University of Gothenburg
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Sofia Strid

Senior Lecturer

Department of Sociology and Work
Science
Mail
sofia.strid@gu.se
Visiting address
Skanstorget 18
41122 Göteborg
Postal address
Box 720
40530 Göteborg

About Sofia Strid

Sofia Strid is Senior Lecturer in Sociology and holds positions as Associate Professor/Reader [docent] in Gender Studies at Örebro University and as Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University, UK. She has previously held positions in Gender Studies, Policy Studies, Political Science, Sociology and Women's Studies in Austria, Belgium, Sweden and the UK; most recently in Sociology at Lancaster University, UK. Her research profile is international, multi-disciplinary and collaborative, with a focus on European multi-partner project and collaborations. She has contributed to more than 100 publications and 100 conference presentations.

Research

Sofia Strid's research interests are oriented towards the social and political sciences and can be summarised as focusing on different forms of inequalities, their intersections and consequences thereof - including mobilisations to counteract - in different domains, systems and regimes. Her research has recently primarily focused on: 1) inequalities produced in times of crises (e.g. the financial crisis, covid crisis and sustainability crisis) and political and social mobilisation to mitigate these; 2) the concept, theory and measurement of different forms of violence and their interconnectedness; and 3) obstacles and barriers for the realisation of socially just and gender equal sustainability politics. She applies both qualitative and quantitative methods.

Sofia Strid's research has been published in in e.g., Current Sociology, Feminist Theory, Journal of European Social Policy, Journal of Sex Research, Politics and Governance, Social Politics, Social Problems, Sociologist Forskning, Sociology, and Theory & Society. It is funded by the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Institute for Gender Equality, the Swedish Research Council and FORTE.

Current Research Projects

  • ACCTING: Advancing behavioural change through an inclusive green deal (2021-2025). ACCTING mobilises research experimentation and innovation to advance a gender equal, inclusive and socially just European Green Deal. It specifically focuses on inequalities produced and reproduced in the context of Green Deal policy and interventions. It is based on interdisciplinary conceptual and methodological framework, inspired by strategic policy design-thinking. Starting with an extensive mapping and comparative analysis of bottom-up environmental initiatives in 34 countries, including the collection of 410 narratives followed by 41 experimental studies from eight research lines, results are fed into multi-sectoral so-called Open Studios to co-create innovative solutions. Results are used for further experimentation, including through pilot actions with mass implementation potential. The project relies on a 12 European partner consortium and researchers in 30+ countries. ACCTING is funded with 50 million SEK by the EH Horizon 2020 and coordinated by the European Science Foundation in Strasbourg, Strid is the Scientific Coordinator and WP leader.
  • UniSAFE: Gender-based Violence and Institutional Responses: Building a Knowledge-base and Operational Tools to make Universities and Research Organisations Safe (2021-2024). UniSAFE analysis gender-based violence and sexual harassment in higher education in Europe. A nine EU-partner team and national researchers, all in all some 50 multidisciplinary researchers and innovators, investigates policies and legal frameworks in the EU27+ and in European research performing organisations, designs and implements the largest ever prevalence study in EU research performing organisations (n=42,000), conducts 16 in-depth case studies of organisational responses and infrastructures in 15 member states, and interviews 60 researchers at higher risk of gender-based violence. UniSAFE is funded with 35 million SEK by the EU Horizon 2020 and coordinated by the European Science Foundation in Strasbourg, Strid is the Scientific Coordinator and WP leader.
  • RESISTIRÉ: Responding to Outbreaks through Co-creative Inclusive Equality Strategies (2021-2023). RESISTIRÉ, and its 11-partner EU-team, contributes to the reduction of gendered and intersectional inequalities arising from COVID-19 policy responses and creates innovative operational tools to address inequalities. It is designed to achieve its results through multi-disciplinary research insights, cross-sectoral co-creation, solution development and a wide dissemination strategy. The project will provide in-depth knowledge and understanding of existing problems, as well as current and future priorities and solutions. RESISTIRÉ funded with 50 million SEK by the EU H2020 and coordinated by the European Science Foundation in Strasbourg, Strid is the Scientific Coordinator and WP leader.
  • Violence Regimes: Theorising and Explaining Variations in the Production of Violence in Welfare State Regimes (2018-2022). In Violence regimes, a team of senior multi-disciplinary researchers, (including Strid, Anne Laure Humbert, Jeff Hearn, Dag Balkmar and Zara Saeidzadeh) analyse, theorise, and explain how violence is produced and conceptualized in European welfare states. We analyse the ontology of violence, develop a new typology of violence, compare welfare regimes with violence regimes, and investigate the so-called Nordic paradox. Violence Regimes is funded with 3.5 million SEK by the Swedish Research Council (VR), Strid is the PI.
  • Between Romance and Sexual Commerce: Sugar Dating and the renegotiation of the boundaries between economy and intimacy (2019-2022). In Sugardating, we investigate the commodification of sexuality and intimacy via the proliferation of Swedish sugar dating sites from a gender perspective. The material consists mainly of interviews (n=23) and surveys (n=100) with men and women who have experiences of sugar dating. The project is funded by FORTE, Strid is the partner and co-applicant, Lena Gunnarson, Örebro University is PI.

Teaching

Sofia Strid has designed and delivered courses related to her research interests, and lectures and supervises on all academic levels and in many disciplines, including Gender Studies, Law, Media and Communication, Political Science, Sociology, Social Work and the Teacher Education Programmes. She also develops and delivers workshops on gender equality, gender mainstreaming and gender-based violence for university staff, practitioners, and policymakers, for example within the EU Gender Equality Academy.

She has supervised seven PhD students (two as main supervisor, five as assistant) and examined four PhD theses in three countries; she currently supervises two PhD students with backgrounds in Gender Studies and Political Science. Sofia Strid welcomes research students and post docs with an interest in feminist violence studies and gendered and intersectional perspectives on sustainability.

Collaborations and Service

Sofia Strid is active in well-established European wide networks and collaborations, many of which have developed from her work with the European Women's Lobby (2006-2007), as Research Associate in the EU 6th framework funded QUING: Quality in Gender+ Equality Policy in Europe, with PI Sylvia Walby and Scientific Director Mieke Verloo), and from her participation in the UNESCO Chair in Gender Research Group.

She is the previous Chair of the Nordic Association for Feminist Research and Gender Studies, the board of NORA; the Chair of SO9: Gender-Based Violence Section of the ECPG of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR); a member of the EU COST Action on Femicide; and the European Representative in the International Sociological Association (ISA) RC32: Women and Society.

Sofia Strid has served as an elected representative on the Faculty Board for Humanities and Social Sciences at Örebro University, the Örebro University representative in the Regional Administrative County's Resource Group on Violence against Women; an organising member of the annual National Gender Dialogue with gender researchers and Members of Parliament, and a founding member of the Regional Gender Dialogue with gender researchers adn practicioners working with gender issues. She has also served as Head of Undergraduate Studies.