We have wide-ranging expertise with particular expertise in key areas of current debate covering science and technology studies, finance and economic change; urbanisation; the cultural dimensions of social stratification; and new cosmopolitan political agendas around human rights and social conflict. Our colleagues share direct research experience drawn from studies on every continent of the world, and we have conducted fieldwork on Argentina, Australia, Colombia, India, South Africa and other parts of Africa, the US and the Caribbean, as well as the UK.
A ‘triad’ of concerns – with theory, method and empirics – informs every strategic decision within the Department, shapes our relationship with the discipline more broadly, and frames the discussions we have with each other, with our students, and the wider LSE community. We see ourselves very strongly as a ‘mixed methods’ department, with expertise in both quantitative and qualitative methods informing our work in four research clusters: Economic Sociology; Politics and Human Rights; Social Inequalities; and Urban Sociology.
In the Research Excellence Framework 2014, the quality of publications by LSE Sociology colleagues was rated as amongst the top in the UK, with the Department ranked second in the UK for the percentage of its research receiving the very highest world-leading grade (4*).
The Department is committed to a strong public as well as academic presence. Recent books by our colleagues, such as Ayça Çubukçu, Nigel Dodd, Sam Friedman, Bridget Hutter, David Madden, Mike Savage (who co-directed the BBC’s Great British Class Survey) and Judy Wajcman, have attracted major public interest and been widely debated in the media.
The Department continues to be a major stronghold of research on cities, politics and human rights. Colleagues are currently in receipt of major research grants from the ESRC, Wellcome, EU and other private sources and we plan major funding bids in the future.