Faculty Member, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Director of Studies for Social Sciences / Lecturer in Sociology
About
My main interests are political economy, ethics, and studies on Kyrgyzstan. I examine how moral sentiments, judgements and responsibilities shape and are shaped by economic and social structures and institutions. In particular my research explores how class, inequalities and poverty affect everyday morality and politics.
My research projects focus on the 'moral economy' in Kyrgyzstan, and on philanthropy and social class in the UK.
* First, I discuss how Kyrgyzstanis understand the ‘transition’ to a market economy, the widespread poverty and inequality in society, their ultimate concerns and commitments, their everyday politics, and their mixed emotions and feelings at the commodification of society and the continuity of the soviet legacy.
* Second, I investigate how individuals of working and middle class backgrounds morally frame their donations to unknown others and to worthy causes, and how individuals are reflexive of their situation so that ethics can be class-neutral.
Before joining the School in 2004, I was a visiting lecturer at the Sociology Department, Novosibirsk State University, Russia (2000-02), and at the Sociology Department, American University - Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan (2002-04). I am still involved with the Open Society Institute, Budapest to develop higher education in post-Soviet countries.
Prior to my interest in post-communism and philanthropy, my research focused on the social embeddedness of markets in advanced industrialised societies. I completed my doctoral thesis on fruit and vegetable market traders and marketplaces in West Midlands, at the Sociology Department, Lancaster University, UK (1993-7). Then I became a research fellow at the University of Central England (re-named Birmingham City University, UK) to investigate ethnic minority restaurant businesses in Birmingham, UK (1998-2000).
Contact Information
http://www.kent.ac.uk/sspssr/staff/academic/sanghera.html
