Prof Rosie Cox
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Overview
Overview
Biography
Rosie Cox is Head of the School of Social Sciences
She joined Birkbeck in 2003 after 10 years at Coventry University. Previously at Birkbeck she has served as Assistant Dean for Research and Assistant Dean International, as well as Head of the Department of Geography.
Her research focuses on home and particularly work and consumption within the home. She has published widely in this area, including on paid domestic workers and au pairs, 'alternative' food consumption and most recently on DIY and paid handymen.
She is co-editor of the Routledge book series 'Home'.
Highlights
Listen to me talking about home, work and housework on the 'Feels Like Home' podcast with Ana Baeza and Lucy Delap https://moda.mdx.ac.uk/conversations/home-work/
Latest book - Home Improvement in Aotearoa New Zealand and the UK (Routledge)
Qualifications
- PhD (Geography), Coventry University, 1998
- MA (Geography), University of California, Davis, 1993
- BA(Hons) Geography, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1991
Administrative responsibilities
- Head of the School of Social Sciences
- College Strategic Lead for Access to Masters
Visiting posts
- External Affiliate, Purai: Global Indigenous and Diaspora Research, University of Newcastle, Australia,
Professional activities
Member Peer Review College UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships
Chair Gender and Feminist Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society (2019-2022)
Co-editor GEO: Geography and Environment (Wiley and RGS) (2020-2023)
Series editor (with Victor Buchli) 'Home' (Routledge)
Professional memberships
Fellow Royal Geographical Society
Honours and awards
- Fellow, The Academy of Social Science,
ORCID
0000-0003-2830-7234 -
Research
Research
Research overview
My research revolves around the relationship between home, work and consumption. It interrogates home as a space of paid and unpaid work and examines how work and consumption at home relate to broader inequalities of class, gender and race/ethnicity.
For many years I have researched paid domestic work in the UK (particularly London) and have published widely in this area including the books: The Servant Problem: Domestic Employment in a Global Economy (2006, I.B. Tauris); Au Pairs' Lives in Global Context: Sisters or Servants? (2015, Palgrave Macmillan) and, with Nicky Busch, As an Equal: Au Pairing in the Twenty-First Century (2018, Zed Books).
My interest in housework led to research on the social meanings of dirt at home and the collection, edited with Ben Campkin, Dirt: New Geographies of Cleanliness and Contamination (2007, I.B. Tauris) and contributing to the book Dirt: The Filthy Reality of Everyday Life (2011, Profile Books) which was produced but the Wellcome Collection to accompany the exhibition of the same name.
I have also examined 'alternative' food consumption and 'Alternative Food Networks' (AFN) as spaces of care that link together, food producers, consumers and the environment. This work was published in the co-authored book Reconnecting Producers, Consumers and Food: Exploring Alternatives (2008 Bloomsbury) and a number of journal articles.
More recently I have also been researching male labour in the home and particularly the work of home renovation, whether it is done as 'DIY' by homeowners themselves or by paid 'handymen' my book on this Home Improvement in Aotearoa New Zealand and the UK was published in 2021, Routledge.
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Supervision and teaching
Supervision and teaching
Supervision
Supervising PhD students is one of the great joys of academic work. I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students who are interested in undertaking research in my area of expertise.
Current doctoral researchers
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SHU CEAN CHUA
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ANA LUISA SERTA ALMADA MAURO
Doctoral alumni since 2013-14
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LEXTER WOODLEY
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MEIYUN MENG
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MEIYUN MENG
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AARON VANSINTJAN
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SANTIAGO LEYVA DEL RIO
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Publications
Publications
Article
- Cox, Rosie (2018) Gender, work, non-work and the invisible migrant: au pairs in contemporary Britain. Palgrave Communications 4 (1), ISSN 2055-1045.
- Cox, Rosie (2018) Think Uber drivers have it bad? Take a look at au pairs. The Guardian ISSN 0261-3077.
- Cox, Rosie and Busch, Nicole (2016) ‘This is the life I want’: au pairs’ perceptions of life in the global city. Nordic Journal of Migration Research 6 (4), pp. 234-242. ISSN 1799-649X.
- Cox, Rosie (2016) Materials, skills and gender identities: men, women and home improvement practices in New Zealand. Gender, Place & Culture 23 (4), pp. 572-588. ISSN 0966-369X.
- Cox, Rosie (2016) What are homes made of? Building materials, DIY and the homeyness of homes. Home Cultures 13 (1), pp. 63-82. ISSN 1740-6315.
- Cox, Rosie (2014) Book review: Building a Market: The Rise of the Home Improvement Industry, 1914–1960, Richard Harris. University of Chicago Press, Chicago (2012), xii + 431 pages. Journal of Historical Geography ISSN 0305-7488.
- Cox, Rosie (2013) House/work: home as a space of work and consumption. Geography Compass 7 (12), pp. 821-831. ISSN 1749-8198.
- Cox, Rosie (2013) Gendered spaces of commoditised care. Social & Cultural Geography 14 (5), pp. 491-499. ISSN 1464-9365.
