Dr. Joe Whelan

Dr Joe Whelan is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin. He previously worked as a College Lecturer in the School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork. Joe is an active social researcher with a track record of publishing in international, peer-reviewed, scholarly journals. An award winning scholar, Joe's article 'Work and Thrive or Claim and Skive: Experiencing the Toxic Symbiosis of Worklessness and Welfare Recipiency in Ireland' was awarded the IRJ Distinguished Article Prize in 2022. The IRJ Prize is awarded to the paper adjudicated to represent the best original contribution to the Irish Journal of Sociology in a given year. Joe's main areas of research include the exploring the intersections of poverty, work and welfare, exploring and understanding lived experiences in the context of welfare recipiency with a focus on the processes and effects of welfare conditionality, critical social theory and sustainable social policy. Joe has recently published two monographs. The first of these explores the concept of social deservingness from antiquity to the present day and the second offers an insight into lived experiences in the context of the Irish welfare state and is published by Policy Press. Joe is a member of the Editorial Collective for the distinguished scholarly journal, Critical Social Policy and is the chairperson of the Sociological Association of Ireland's Work, Welfare and Markets study group. As an educator, Joe's teaching philosophy is couched in a Freirean ethos of critical social pedagogy. By starting with the goal of diminishing hierarchy, Joe aims to be open and approachable and to build a good rapport with students. He feels this is important because it can empower students to find their voices and to participate in learning more actively. In general, his ambition for learners taking any of the modules on which he teaches is that they would take what is introduced in the classroom and pursue it further in a self-directed way. He therefore tries to foster passion, interest, excitement and curiosity. As an educator Joe also believes that there are many ways to connect students with learning that go beyond the traditional lecture format. In this respect, he uses music, literature, poetry and art in his teaching to help make visceral that which can seem abstract. He also incorporates the use of different technologies in his teaching in a way that promotes and fosters active learning and interaction. In September 2022, Joe was honored by being invited to Áras an Uachtaráin to present his book 'Hidden Voices: Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space' to President Michael D. Higgins as a work of significant social importance.

  Alienation   Applied Sociology   Comparative Sociology   Ethnography   POLICIES   POLICY   POLICY ANALYSIS   Political Economics/Economy   POLITICAL ECONOMY   Politics of the welfare state   POVERTY   Poverty & Social Exclusion   Poverty and the Poor   SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR   Social Change   SOCIAL CLASS   SOCIAL CONTEXT   SOCIAL DIFFICULTIES   SOCIAL EXCLUSION   SOCIAL HOUSING   Social Measurement and Indicators   Social Movements   Social Organization   SOCIAL POLICY   SOCIAL PROGRAMS   Social Services   Social Services Delivery   Social Services Planning/Policy   SOCIAL SKILLS   Social Stratification/Mobility   Social Structure   SOCIAL SUPPORT   Social Welfare   Social Welfare Planning/Policy   Social Welfare Studies--Developing Countries   Social Work   Social work in Ireland, history, education, poverty and social work   SOCIAL WORKERS   SOCIAL-CLASS   SOCIAL-INTERACTION   SOCIALIZATION   SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED GROUPS   SOCIAL-MOBILITY   SOCIAL-WORK   SOCIETIES   SOCIETY   SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS   SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHICS   SOCIOECONOMIC   SOCIOECONOMIC BASED SURVEY   SOCIOECONOMIC CONDITIONS   SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS   SOCIO-ECONOMIC FEATURES   SOCIOECONOMIC INEQUALITIES   SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS   Socioeconomics   SOCIO-ECONOMICS   SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS   Sociological Theory   Sociology   Sociology of Science   Surveys & Survey Research   SUSTAINABILITY   SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES   SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT   Welfare Reform   Welfare State

I am a critical scholar engaged in both theoretical and empirical work. Widely recognized as a leader in my research area, I am consistently sought after to give talks, presentations and guest lectures, for example, I recently gave the opening lecture at the Social Welfare Summer School which is sponsored by the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Work and Pensions. In 2022, in recognition of my research, I was invited to Áras an Uachtaráin to present my book 'Hidden Voices: Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space' to President Michael D. Higgins as a work of significant social importance. I am currently leading research funded by the Irish Research Council under the New Foundations Grant Scheme (€12,000) and after winning a competitive tender process, I am PI on a funded project (€15,000) which seeks understand the prevalence and experience of hygiene poverty in Ireland. I also collaborate broadly as a researcher. I recently finished an IRC funded project with colleagues in UCC, I collaborate frequently with colleagues in my own unit, I am working on journal articles with colleagues in Canada and Finland and I am working on a book chapter with a colleague in the Technological University of the Shannon. Independently, I have several chapters and journal articles in various stages of production. My main area of research interest focuses on exploring the intersections of poverty, welfare and work to problematise and challenge 'common sense' understandings in these contexts. I am particularly interested in exploring and documenting lived experiences. In much of my work, lived experience as a form of knowledge and as a vital component of a holistic evidence base is something I continuously seek to champion. I also write and publish in the areas of social work governance and sustainable social policy. With a H-Index of 6 and a i10-Index of 4, I have a developing track record of publishing in international, peer-reviewed, scholarly journals. Since joining Trinity, alongside publishing consistently in peer reviewed Journals, I have also published a scholarly monograph with Policy Press and I am under contract to produce a textbook which explores the use of critical theory for social workers by December 2023.