معرفی
Professor Michaela Benson is Professor of Public Sociology at Lancaster University's School of Social Sciences. She is internationally recognised for her leadership in Migration Studies and Urban Sociology, with her work critically examining Brexit and migration, lifestyle migration, class, space and place, and self-build housing. Since 2022 she also serves as Chief Executive of The Sociological Review, a charitable foundation advancing public sociology.
Education & Recognition: Michaela holds a PhD and was elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) in 2025.
Research Interests: Her research agenda centres on the intersections of migration, citizenship, and urban life, with a particular focus on how these phenomena are reshaped by Brexit. She explores lifestyle migration as a lens on class, coloniality, and identity, and interrogates the meanings of home and housing through self-build practices. Her work is marked by a commitment to reflexive, empirical methodologies and public engagement.
Scholarly Output: Across more than 60 publications, her recent articles span critiques of post-Brexit bordering practices, the colonial legacies shaping UK migration regimes, and innovative pedagogies in sociology. A consistent theme is the biopolitical and geopolitical dimensions of migration governance, analysed through ethnographic and multi-sensory methods.
Awards & Fellowships:
- Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) – 2025
- British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship – 2020-2021
Research Funding & Projects:
- Brexit, citizens’ rights and British Citizens in the EU-27 5 years on – ESRC consultancy (2025)
- Rebordering Britain and Britons after Brexit (MIGZEN) – ESRC (2021-2024)
- BrExpats: Freedom of Movement, Citizenship and Brexit in the lives of Britons resident in the European Union – ESRC (2017-2019)
PhD Supervision & Research Groups: She welcomes doctoral researchers working on migration and citizenship, Brexit, class, home and housing, and urban sociology, especially those employing qualitative or ethnographic methods. She is affiliated with the Centre for Alternatives to Social and Economic Inequalities and the Centre for Health Futures.