- Cox, Rosie (2013) The complications of ‘hiring a hubby’: gender relations and the commoditisation of home maintenance in New Zealand. Social and Cultural Geography 14 (5), pp. 575-590. ISSN 1464-9365.
- Cox, Rosie (2011) Competitive mothering and delegated care: class relationships in nanny and au pair employment. Studies in the Maternal 3 (2), ISSN 1759-0434.
- Cox, Rosie (2010) Some problems and possibilities of caring. Ethics, Place & Environment 13 (2), pp. 113-130. ISSN 1366-879X.
- Dowler, E. and Kneafsey, K. and Cox, Rosie and Holloway, L. (2010) Doing food differently: reconnecting biological and social relationships through care for food. Sociological Review 57 (2), pp. 200-221. ISSN 1467-954X.
- Cox, Rosie (2010) Hired hubbies and mobile mums: gendered skills in domestic service. Renewal: A Journal of Social Democracy 18 (1/2), pp. 51-58.
- Cox, Rosie and Holloway, L. and Venn, L. and Dowler, L. and Ricketts Hein, J. and Kneafsey, M. and Tuomainen, H. (2008) Common ground? motivations for participation in a community-supported agriculture scheme. Local Environment 13 (3), pp. 203-218. ISSN 1354-9839.
- Cox, Rosie (2007) The au pair body: sex object, sister or student?. European Journal of Womens Studies 14 (3), pp. 281-296. ISSN 1350-5068.
- Holloway, L. and Kneafsey, M. and Venn, L. and Cox, Rosie and Dowler, E. and Tuomainen, H. (2007) Possible food economies: a methodological framework for exploring food production-consumption relationships. Sociologia Ruralis 47 (1), pp. 1-19. ISSN 0038-0199.
- Cox, Rosie (2006) Teaching the global city: developing a foundation degree on contemporary London. The Literary London Journal 4 (2), ISSN 1744-0807.
- Holloway, L. and Cox, Rosie and Venn, L. and Kneafsey, M. and Dowler, E. and Tuomainen, H. (2006) Managing sustainable farmed landscape through 'alternative food' networks: a case study from Italy. The Geographical journal 172 (3), pp. 219-229. ISSN 1475-4959.
- Venn, L. and Kneafsey, M. and Holloway, L. and Cox, Rosie and Dowler, E. and Tuomainen, H. (2006) Researching European 'alternative' food networks: some methodological considerations. Area 38 (3), pp. 248-258. ISSN 0004-0894.
- Cox, Rosie and Narula, R. (2003) Playing happy families: rules and relationships in au pair employing households in London, England. Gender, Place & Culture 10 (4), pp. 333-344. ISSN 0966-369X.
- Cox, Rosie and Watt, Paul (2002) Globalization, polarization and the informal sector: the case of paid domestic workers in London. Area 34 (1), pp. 39-47. ISSN 0004-0894.
- Kneafsey, M. and Cox, Rosie (2002) Food, gender and Irishness- how Irish women in Coventry make home. Irish Geography 35 (1), pp. 6-15. ISSN 0075-0778.
- Cox, Rosie (2000) Exploring the growth of paid domestic labour: a case study of London. Geography 85 (3), pp. 241-251. ISSN 0016-7487.
- Cox, Rosie (1997) Invisible labour: perceptions of paid domestic work in London. Journal of Occupational Science 4 (2), pp. 62-68. ISSN 1442-7591.
Book
- Cox, Rosie (2021) Home improvement in Aotearoa New Zealand and the UK. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. ISBN 9780367774837.
- Cox, Rosie and Busch, Nicole (2018) As an Equal? Au Pairing in the 21st Century. Zed Books. ISBN 9781783604982.
- Ralph, B. and Pisani, E. and Brimblecombe, P. and George, R. and Cox, Rosie and Smith, V. (2011) Dirt: the filthy reality of everyday life. London, UK: Profile Books. ISBN 9781846684791.
- Kneafsey, M. and Cox, Rosie and Holloway, L. and Dowler, E. and Venn, L. and Tuomainen, H. (2008) Reconnecting consumers, producers and food: exploring alternatives. Cultures of Consumption. Oxford, UK: Berg. ISBN 9781845202538.
- Campkin, B. and Cox, Rosie, eds. (2007) Dirt: new geographies of cleanliness and contamination. London, UK: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 9781845116729.
- Cox, Rosie (2006) The servant problem: paid domestic work in a global economy. London, UK: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 9781850436201.
Book Review
Book Section
- Cox, Rosie (2020) Home and work. In: Flather, A. (ed.) Bloomsbury Cultural History of the Home. The Cultural Histories Series. London, UK: Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781472584410.
- Cox, Rosie (2016) Cleaning up: gender, race and dirty work at home. In: Lewe, C. and Oxen, N. and Othold, T. (eds.) Müll, Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf das Übrig-Geliebene. Bielefeld, Germany: Transcript. pp. 97-116. ISBN 9783837633276.
