, Adam Smith Building, Glasgow G12 8RT

Import to contacts

ORCID iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227

Biography

I joined the University of Glasgow in 2004, after previously working at the University of Central Lancashire and being the Leach/Royal Anthropological Institute Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. 

I have an MA (Hons) degree in Social Anthropology and Sociology and a PhD in Social Anthropology, both from the University of Edinburgh. In my ESRC-funded doctoral research, an anthropological study of the French anti-racist association SOS-Racisme, I examined the relationship between party politics, anti-racism and republicanism in contemporary France. Since then, I have conducted anthropological research on refugee status determination procedures in France and Bulgaria, with a particular focus on questions of translation and interpretation. The research in France was part of an AHRC-funded project entitled 'The Conversion of Asylum Applicants' Narratives into Legal Discourses in the UK and France: A Comparative Study of Problems of Cultural Translation’, conducted in collaboration with Prof A. Good (School of Social and Political Studies, The University of Edinburgh). I carried out the research in Bulgaria as part of the AHRC-funded large research project ‘Researching Multilingually at the Borders of Language, the Body, Law and the State’.

Research interests

  • Language and translation
  • The state, bureaucracies and social movements
  • Refugee status determination procedures
  • Learning (language and music) and skill
  • Contemporary social theory (especially theories of power and absurdity)

Research groups

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2024 | 2023 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2014 | 2013 | 2011 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2004 | 2003 | 2001
Number of items: 29.

2024

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 and Tonner, Philip ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8243-7385 (2024) Introduction. In: Ingold, Tim, Gibb, Robert, Tonner, Philip and Malara, Diego Maria (eds.) Conversations with Tim Ingold: Anthropology, Education and Life. Scottish Universities Press: Edinburgh. ISBN 9781917341028 (doi: 10.62637/sup.cmnz6231)

Ingold, Tim, Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227, Tonner, Philip ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8243-7385 and Malara, Diego Maria ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3215-9940 (2024) Conversations with Tim Ingold: Anthropology, Education and Life. Scottish Universities Press: Edinburgh. ISBN 9781917341028 (doi: 10.62637/sup.cmnz6231)

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2024) Re-learning hope: On alienation, theory and the ‘death’ of universities. In: Eldridge, Alison and Smith, Andrew (eds.) Revisiting Culture and Society: Towards a Politics of Social Transformation. Essays in honour of Bridget Fowler. SAGE Publications: London. ISBN 9781036205768

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2024) Re-learning hope: On alienation, theory and the ‘death’ of universities. Sociological Review, 72(4), pp. 914-929. (doi: 10.1177/00380261241258617)

2023

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2023) Metaphors and practices of translation in anglophone anthropology. Social Science Information, 62(4), pp. 533-552. (doi: 10.1177/05390184231221702)

2019

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227, Tremlett, Annabel and Danero Iglesias, Julien (Eds.) (2019) Learning and Using Languages in Ethnographic Research. Series: Researching multilingually. Multilingual Matters: Bristol. ISBN 9781788925914

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2019) ‘Demystifying’ multilingual fieldwork: on the importance of documenting and reflecting on language learning in ethnographic research. In: Gibb, Robert, Tremlett, Annabel and Danero Iglesias, Julien (eds.) Learning and Using Languages in Ethnographic Research. Series: Researching multilingually. Multilingual Matters: Bristol. ISBN 9781788925914

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227, Tremlett, Annabel and Danero Iglesias, Julien (2019) Conclusion. In: Gibb, Robert, Tremlett, Annabel and Danero Iglesias, Julien (eds.) Learning and Using Languages in Ethnographic Research. Series: Researching multilingually. Multilingual Matters: Bristol. ISBN 9781788925914

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227, Tremlett, Annabel and Danero Iglesias, Julien (2019) Introduction. In: Gibb, Robert, Tremlett, Annabel and Danero Iglesias, Julien (eds.) Learning and Using Languages in Ethnographic Research. Series: Researching multilingually. Multilingual Matters: Bristol. ISBN 9781788925914

