Katherine Davies
Biographic Data
| ID | 3686138 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Katherine Davies |
| GIVEN NAMES | Katherine |
| FAMILY NAME | Davies |
| SIGNATURE | DAVIES K |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Sheffield |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0334-3135 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 176 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Critical Friendship in the Modern World
Friendship is a critically important aspect of our lives, but is it always an unassailably 'good thing'? This book begins with the innovative premise that friendship is inherently complex and characterized by opposing qualities: it is both pleasurable and fraught, private and public, and inclusive and exclusionary. Rather than simply celebrating friendship as universally beneficial or worrying about its decline amid rising social disconnection, L…
Wash and learn
School-age children in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) face health and educational challenges due to inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools (WinS). Evidence for the impact of WinS interventions is limited and inconsistent, and previous systematic reviews have faced challenges in synthesising data due to varied interventions, study designs and outcome measures, although most do not examine this variability in mor…
Living with Brexit
Drawing upon ethnographic research with families as they navigate a year in 'Brexit Britain', this article explores how people live with Brexit, examining the effect of Brexit politics on everyday personal life, particularly relationships with family. In order to examine how macro-political events and timescapes interact with the quotidian, the article explores interactions between 'Brexit time' (including key political moments as well as periods…
Laughing through Brexit
Humour has a well-established role in the public life of politics; however, its use within families affected by macro-level political events remains understudied. This article explores how families employed humour to navigate family troubles introduced by Brexit, the United Kingdom's tumultuous exit from the European Union. Through an ethnographic study, we demonstrate how extraordinary political times test the positive relational potentials of h…
The Handbook of Creative Data Analysis
Inclusion of persons living with disabilities in a district-wide sanitation programme
Community-led total sanitation (CLTS) is embraced as a key strategy to achieve universal sanitation coverage (Sustainable Development Goal 6.2). Although inclusion is identified as a predictor of CLTS success, people living with disabilities are often excluded from community sanitation programmes and there is limited research exploring CLTS participation amongst people living with disabilities. This study aims to explore the extent to which peopl…
Siblings and sociology
Sibling relationships are full of sociological intrigue. Siblings can pervade our everyday lives, shaping our identities and relationships through the life course, tapping into profound questions about who we are and who we can become, about family, relatedness, self and time. It is surprising, then, that the role of lateral ties between siblings has received relatively little sociological attention. Drawing upon innovative qualitative data sourc…
Heidegger’s Conversational Pedagogy
Between 1944 and 1954, Heidegger wrote five dialogues – or conversations – that stage philosophical discussions. I argue these texts develop a yet unacknowledged Heideggerian pedagogy of conversation. From the characters he conjures to the topics of their discussions, Heidegger underscores the importance of teaching and learning differently in each conversation and shapes his own pedagogical sensibility. Each text uniquely elaborates a particular…
Sticking Together in 'Divided Britain
Despite media headlines depicting the UK as a nation divided over Brexit, we know very little about how Brexit has affected personal relationships. This article addresses gaps in sociological understandings of Brexit and politics more generally by exploring how Brexit is experienced in everyday family relationships, focusing on how people orientate themselves towards discussing Brexit (or not) with their family and friends. Based on qualitative i…
Research relationalities and shifting sensitivities
Identical Twins
Sticky' proximities
Drawing upon qualitative interviews and focus groups with young people, this article expounds the importance of sibling relationships in shaping their experiences of and orientations towards education. The article contributes to the literature about the socially embedded nature of young people's educational journeys, arguing for the need to account for the significance of siblings. Following Smart's notion of 'sticky' relationships, the article d…
Siblings, Stories and the Self
This article explores the significance of intra-generational ties with siblings to sociological understandings of the formation of social identity and sense of self in young people's lives. Drawing on data from a qualitative study exploring young people's sense of who they are and who they have the potential to become in the future, it is demonstrated that young people's identities are often constructed in relation to how they are similar to or d…
Critical friendships
A growing body of social-scientific work has explored friendship as a source of relational goods and as a model for democratic relating. Friendships have been seen as resources for the self, sources of emotional, social and material supports, as central to elective families and affective communities and as pure relationships. Also, an egalitarian friendship ‘ethos’ has been proffered as a solution to the power imbalances associated with other rel…
Difficult Friendships and Ontological Insecurity
In this paper we explore some of the negative aspects of friendship. In so doing we do not seek to join the debate about whether or not friendships are more or less important than other relationships but rather to explore precisely how significant friendships can be. Based on written accounts submitted to the British Mass Observation Project, we analyse how friendship, when it goes wrong, can challenge one's sense of self and even produce ontolog…
Sociology of Personal Life
Introduction to the Special Issue
Interactions That Matter