- Liarou, Eleni (2015) ‘Pink Slave’ or the ‘Modern Young Woman’? A history of the Au Pair in Britain. In: Cox, Rosie (ed.) Au Pairs' Lives in Global Context: Sisters or Servants?. Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 19-35. ISBN 9781349477968.
- Cox, Rosie (2014) Conclusion: when is a worker not a worker? Tackling the contradictions of au pairing. In: Cox, Rosie (ed.) Au Pairs' Lives in Global Context: Sisters or Servants?. Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 235-249. ISBN 9781137377470.
- Cox, Rosie (2014) Introduction. In: Cox, Rosie (ed.) Au Pairs' Lives in Global Context: Sisters or Servants?. Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 1-18. ISBN 9781137377470.
- Cox, Rosie (2014) Domestic workers and au pairs: beyond contract. In: Anderson, B. and Keith, M. (eds.) MIgration: The Compass Anthology. Oxford, UK: COMPAS - Centre on Migration, Policy and Society. pp. 40-41. ISBN 9781907271038.
- Cox, Rosie and Kneafsey, M. and Holloway, L. and Dowler, E. and Venn, L. (2013) Greater than the sum of the parts? unpacking ethics of care within a community supported agriculture scheme. In: Goodman, M.K. (ed.) Food Transgressions: Making Sense of Contemporary Food Politics. Critical Food Studies. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Press. ISBN 9780754679707.
- Cox, Rosie (2012) Turning to food: geography, food production/consumption and the cultural turn. In: Roseneil, Sasha and Frosh, Stephen (eds.) Social Research After The Cultural Turn. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 160-177. ISBN 9780230241589.
- Cox, Rosie (2012) Gendered work and migration regimes. In: Aslaug Sollund, R. and Leonard, L. (eds.) Transnational Migration, Gender and Rights. Advances in Ecopolitics. Bingley, UK: Emerald. pp. 33-52. ISSN 2041-806X. ISBN 9781780522029.
- Cox, Rosie and Holloway, L. and Venn, L. and Kneafsey, M. and Dowler, E. (2011) Adopting a sheep in Abuzzo: agritourism and the preservation of transhumance agriculture in central Italy. In: Torres, R. and Momsen, J. (eds.) Tourism and Agriculture: New Geographies of Consumption, Production and Rural Restructuring. Contemporary Geographies of Leisure, Tourism and Mobility. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. pp. 151-162. ISBN 9780415584296.
- Holloway, L. and Cox, Rosie and Kneafsey, M. and Dowler, E. and Venn, L. and Tuomainen, H. (2010) Are you alternative? motivations for participation in ’alternative’ food schemes. In: Fuller, D. and Jonas, A. and Lee, R. (eds.) Interrogating Alterity: Alternative Economic and Political Spaces. Ashgate Economic Geography Series. Oxford, UK: Ashgate Publishing. pp. 161-174. ISBN 9780754673415.
- Cox, Rosie and Jackson, Sue and Kiwan, Dina and Khatwa, M. (2009) Living London: women negotiating identities in a post-colonial city. In: Wetherell, M. (ed.) Identity in the 21st Century: New Trends in Changing Times. Identity Studies in the Social Sciences. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 175-196. ISBN 9780230580879.
- Cox, Rosie and Kneafsey, M. and Venn, L. and Holloway, L. and Dowler, E. and Tuomainen, H. (2008) Constructing sustainability through reconnection: the case of ‘alternative’ food networks. In: Robinson, G. (ed.) Sustainable Rural Systems: Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Communities. Perspectives on Rural Policy and Planning. Oxford, UK: Ashgate Publishing. pp. 67-82. ISBN 9780754647157.
- Janes, Dominic (2007) Spiritual cleansing, priests and prostitutes in early Victorian London. In: Cox, Rosie and Campkin, B. (eds.) Dirt: New Geographies of Cleanliness and Contamination. London, UK: I.B. Tauris. pp. 113-122. ISBN 9781845116729.
- Holloway, L. and Kneafsey, M. and Venn, L. and Cox, Rosie and Dowler, E. and Tuomainen, H. (2007) Possible food economies: food production-consumption arrangements and the meaning of 'alternative'. In: Maye, D. and Holloway, L. and Kneafsey, M. (eds.) Alternative Food Geographies: Representation and Practice. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. ISBN 9780080450186.
- Holloway, L. and Venn, L and Cox, Rosie and Kneafsey, M. and Dowler, E. and Tuomainen, H. (2007) Dirty vegetables: connecting consumers to the growing of their food. In: Campkin, B. and Cox, Rosie (eds.) Dirt: New Geographies of Cleanliness and Contamination. London, UK: I.B. Tauris. pp. 178-188. ISBN 9781780764177.
- Watt, Paul (2007) From the dirty city to the spoiled suburb. In: Campkin, B. and Cox, Rosie (eds.) Dirt: New Geographies of Cleanliness and Contamination. London, UK: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 9781780764177.
- Cox, Rosie (2000) The role of ethnicity in shaping the domestic employment sector in Britain. In: Momsen, J.H. (ed.) Gender, Migration and Domestic Service. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. pp. 134-147. ISBN 9780415510547.