Dr Laura Connelly (she/her)
School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations
Senior Lecturer
1. PGR Admissions Lead;
2. Research Theme Co-Lead, Social Inequalities and Social Ordering
0114 222 6412
Full contact details
School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2AH
- Profile
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Laura joined the Department in December 2021 as a Lecturer in Criminology. Before joining the University of Sheffield, she was a Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Salford and was Programme Leader for three undergraduate degrees. Laura has also worked as a Teaching Fellow and Research Assistant at the University of Leeds, where she completed her funded PhD on the Governance of Sex Trafficking in England and Wales in 2016.
- Research interests
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Laura’s work speaks across subfields that sometimes operate in silos, to produce research on or at the intersection of gender, race, migration, and processes of criminalisation. She often explores these issues within the context of the sex industry.
She has a sustained track record of research outputs having published on a range of topics, including violence against sex workers; migrant sex work; digital sex work; human trafficking; ‘post-racial’ racisms and anti-racism; police abolition; and policing in schools and universities. She is co-author of Anti-Racist Scholar-Activism (2021, with Remi Joseph-Salisbury) which won the prestigious US Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award 2023. She has also written for a variety of popular outlets including Red Pepper Magazine, Novara Media, The Independent, and The Voice Newspaper.
- Publications
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Books
- Anti-Racist Scholar-activism. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Journal articles
- Por un activismo académico antirracista. Revista Temas, 118.
- Violent and nonviolent crimes against sex workers: The influence of the sex market on reporting practices in the United Kingdom. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(7-8), NP3938-NP3963. View this article in WRRO
- “The UK is not innocent”: Black Lives Matter, policing and abolition in the UK. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 40(1), 21-28. View this article in WRRO
- Teaching Grenfell: The role of emotions in teaching and learning for social change. Sociology, 53(6), 1026-1042. View this article in WRRO
- ‘Post-race’ racisms in the narratives of ‘Brexit’ voters. The Sociological Review, 67(5), 968-984. View this article in WRRO
- ‘If your hair is relaxed, white people are relaxed. If your hair is nappy, they’re not happy’ : Black hair as a site of ‘post-racial’ social control in English schools. Social Sciences, 7(11). View this article in WRRO
- On our own terms: the working conditions of internet-based sex workers in the UK. Sociological Research Online, 21(4), 133-146. View this article in WRRO
- Editorial: Blurred Lines: The Contested Nature of Sex Work. Graduate Journal of Social Science.
- The Rescue Industry: When Help Becomes a Hindrance.. Graduate Journal of Social Science.
- Towards an antiracist scholar-activist pedagogy: Putting critical pedagogy and scholar-activism in dialogue.. Teaching in Higher Education.
- The construction of ‘criminal outsiders’: Security services and whitening-securitisation in higher education. Ethnic and Racial Studies.
- Acknowledgement to Reviewers of Social Sciences in 2019. Social Sciences, 9(1), 6-6.
Chapters
- Monitoring, Non-reformist Reforms, Solidarity, Internationalism, and Abolitionist Dreams In Virasami J (Ed.), A World Without Racism Pluto
- An anti-racist scholar-activist ethic: working in service to racial justice In Vaughan A, Braune J, Tinsley M & Mondon A (Ed.), The ethics of researching the far right: Critical approaches and reflections Manchester University Press View this article in WRRO
- Sex Work and Sex Trafficking, Gender-Based Violence: A Comprehensive Guide (pp. 399-409). Springer International Publishing
- Trafficking and Exploitation In Davies P & Rowe M (Ed.), An Introduction to Criminology (pp. 291-304).
- Disrupting the Boundaries of the Academe: Co-creating Knowledge and Sex Work ‘Academic-Activism’ In Walklate S, Fitz-Gibbon K, Maher J & McCulloch J (Ed.), The Emerald Handbook of Feminism, Criminology and Social Change (pp. 203-218).
- Disrupting the Boundaries of the Academe: Co-creating Knowledge and Sex Work ‘Academic-activism’, The Emerald Handbook of Feminism, Criminology and Social Change (pp. 203-218).