Against the backdrop of research that has tended to emphasise the positive aspects of non-familial relationships, particularly friendships, this paper considers the methodological challenges involved in generating data about what we term ‘critical associations’: relationships with friends and other associates that are critical in people's lives in both positive and negative ways. The paper focuses on three methods that were used in a multi-facete…
Knocking on doors
This paper describes the process of recruiting participants for a qualitative interview-based study by leafleting and door knocking. It is argued that door knocking can enrich and thicken research that usually takes place 'behind closed doors', enabling researchers to engage their ethnographic imaginations by observing neighbourhood interactions, familiarising themselves with the places their participants inhabit and through the embodied, sensory…
Coming to our senses? A critical approach to sensory methodology
In light of the recent upsurge in the popularity of sensory, and particularly visual, methods, this article makes a case for a sensory methodology that remains attuned to the complex ways in which the senses are tangled with other forms of experience or ways of knowing. Drawing on a project investigating the social significance of family resemblances, we look at how our methods (a combination of visual methods and creative interviewing) emphasize…
Families, Relationships and Societies
Coming to our senses? A critical approach to sensory methodology
In light of the recent upsurge in the popularity of sensory, and particularly visual, methods, this article makes a case for a sensory methodology that remains attuned to the complex ways in which the senses are tangled with other forms of experience or ways of knowing. Drawing on a project investigating the social significance of family resemblances, we look at how our methods (a combination of visual methods and creative interviewing) emphasize…
Difficult Friendships and Ontological Insecurity
In this paper we explore some of the negative aspects of friendship. In so doing we do not seek to join the debate about whether or not friendships are more or less important than other relationships but rather to explore precisely how significant friendships can be. Based on written accounts submitted to the British Mass Observation Project, we analyse how friendship, when it goes wrong, can challenge one's sense of self and even produce ontolog…
Siblings, Stories and the Self
This article explores the significance of intra-generational ties with siblings to sociological understandings of the formation of social identity and sense of self in young people's lives. Drawing on data from a qualitative study exploring young people's sense of who they are and who they have the potential to become in the future, it is demonstrated that young people's identities are often constructed in relation to how they are similar to or d…
Critical friendships
A growing body of social-scientific work has explored friendship as a source of relational goods and as a model for democratic relating. Friendships have been seen as resources for the self, sources of emotional, social and material supports, as central to elective families and affective communities and as pure relationships. Also, an egalitarian friendship ‘ethos’ has been proffered as a solution to the power imbalances associated with other rel…
Sticking Together in 'Divided Britain
Despite media headlines depicting the UK as a nation divided over Brexit, we know very little about how Brexit has affected personal relationships. This article addresses gaps in sociological understandings of Brexit and politics more generally by exploring how Brexit is experienced in everyday family relationships, focusing on how people orientate themselves towards discussing Brexit (or not) with their family and friends. Based on qualitative i…
Knocking on doors
This paper describes the process of recruiting participants for a qualitative interview-based study by leafleting and door knocking. It is argued that door knocking can enrich and thicken research that usually takes place 'behind closed doors', enabling researchers to engage their ethnographic imaginations by observing neighbourhood interactions, familiarising themselves with the places their participants inhabit and through the embodied, sensory…
Sticky' proximities
Drawing upon qualitative interviews and focus groups with young people, this article expounds the importance of sibling relationships in shaping their experiences of and orientations towards education. The article contributes to the literature about the socially embedded nature of young people's educational journeys, arguing for the need to account for the significance of siblings. Following Smart's notion of 'sticky' relationships, the article d…
Interactions That Matter
Against the backdrop of research that has tended to emphasise the positive aspects of non-familial relationships, particularly friendships, this paper considers the methodological challenges involved in generating data about what we term ‘critical associations’: relationships with friends and other associates that are critical in people's lives in both positive and negative ways. The paper focuses on three methods that were used in a multi-facete…
Research relationalities and shifting sensitivities
Coming to our senses? A critical approach to sensory methodology
In light of the recent upsurge in the popularity of sensory, and particularly visual, methods, this article makes a case for a sensory methodology that remains attuned to the complex ways in which the senses are tangled with other forms of experience or ways of knowing. Drawing on a project investigating the social significance of family resemblances, we look at how our methods (a combination of visual methods and creative interviewing) emphasize…
Knocking on doors
This paper describes the process of recruiting participants for a qualitative interview-based study by leafleting and door knocking. It is argued that door knocking can enrich and thicken research that usually takes place 'behind closed doors', enabling researchers to engage their ethnographic imaginations by observing neighbourhood interactions, familiarising themselves with the places their participants inhabit and through the embodied, sensory…
Sociology of Personal Life
Introduction to the Special Issue
Interactions That Matter
