A view of Singleton Campus including Singleton Park and the beach, with the sea stretching into the horizon.

Dr Steve Garner

Associate Professor in Sociology, Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy

s.j.garner@swansea.ac.uk

Office - 316
Third Floor
Keir Hardie Building
Singleton Campus

Available For Postgraduate Supervision

Research Links

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1047-6080

About

Steve is a sociologist interested in the intersection of racism, class and nationalism. He has worked as a driver, translator, a language teacher and in the Irish public sector, as well as a number of universities - in France, Ireland, England, Wales and the USA.

His research has primarily been based on the concept of racialization. He uses a variety of qualitative and archival methods, topped up with statistics to analyse how racism functions across historical periods and locations including: the Caribbean, the UK, the USA, Ireland, Nordic Europe, France, and Latin America. Steve has over 60 publications, in English and French on these topics, including 8 books, with publishers such as Routledge and Sage. He has also provided advisory reports to government departments in Ireland and the UK.

Areas Of Expertise

Racisms (in international comparative context)
Nation
Ethnicity
White identities
Class
Immigration
Political sociology
Irish studies

Career Highlights

Teaching Interests

Race and racisms

Social Inequalities

Qualitative methods

Publications

Research Highlights

Garner, S. (2017). Racisms (2nd edition)
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64560
Garner, S. (2007). Whiteness Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203945599, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64563
http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203945599
Garner, S. (2015). A Moral Economy of Whiteness Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315723938, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64562
http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315723938
Elgenius, G. & Garner, S. (2021). Gate-keeping the nation: discursive claims, counter-claims and racialized logics of whiteness. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 44(16), 215-235.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2021.1943483, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64029
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2021.1943483
strmic-pawl, h., Gonlin, V., & Garner, S. (2021). Color in Context: Three Angles on Contemporary Colorism. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 7(3), 289-303.
https://doi.org/10.1177/23326492211012532, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64030
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/23326492211012532

All Research

Journal Articles

James, D., Garner, S., & Husband, G. (2023). Understanding practices of UK college governing: Rethinking strategy and accountability. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 51(6), 1422-1439.
https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432211053691, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64031
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/17411432211053691
Hill, R., Garner, S., & Ireland, A. (2023). Reviewing the strategic influence of governance professionals in UK colleges: Acting as the translator of the conduct of conduct. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 51(4), 969-985.
https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432211015215, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64024
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/17411432211015215
Garner, S. & Bibi, S. (2022). Getting Under the Skin Trade: Towards a Global Sociology of Skin-Lightening Practices. Sociological Research Online, 136078042211044
https://doi.org/10.1177/13607804221104494, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64026
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13607804221104494
Hardyman, W., Garner, S., Lewis, J., Callaghan, R., Williams, E., Dalton, A., & Turner, A. (2022). Enhancing public service innovation through value co-creation: Capacity building and the ‘innovative imagination’. Public Money and Management, 42(5), 332-340.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2021.1981042, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64027
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2021.1981042
Elgenius, G. & Garner, S. (2021). Gate-keeping the nation: discursive claims, counter-claims and racialized logics of whiteness. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 44(16), 215-235.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2021.1943483, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64029
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2021.1943483
strmic-pawl, h., Gonlin, V., & Garner, S. (2021). Color in Context: Three Angles on Contemporary Colorism. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 7(3), 289-303.
https://doi.org/10.1177/23326492211012532, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64030
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/23326492211012532
Garner, S. (2019). Accommodation crisis: the racialization of travellers in twenty-first century England. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 42(4), 511-530.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1380213, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64032
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1380213
Strmic-Pawl, H., Jackson, B., & Garner, S. (2018). Race Counts: Racial and Ethnic Data on the U.S. Census and the Implications for Tracking Inequality. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 4(1), 1-13.
https://doi.org/10.1177/2332649217742869, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64558
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2332649217742869
Garner, S. (2017). Surfing the third wave of whiteness studies: reflections on Twine and Gallagher. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 40(9), 1582-1597.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1300301, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64559
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1300301

Authored Books

Garner, S. (2017). Racisms (2nd edition)
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64560
Garner, S. (2015). A Moral Economy of Whiteness Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315723938, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64562
http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315723938
Garner, S. (2009). White Identities
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64566
Garner, S. (2007). Whiteness Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203945599, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64563
http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203945599
Garner, S. (2003). Racism in the Irish Experience
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64565

Book Chapters

Garner, S. (2022). “Not in a Relationship”. The Oxford Handbook of Superdiversity (pp. 359-376). Oxford University Press
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197544938.013.32, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64025
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197544938.013.32
Garner, S. (2018). Fairness and entitlement in neoliberal England, 2005-2015.
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64285

Taught Modules

PPS202 Interrogating Qualitative Social Science Methods

This module will build on research understanding attained in year one and will provide and contextualise knowledge related to social research, focussing on developing understanding of qualitative methodologies. The module will particularly focus on developing students¿ understanding of interview-based and observational research. It will utilise real-world examples to critically analyse qualitative research design, data collection and analysis in order to assess the research of others. It will include an appreciation of the theoretical underpinnings of qualitative research and associated research methods.
PPS314 Philosophy of Social Science

Social science involves assumptions about knowledge and reality which have been subject to longstanding philosophical debate. This module explores the philosophy of social science in two main stages. Firstly, the module will explore a series of competing perspectives on what society is, and what we can know about it, from empiricism through to post-structuralism. Secondly, the module will enable students to consider how these philosophical questions are reflected in particular debates within different areas of social science: economics, politics, sociology and interdisciplinary social science undertaken on issues such as climate change.
SPC308 Race and Nation

In this module we explore what social scientists have contributed to debates about race and racism, particularly where they intersect with nationalism. We use insights of scholars to understand racism not as interactions between individuals but as systems producing specific types of inequality. Race is understood as an ongoing fiction, which has a distinct history, but also, real political and social consequences that manifest themselves in policy areas such as immigration and criminal justice, and public conversations such as those surrounding the EU referendum. Indeed, throughout the module, we focus on understanding the distinctions and similarities between public and scholarly discussions of race. The assessments are designed to enable students to competently engage with public discourse and policy from a position of scholarly practice and knowledge. We start by identifying and examining the key concepts in this field, finding examples of how they play out in the lives of real people in real places. After this we look at some specific types of institution (e.g. education) to understand the ways in which racism emerges as a key element rather than an aberration. We then go on to consider some different variations of racism, targeted at and experienced by different groups of people, before reflecting on what anti-racism means and how people are effecting social change in this area.

Affiliated Positions

Visiting Senior Scholar, University of Connecticut, Dept of Sociology

2023 - 2024
Visiting Researcher, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (UVA), Faculty of Law

2023 - 2024

Dr Steve Garner

Email address