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2019) Communicative practices and contexts of interaction in the refugee status determination process in France. In: Gill, Nick and Good, Anthony (eds.) Asylum Determination in Europe: Ethnographic Perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke, Hampshire, pp. 155-174. ISBN 9783319947488 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-94749-5_8)

2018

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 and Danero Iglesias, Julien (2018) Blurred vision? 'Superdiversity' as a lens in research on communication in border contexts. In: Creese, Angela and Blackledge, Adrian (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Language and Superdiversity. Series: Routledge handbooks in applied linguistics. Routledge, pp. 89-102. ISBN 9781138905092

2017

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 and Danero Iglesias, Julien (2017) Breaking the silence (again): on language learning and levels of fluency in ethnographic research. Sociological Review, 65(1), pp. 134-149. (doi: 10.1111/1467-954X.12389)

2014

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2014) Response to Sluis and Edwards, 'Rethinking combined departments'. Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences, 7(2), pp. 89-92. (doi: 10.3167/latiss.2014.070206)

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 and Good, Anthony (2014) Interpretation, translation and intercultural communication in refugee status determination procedures in the UK and France. Language and Intercultural Communication, 14(3), pp. 385-399. (doi: 10.1080/14708477.2014.918314)

2013

Gibb, R ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 and Lambert, P (2013) Studying Language and Society: Contemporary Developments at the Intersection of Sociology and Sociolinguistics. In: Jones, M and Hornsby, D (eds.) Language and Social Structure in Urban France. Legenda: Oxford. ISBN 978-1-907975-41-7

Gibb, R. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 and Good, A. (2013) Do the facts speak for themselves? Country of origin information in French and British refugee status determination procedures. International Journal of Refugee Law, 25(2), pp. 291-322. (doi: 10.1093/ijrl/eet015)

2011

Gausset, Q., Kenrick, J. and Gibb, R. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2011) Indigeneity and autochthony: a couple of false twins? Social Anthropology, 19(2), pp. 135-142. (doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8676.2011.00144.x)

Gausset, Q., Kenrick, J. and Gibb, R. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2011) Introduction: What place for indigenous people in modern states? Anthropological Notebooks, 17(2), pp. 5-9.

2008

Gibb, R. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2008) Origin myths, conspiracy theories and anti-racist mobilizations in France. In: Reed-Danahay, D. and Brettell, C. (eds.) Citizenship, Political Engagement, and Belonging: Immigrants in Europe and the United States. Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, NJ, USA, pp. 144-161. ISBN 9780813543291

2007

Bazin, L., Gibb, R. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 and Selim, M. (2007) Identités Nationales d'Etat. Journal des Anthropologues (Hors-série) [Volume editors]. Journal des Anthropologues,

Bazin, L., Gibb, R. and Selim, M. (2007) Nationalisation et Etatisation des identités dans le monde contemporain. Journal des Anthropologues, pp. 7-35.

2006

Bazin, L, Gibb, R, Neveu, C and Selim, M (2006) The broken myth: Popular unrest and the 'republican model of integration' in France. Anthropology Today, 22(2), pp. 16-17. (doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8322.2006.00424.x)

2004

Gibb, R. (2004) Seminar culture(s), rites of passage and the unmentionable in contemporary British social anthropology. In: Mills, D. and Harris, M. (eds.) Teaching Rites and Wrongs: Universities and the Making of Anthropologists. Series: Sociology, anthropology, politics (C-SAP) monograph series (2). C-SAP: Birmingham, UK, pp. 40-74.

2003

Gibb, R (2003) Constructions et mutations de l'antiracisme en France. Journal des Anthropologues, 94-95, pp. 165-179.

