Sara R Farris

Staff details

Position

Reader

Department

Sociology

Email

s.farris (@gold.ac.uk)

Goldsmiths Research Centres/Groups

Gender and migration, care and social reproduction, racism/nationalism, feminist theory, social theory

Sara R. Farris is a sociologist with expertise in migration, gender and the political economy of care and social reproduction. Her research is particularly concerned to address: the role that migrant and racialised workers play within economies of care and social reproduction; the financialisation and corporatisation of care and the racialisation of sexism. She is well known internationally for her research on “femonationalism”, or the mobilisation of feminist themes by nationalist parties within anti-immigration campaigns.

Her research has been funded by the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the European Commission, the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust among others.

She is the author of 'In the Name of Women’s Rights. The Rise of Femonationalism' (Duke University Press, 2017) and 'Max Weber’s Theory of Personality. Individuation, Politics and Orientalism in the Sociology of Religion' (Brill 2013), alongside numerous articles in leading journals.

Academic qualifications

PhD in Methodology of the Social Sciences, University of Rome "La Sapienza" 2007

Teaching and supervision

Sara Farris currently teaches the following UG and MA courses: Central Issues in Sociological Analysis; Social Change and Political Action; Migration, Gender and Social Reproduction; Thinking Sociologically and Culture, Media and Sexuality.

She is interested in supervising students' projects that fall under her areas of expertise

Research interests

Sara R. Farris’s is the Chair of the Research and Enterprise Network Committee in the School of Culture and Society, and the Co-Director of Research and Co-Chair of the Anti-Racism committee in the Department of Sociology. Her work explores: the relationship between migration and gender; the contemporary financialisation and corporatisation of care homes and childcare and the ways these processes rely upon (and inform) migrant labour mobility and low-wage economies; the cultural and economic representations of migrant populations and the racialisation of sexism. She is the author of Max Weber’s theory of personality. Individuation, politics and orientalism in the sociology of religion (Brill 2013) and In the name of women’s rights. The rise of femonationalism (Duke University Press, 2017). The latter has been positively reviewed in numerous leading peer-reviewed journals, and has been translated into seven languages. She has published in a range of journals, including: Gender, Work and Organisation; Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society; Ethnic and Racial Studies, Environment and Planning F and The Sociological Review.
She is currently a member of the Editorial Board of Work, Employment and Society and serves as member of the Advisory Board of five international scientific bodies based at the LSE, Columbia University, University of Venice, University of Lausanne and University of Padua.
Sara’s research has received funding from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the European Commission (through the Marie Curie and the Daphne III programmes), the Leverhulme Trust, and the British Academy, among others. She is currently the PI of 'CorporateCARE in London. The corporatisation of care homes and childcare in the UK capital' (Goldsmiths Strategic Research Fund) and is writing a book on theories of care and social reproduction.

Featured publications

2017: In the Name of Women’s Rights. The Rise of Femonationalism

2015: Migrants’ Regular Army of Labor: Gender Dimensions of the Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on Migrant Labor in Western Europe

2017: From the Commodification to the Corporatization of Care. European Perspectives and Debates.”

2020: The business of care. Private domestic placement agencies and female migrant workers in London

2024: Corporatisation and financialisation of social reproduction: Care homes and childcare in the UK

Grants and awards

2007: Award for the Best Study of Empirical Research on the Theme of Immigration in Italy – “Gianni Statera Foundation”

Publications and research outputs

Book

Farris, Sara R.. 2017. In the Name of Women's Rights: The Rise of Femonationalism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822369608

Farris, Sara R.. 2013. Max Weber’s Theory of Personality: Individuation, Politics and Orientalism in the Sociology of Religion. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9789004254084

Edited Book

Skeggs, Beverley; Farris, Sara R.; Toscano, Alberto and Bromberg, Svenja, eds. 2021. The SAGE Handbook of Marxism. London: SAGE Publications. ISBN 9781473974234

Farris, Sara R., ed. 2016. Returns of Marxism. Marxist Theory in a Time of Crisis (edited by Sara R. Farris). Chicago: Haymarket Books. ISBN 9781608465743

Diefenbach, Katja; Farris, Sara R.; Kirn, Gal and Thomas, Peter D., eds. 2013. Encountering Althusser. Politics and Materialism in Contemporary Radical Thought. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781441152138

Book Section

Farris, Sara R.. 2024. Femonacionalismo. In: Corrochano Carlos, ed. Claves de politica global. Barcelona: Arpa, pp. 120-146. ISBN 9788419558893

Farris, Sara R.. 2024. La política del cuidado y la teoría de la reproducción social. In: Daniela Alegría and Lieta Vivaldi, eds. Reflexiones feministas sobre los cuidados. Santiago: LOM Ediciones, pp. 59-68. ISBN 9789560018113

Farris, Sara R.. 2021. Gender. In: Beverley Skeggs; Sara R. Farris; Alberto Toscano and Svenja Bromberg, eds. The SAGE Handbook of Marxism. London: SAGE Publications, pp. 268-295. ISBN 9781473974234

Article

Farris, Sara R.; Horton, Amy and Lloyd, Eva. 2024. Corporatisation and financialisation of social reproduction: Care homes and childcare in the United Kingdom. Environment and Planning F, ISSN 2634-9825

Farris, Sara R.. 2024. The glass ceiling in the house of power. Prometeo, 42(165), pp. 28-29. ISSN 0394-1639

Farris, Sara R.. 2022. Weber: Religion, Nation and Empire. Journal of Classical Sociology, 22(4), pp. 410-415. ISSN 1468-795X

Professional projects

I am very interested in developing new methods for the analysis of workers' experiences, working class lives and social inequalities from an intersectional perspective. I am also interested in visual methods and forms of dissemination and have recently produced a documentary on the experiences of care home and nursery workers employed by large care companies. The documentary is available her: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzcb6Jeejv8

Research projects

2023-2023: CorporateCARE in London. The corporatisation of care homes and childcare in the UK capital
Goldsmiths Strategic Research Fund

2022-2022: Feminism from the kitchen floor. On domestic and care workers' organisations.
British Academy/Leverhulme Small Grants

2017-2018: Corporate care and migrant workers in times of crisis and austerity.
Leverhulme Trust Fellowship