Against the backdrop of research that has tended to emphasise the positive aspects of non-familial relationships, particularly friendships, this paper considers the methodological challenges involved in generating data about what we term ‘critical associations’: relationships with friends and other associates that are critical in people's lives in both positive and negative ways. The paper focuses on three methods that were used in a multi-facete…
Critical friendships
A growing body of social-scientific work has explored friendship as a source of relational goods and as a model for democratic relating. Friendships have been seen as resources for the self, sources of emotional, social and material supports, as central to elective families and affective communities and as pure relationships. Also, an egalitarian friendship ‘ethos’ has been proffered as a solution to the power imbalances associated with other rel…
Difficult Friendships and Ontological Insecurity
In this paper we explore some of the negative aspects of friendship. In so doing we do not seek to join the debate about whether or not friendships are more or less important than other relationships but rather to explore precisely how significant friendships can be. Based on written accounts submitted to the British Mass Observation Project, we analyse how friendship, when it goes wrong, can challenge one's sense of self and even produce ontolog…
Siblings, Stories and the Self
This article explores the significance of intra-generational ties with siblings to sociological understandings of the formation of social identity and sense of self in young people's lives. Drawing on data from a qualitative study exploring young people's sense of who they are and who they have the potential to become in the future, it is demonstrated that young people's identities are often constructed in relation to how they are similar to or d…
Sticky' proximities
Drawing upon qualitative interviews and focus groups with young people, this article expounds the importance of sibling relationships in shaping their experiences of and orientations towards education. The article contributes to the literature about the socially embedded nature of young people's educational journeys, arguing for the need to account for the significance of siblings. Following Smart's notion of 'sticky' relationships, the article d…
Research relationalities and shifting sensitivities
Identical Twins
Heidegger’s Conversational Pedagogy
Between 1944 and 1954, Heidegger wrote five dialogues – or conversations – that stage philosophical discussions. I argue these texts develop a yet unacknowledged Heideggerian pedagogy of conversation. From the characters he conjures to the topics of their discussions, Heidegger underscores the importance of teaching and learning differently in each conversation and shapes his own pedagogical sensibility. Each text uniquely elaborates a particular…
Sticking Together in 'Divided Britain
Despite media headlines depicting the UK as a nation divided over Brexit, we know very little about how Brexit has affected personal relationships. This article addresses gaps in sociological understandings of Brexit and politics more generally by exploring how Brexit is experienced in everyday family relationships, focusing on how people orientate themselves towards discussing Brexit (or not) with their family and friends. Based on qualitative i…
Siblings and sociology
Sibling relationships are full of sociological intrigue. Siblings can pervade our everyday lives, shaping our identities and relationships through the life course, tapping into profound questions about who we are and who we can become, about family, relatedness, self and time. It is surprising, then, that the role of lateral ties between siblings has received relatively little sociological attention. Drawing upon innovative qualitative data sourc…
The Handbook of Creative Data Analysis
Inclusion of persons living with disabilities in a district-wide sanitation programme
Community-led total sanitation (CLTS) is embraced as a key strategy to achieve universal sanitation coverage (Sustainable Development Goal 6.2). Although inclusion is identified as a predictor of CLTS success, people living with disabilities are often excluded from community sanitation programmes and there is limited research exploring CLTS participation amongst people living with disabilities. This study aims to explore the extent to which peopl…
Families, Relationships and Societies
Wash and learn
School-age children in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) face health and educational challenges due to inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools (WinS). Evidence for the impact of WinS interventions is limited and inconsistent, and previous systematic reviews have faced challenges in synthesising data due to varied interventions, study designs and outcome measures, although most do not examine this variability in mor…
Living with Brexit
Drawing upon ethnographic research with families as they navigate a year in 'Brexit Britain', this article explores how people live with Brexit, examining the effect of Brexit politics on everyday personal life, particularly relationships with family. In order to examine how macro-political events and timescapes interact with the quotidian, the article explores interactions between 'Brexit time' (including key political moments as well as periods…
Laughing through Brexit
Humour has a well-established role in the public life of politics; however, its use within families affected by macro-level political events remains understudied. This article explores how families employed humour to navigate family troubles introduced by Brexit, the United Kingdom's tumultuous exit from the European Union. Through an ethnographic study, we demonstrate how extraordinary political times test the positive relational potentials of h…
Critical Friendship in the Modern World
Friendship is a critically important aspect of our lives, but is it always an unassailably 'good thing'? This book begins with the innovative premise that friendship is inherently complex and characterized by opposing qualities: it is both pleasurable and fraught, private and public, and inclusive and exclusionary. Rather than simply celebrating friendship as universally beneficial or worrying about its decline amid rising social disconnection, L…
Sociology (16 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics (6 works) · Aesthetics (5 works) · Anthropology (5 works) · Epistemology (5 works) · Gender Studies (5 works) · Political science (5 works) · Brexit (4 works)