Gibb, R. (2003) Anti-racism, citizenship and integration in contemporary France. In: Herrmann, P. (ed.) Between Politics and Sociology: Mapping Applied Social Studies. Series: Applied social sciences : recent developments, international and comparative perspectives. Nova Science: Hauppauge, NY, USA, pp. 77-97. ISBN 9781590335918

2001

Gibb, R. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 and Mills, D. (2001) An interview with Adam Kuper. Social Anthropology, 9(2), pp. 207-216. (doi: 10.1017/S0964028201000143)

Gibb, R (2001) Toward an Anthropology of Social Movements. Journal des Anthropologues, 85-86, pp. 233-253.

Gibb, R. (2001) Leadership, political opportunities and organisational identity in the French anti-racist movement. In: Barker, C., Johnson, A. and Lavalette, M. (eds.) Leadership and Social Movements. Manchester University Press: Manchester, UK, pp. 60-76. ISBN 9780719059018

Mills, D and Gibb, R (2001) 'Centre' and periphery - An interview with Paul Willis. Cultural Anthropology, 16(3), pp. 388-414.

This list was generated on Sun Jun 15 15:34:46 2025 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Books | Book Sections | Edited Books
Number of items: 29.

Articles

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2024) Re-learning hope: On alienation, theory and the ‘death’ of universities. Sociological Review, 72(4), pp. 914-929. (doi: 10.1177/00380261241258617)

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2023) Metaphors and practices of translation in anglophone anthropology. Social Science Information, 62(4), pp. 533-552. (doi: 10.1177/05390184231221702)

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 and Danero Iglesias, Julien (2017) Breaking the silence (again): on language learning and levels of fluency in ethnographic research. Sociological Review, 65(1), pp. 134-149. (doi: 10.1111/1467-954X.12389)

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2014) Response to Sluis and Edwards, 'Rethinking combined departments'. Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences, 7(2), pp. 89-92. (doi: 10.3167/latiss.2014.070206)

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 and Good, Anthony (2014) Interpretation, translation and intercultural communication in refugee status determination procedures in the UK and France. Language and Intercultural Communication, 14(3), pp. 385-399. (doi: 10.1080/14708477.2014.918314)

Gibb, R. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 and Good, A. (2013) Do the facts speak for themselves? Country of origin information in French and British refugee status determination procedures. International Journal of Refugee Law, 25(2), pp. 291-322. (doi: 10.1093/ijrl/eet015)

Gausset, Q., Kenrick, J. and Gibb, R. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2011) Indigeneity and autochthony: a couple of false twins? Social Anthropology, 19(2), pp. 135-142. (doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8676.2011.00144.x)

Gausset, Q., Kenrick, J. and Gibb, R. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2011) Introduction: What place for indigenous people in modern states? Anthropological Notebooks, 17(2), pp. 5-9.

Bazin, L., Gibb, R. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 and Selim, M. (2007) Identités Nationales d'Etat. Journal des Anthropologues (Hors-série) [Volume editors]. Journal des Anthropologues,

Bazin, L., Gibb, R. and Selim, M. (2007) Nationalisation et Etatisation des identités dans le monde contemporain. Journal des Anthropologues, pp. 7-35.

Bazin, L, Gibb, R, Neveu, C and Selim, M (2006) The broken myth: Popular unrest and the 'republican model of integration' in France. Anthropology Today, 22(2), pp. 16-17. (doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8322.2006.00424.x)

Gibb, R (2003) Constructions et mutations de l'antiracisme en France. Journal des Anthropologues, 94-95, pp. 165-179.

Gibb, R. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 and Mills, D. (2001) An interview with Adam Kuper. Social Anthropology, 9(2), pp. 207-216. (doi: 10.1017/S0964028201000143)

Gibb, R (2001) Toward an Anthropology of Social Movements. Journal des Anthropologues, 85-86, pp. 233-253.

Mills, D and Gibb, R (2001) 'Centre' and periphery - An interview with Paul Willis. Cultural Anthropology, 16(3), pp. 388-414.

