The University of Sheffield
Department of Geography

Dr Catherine Harris

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Catherine Harris

Address: 4th Floor, ICoSS Building
Telephone (internal): 26286
Telephone (UK): 0114 222 6286
Telephone (International): +44 114 222 6286
Email: Catherine.Harris@Sheffield.ac.uk

Catherine studied Geography (MA Hons) at the University of Oxford, graduating in 2005. She completed a MA in International Studies at the University of Birmingham in 2007, which was awarded with distinction. She gained her PhD from the University of Birmingham in 2012.

Her PhD investigated the experiences of Polish migrant entrepreneurs in the West Midlands region of the UK and is the first large-scale study of its kind. Her research has attracted interest internationally and has been disseminated in both the print and broadcast media.

Research Interests

Catherine's expertises lie in the fields of entrepreneurship and enterprise, ethnic entrepreneurship, social difference, EU enlargement, EU migration, Polish migration and the Polish community in the UK.

Methodologically, Catherine’s interest is in qualitative and ethnographic research.

Current research

Catherine works on the LIVEDIFFERENCE research programme. This project involves five inter-linked projects which explore the extent and nature of everyday encounters with ‘difference’, by each collecting original data in the UK (a post-colonial European state) and Poland (a post-communist European state).

Key Publications
  • Valentine, G. and C. Harris (under review). Strivers v Skivers: Class Prejudice and the Demonisation of Dependency in Everyday Life. Geoforum.
  • Harris, C. and G. Valentine (under review). Encountering difference in the workplace: superficial contact and underlying tensions. Work, Employment and Society.
  • Harris, C. (forthcoming). Translocal Lives- Polish Entrepreneurs in the cities of the West Midlands, UK. In: Meier, L. (ed.) Migration of Professionals and the City - Mobility, Locality and Identities of Expatriates and the Global Elite. London: Routledge.
  • Harris, C., Moran, D. and Bryson, J.R. (2014, forthcoming). Polish labour migration to the UK: data discrepancies, migrant distributions and indicators of entrepreneurial activity. Growth and Change (accepted 19 December 2012).
  • Harris, C. (forthcoming 2013). Migrant manufacturing: the case of the Polish bakery. In: J.R. Bryson, J. Clark and V. Vanchan (eds.) Handbook of Manufacturing Industries in the World Economy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  • Harris, C., Moran, D. and Bryson, J.R. (2012). EU Accession Migration: National Insurance Number Allocations and the Geographies of Polish Labour Immigration to the UK. Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, 103(2), 209–221.
    doi:10.1111/j.1467-9663.2011.00682.x

Contact details

Address:
4th Floor, ICoSS Building,
University of Sheffield,
219 Portobello,
SHEFFIELD, S1 4DP
United Kingdom