Postdoctoral Researcher

   Faculté de Philosophie et Sciences sociales
   Centre de recherche Mondes Modernes & Contemporains
   Campus du Solbosch - CP 133/01
   Avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 50
   B-1050 Bruxelles

   stephen.gaffney@ulb.be
 
Bio

PhD holder with proven expertise in deploying qualitative research methods to investigate topics related to labour market and welfare policy at both the national and European levels. Has published an article in the leading journal Critical Social Policy based on collaborative work with the renowned sociology and public policy scholar Prof. Michelle Millar. Experienced lecturer and tutor who has supervised research projects at the MSc level and worked as a consultant researcher for the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
CV
  • Postdoctoral Researcher at J.E. Cairnes School Of Business & Economics, University of Galway, Ireland (Jun 2022-Jan2023).
  • Research Consultant at European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Vienna, Austria (Apr-Jul 2022).
  • MSc Research Project Supervision at J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics, University of Galway, Ireland (Mar-Sept 2021).
  • Lecturer and Tutor (Part-Time) at School of Political Science and Sociology, University of Galway, Ireland (Oct 2016-Jan 2022).
  • Research Awards:
    • Government of Ireland Postgraduate Award, Irish Research Council, Ireland (2017-2020).
    • Hardiman Research Scholarship, University of Galway, Ireland (2016-2020).
  • Structured PhD in Political Science and Sociology (University of Galway, Ireland, 2016-2022).
    • Thesis: ‘Sleight of Hand? The Problematisation of Youth Unemployment in Ireland 2008-2014’.
  • Research Masters in Sociology and Demography (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain, 2014-2015).
    • Thesis: “Active Labour Market Policy Expenditure, Flexicurity and the Great Recession: A Balancing Act or Trade-off?”
  • BA in International Relations (Dublin City University, Ireland, 2007-2011).
Publications
Journal Articles
  • Gaffney, S. and Millar, M. (Pending Review) “Permanently in front of a flat-screen television?” Youth unemployment as a policy problem for the OECD, European Union and Ireland in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis. Social Policy & Administration.
  • Kenny, K. and Gaffney, S. (Pending review) External whistleblowers and their allies: Dialogism and disclosure-as-movement, Organization Studies.
  • Gaffney, S. and Millar, M. (2020) ‘Rational skivers or desperate strivers? The problematisation of fraud in the Irish social protection system’, Critical Social Policy, 40(1), pp. 69–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261018319834819

Book Reviews Reports
  • Gaffney, S. (2022) ‘Training provided to monitoring and law enforcement authorities on the protective elements of the Employers Sanctions Directive’, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Vienna: FRA.
Conference papers
  • “Working-Class Studies: An Interdisciplinary Conference”, Liberty Hall, Dublin, Ireland (8-12 Nov 2022).
    • Paper: Taking the long view of youth unemployment as a policy problem in Ireland.
  • Early Doctoral Exchange Network (EDEN) Conference, University of Galway, Ireland (9-10 Oct 2020) [Online Conference].
    • Paper: Our Unemployed Youth – Their Problems. A genealogical view of youth unemployment as a problem in Irish social policy.”
  • Critical Political Economy Research Network (CPERN) Mid-Term Workshop, University of Limerick, Ireland (19-20 Jun 2020) [Online Conference].
    • Paper: “Guaranteeing what? European youth unemployment policy during the Great Recession and its Contestation in the Republic of Ireland.”
  • Sociology Association of Ireland Postgraduate Conference, University of Galway, Ireland (22 Feb 2020).
    • Paper: “The Scarring Effect”: Edging away from the taken-for-granted understanding of youth unemployment.
  • Critical Welfare State Studies – “Critical Perspectives on Stigma, Shame and the Irish Welfare Imaginary”, University College Cork, Ireland (20 Sept 2019).
    • Paper: “Doing the dirty work of neoliberal governmentality? ‘Welfare Fraud’ policy in the Irish Social Protection system 2011-2014”.
  • The Spanish Association for Irish Studies (AEDEI) – “Difference and Indifference in Irish Studies”, University of the Balearic Islands, Spain (29-31 May 2019).
    • Paper: “Rational Skivers or Desperate Strivers? The Problematization of Fraud in the Irish Social Protection System”.
  • Power, Conflict and Ideologies Research Cluster – “Violence, Space, and the Political – Critical theory conference”, University of Galway, Ireland (7-9 Jun 2018).
    • Paper: “The Problematization of Fraud in the Irish Social Protection System”
Workshops & Training
  • Ethnography Workshop, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland (Jan 2020).
  • European Consortium for Political Research Methods Summer School - Analysing Political Discourse I &II, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary (Jul-Aug 2018).
  • Economy and Society Summer School, Blackwater, Cork, Ireland (May 2017 & 2018).
  • Methodological Seminar on Process Tracing Methodology, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain (May 2015).

Event Organisation
  • Sociological Association of Ireland Annual Conference, University of Galway (10-11 May 2019).
  • School of Political Science & Sociology Research Festival, University of Galway (22 February 2019).
  • Power, Conflict and Ideologies Research Cluster – “Violence, Space, and the Political – Critical theory conference”, University of Galway, Ireland (7-9 Jun 2018).