Books

Ingold, Tim, Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227, Tonner, Philip ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8243-7385 and Malara, Diego Maria ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3215-9940 (2024) Conversations with Tim Ingold: Anthropology, Education and Life. Scottish Universities Press: Edinburgh. ISBN 9781917341028 (doi: 10.62637/sup.cmnz6231)

Book Sections

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 and Tonner, Philip ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8243-7385 (2024) Introduction. In: Ingold, Tim, Gibb, Robert, Tonner, Philip and Malara, Diego Maria (eds.) Conversations with Tim Ingold: Anthropology, Education and Life. Scottish Universities Press: Edinburgh. ISBN 9781917341028 (doi: 10.62637/sup.cmnz6231)

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2024) Re-learning hope: On alienation, theory and the ‘death’ of universities. In: Eldridge, Alison and Smith, Andrew (eds.) Revisiting Culture and Society: Towards a Politics of Social Transformation. Essays in honour of Bridget Fowler. SAGE Publications: London. ISBN 9781036205768

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2019) ‘Demystifying’ multilingual fieldwork: on the importance of documenting and reflecting on language learning in ethnographic research. In: Gibb, Robert, Tremlett, Annabel and Danero Iglesias, Julien (eds.) Learning and Using Languages in Ethnographic Research. Series: Researching multilingually. Multilingual Matters: Bristol. ISBN 9781788925914

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227, Tremlett, Annabel and Danero Iglesias, Julien (2019) Conclusion. In: Gibb, Robert, Tremlett, Annabel and Danero Iglesias, Julien (eds.) Learning and Using Languages in Ethnographic Research. Series: Researching multilingually. Multilingual Matters: Bristol. ISBN 9781788925914

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227, Tremlett, Annabel and Danero Iglesias, Julien (2019) Introduction. In: Gibb, Robert, Tremlett, Annabel and Danero Iglesias, Julien (eds.) Learning and Using Languages in Ethnographic Research. Series: Researching multilingually. Multilingual Matters: Bristol. ISBN 9781788925914

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2019) Communicative practices and contexts of interaction in the refugee status determination process in France. In: Gill, Nick and Good, Anthony (eds.) Asylum Determination in Europe: Ethnographic Perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke, Hampshire, pp. 155-174. ISBN 9783319947488 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-94749-5_8)

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 and Danero Iglesias, Julien (2018) Blurred vision? 'Superdiversity' as a lens in research on communication in border contexts. In: Creese, Angela and Blackledge, Adrian (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Language and Superdiversity. Series: Routledge handbooks in applied linguistics. Routledge, pp. 89-102. ISBN 9781138905092

Gibb, R ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 and Lambert, P (2013) Studying Language and Society: Contemporary Developments at the Intersection of Sociology and Sociolinguistics. In: Jones, M and Hornsby, D (eds.) Language and Social Structure in Urban France. Legenda: Oxford. ISBN 978-1-907975-41-7

Gibb, R. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227 (2008) Origin myths, conspiracy theories and anti-racist mobilizations in France. In: Reed-Danahay, D. and Brettell, C. (eds.) Citizenship, Political Engagement, and Belonging: Immigrants in Europe and the United States. Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, NJ, USA, pp. 144-161. ISBN 9780813543291

Gibb, R. (2004) Seminar culture(s), rites of passage and the unmentionable in contemporary British social anthropology. In: Mills, D. and Harris, M. (eds.) Teaching Rites and Wrongs: Universities and the Making of Anthropologists. Series: Sociology, anthropology, politics (C-SAP) monograph series (2). C-SAP: Birmingham, UK, pp. 40-74.