- Debates on Prostitution: An Introduction to Feminist Politics and Their Influence upon International Policy and Practice In Jacob F (Ed.), Prostitution: A Companion of Mankind (pp. 61-76). View this article in WRRO
- The Practice of Elite Interviewing in Politicised Policy Areas In Sage (Ed.), Sage Research Methods Cases
- Prostitution/Sex Work (pp. 1-6). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Reports
- Whose campus, whose security? Students’ views on and experiences of security services and police on university campuses
- EU Migrant Sex Work in the UK Post-Referendum
- Decriminalise the Classroom: A Community Response to Police in Greater Manchester Schools
- The Governance of Sex Trafficking: Anti-Trafficking Policy and Practice in England and Wales
- Internet-based Sex Workers: Working Conditions and Job Satisfaction
- Violence Against Sex Workers
- Anti-Racist Scholar-activism. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
- Research group
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Laura is Chair of the Sex Work Research Hub, a large international research network that connects academics from the UK and beyond with sex workers, support projects, and other key stakeholders.
Within Sociological Studies, she co-leads the Social Inequalities and Social Ordering research theme.
Postgraduate Supervision
Laura has supervised two students to successful completion: one examining experiences of the modern slavery National Referral Mechanism and another exploring British Muslim women’s identity, religion and clothing. She was successful in securing a WRDTP ESRC Collaborative PhD Award 2023/24 for a project entitled Sex Work, Digital Rights and Freedoms, which she supervises alongside Professor Kate Hardy (University of Leeds) and the European Sex Workers’ Rights Alliance. Laura is particularly interested in postgraduate supervision in the areas of:
- Sex work
- Modern slavery, trafficking and exploitation
- Racism and anti-racism
- Scholar-activism and social justice
- Feminist methodologies, including participatory methods
- Alternatives to or the abolition of the police
- Grants
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Laura’s most recent grants include:
Dates Title Funder and amount 2023/24-2027/28 Sex work, digital rights and freedoms: Creating safer online working environments across Europe (Primary supervisor) WRDTP ESRC Collaborative PhD Award (£66,792) 2022/23 Promoting the inclusion of and equality for sex workers: Ethical research with sex workers (P-I) Research England QR fund(£18,000) 2020/21 EU migrant sex work post-EU Referendum. (P-I with the English Collective of Prostitutes) University of Salford Impact Award (£2,907) 2017/18 Leading the global fight? Policing modern slavery in the UK (P-I) University of Salford Internal Research Fund (£1,000)
- Teaching interests
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Laura’s teaching draws on her areas of research expertise, and she uses her own and others’ research to bring theory to life in the classroom. Following the critical pedagogy tradition, she believes that teaching should be engaging (for students) and engaged (in the ‘real world’). As such, she not only aims to help students cultivate more critical worldviews but also, encourages students to act on their critical thought in pursuit of radical social change. Laura currently convenes SCS359 Sex Work: Rights, Regulation and Resistance and SCS2009 The Sociology of Crime, as well as contributing to a range of other modules within the Department of Sociological Studies and the Law School.
- Professional activities and memberships
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Laura sits on the Editorial Board of The Sociological Review and is an Assistant Editor of the International Journal of Gender, Sexuality and Law. She is a member of the UKRI Talent Peer Review College. Laura is External Examiner on the BA (Hones) Criminology and Criminal Justice programme at the University of Hertfordshire.
- Partnerships, engagement and impact
Laura’s work is social justice oriented; she is passionate about finding pockets of possibility for social change within, and beyond, the academy. She has worked with a range of sex worker-led and voluntary sector organisations in support of the global movement for sex workers’ rights. Most recently, for example, she partnered with the English Collective of Prostitutes on a project exploring migrant sex work post-EU Referendum. She has also co-designed and delivered ‘Rights Not Rescue’ (research-informed) training for modern slavery practitioners with Basis Sex Work Project. Laura sits on the steering committee for the Northern Police Monitoring Project, and recently worked with the civil liberties organisation, Liberty, on a project on non-policing solutions to violence.