Gibb, R. (2003) Anti-racism, citizenship and integration in contemporary France. In: Herrmann, P. (ed.) Between Politics and Sociology: Mapping Applied Social Studies. Series: Applied social sciences : recent developments, international and comparative perspectives. Nova Science: Hauppauge, NY, USA, pp. 77-97. ISBN 9781590335918

Gibb, R. (2001) Leadership, political opportunities and organisational identity in the French anti-racist movement. In: Barker, C., Johnson, A. and Lavalette, M. (eds.) Leadership and Social Movements. Manchester University Press: Manchester, UK, pp. 60-76. ISBN 9780719059018

Edited Books

Gibb, Robert ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-6227, Tremlett, Annabel and Danero Iglesias, Julien (Eds.) (2019) Learning and Using Languages in Ethnographic Research. Series: Researching multilingually. Multilingual Matters: Bristol. ISBN 9781788925914

This list was generated on Sun Jun 15 15:34:46 2025 BST.

Grants

Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Grants

  • 'Researching Multilingually at the Borders of Language, the Body, Law and the State' (with PI: Prof A. Phipps and Co-Is Ms Sarah Craig and Dr Ross White, University of Glasgow), Translating Cultures Large Grant award, April 2014-March 2017.
  • 'The Conversion of Asylum Applicants' Narratives into Legal Discourses in the UK and France: A Comparative Study of Problems of Cultural Translation' (with Prof A. Good, School of Social and Political Studies, The University of Edinburgh), Large Research Grant, April 2007 - March 2009.
  • 'Language and Social Structure in Urban France' (Steering Group Member; Principal Investigator: Dr M. Jones, University of Cambridge), Research Network Grant, November 2009-October 2011.

British Academy Grants

  • 'Racism, Discrimination and Welfare-State Institutions in Denmark, France and the UK’, February 2007 - July 2008.
  • ‘Invisible Fences? Inter-Group Relations in a Multicultural Area of Copenhagen’, April 2006 (pilot study).

Supervision

Supervision Areas

  • Language and translation
  • The state, bureaucracies and social movements
  • Refugee status determination procedures
  • Learning (language and music) and skill
  • Contemporary social theory (especially theories of power and absurdity)

 

Current Research Students

 

 

Past Research Students

Elisabeth Badenhoop

  • Thesis title: 'The Transformation from "Immigrants" to "Citizens" – A Comparison of the Naturalisation Process in Britain and Germany Today'. Funder: ESRC Studentship. Start date: September 2011. Co-supervisor: Prof Satnam Virdee. (RG co-supervisor from August 2012.) Graduated in 2018.

Anna Beesley

  • Thesis title: ‘How do asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers negotiate risk when seeking ‘wellness’ in Scotland?’ Funder: ESRC Studentship. Start date: September 2012. Co-supervisors: Dr Lucy Pickering, Prof Alison Phipps. Graduated in 2018.   

Blair Biggar

  • Thesis title: 'Understanding "lived citizenship": A study of Roma in Scotland'. Funder: ESRC Studentship. Co-supervisor: Prof Rebecca Kay. Graduated in 2022.

Elpida Chlimintza

Sopio Davituri

  • Thesis title: 'Gender inequality and Women’s Negotiation of Public and Private Spaces in Contemporary Georgia'. Funder: CoSS Studentship. Co-supervisors: Dr Francesca Stella and Prof Rebecca Kay. Graduated in 2023.

Katie Farrell

Taulant Guma

Teresa Piacentini

Anna Terje

  • Thesis title: ‘Swedish-speaking Finns: A Multi-Method Qualitative Study’. Start date: September 2011. Funder: University of Glasgow Scholarship. Co-supervisor: Dr Moya Flynn. Graduated in 2017.     

Solveiga Zibaite

  • Thesis title: '(Un)Earthing the Death Café Movement in the United Kingdom'. Funder: ESRC Studentship. Co-supervisor: Dr Naomi Richards. Graduated in 2022.

Teaching

Undergraduate

Administrative Responsibilities

  • Member of University Academic Regulations Sub-Committee

 

 

Additional information

Membership of Research Centres and Networks

Editorial Boards

 Membership of Professional Associations