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Dr. Joe Whelan

Assistant Professor (Social Studies)

 


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
 Walking, thinking and talking: An exploration of the lived experiences and hidden geographies of poverty using walking as a participatory arts methodology.
 In transit? Documenting the lived experiences of welfare, working and caring for one parent families claiming Jobseeker's Transitional Payment.
 Greening the welfare state: How can we do welfare more sustainably? A foundational literature and policy review.
 Capturing lived experiences of work disruption during COVID-19 pandemic.
 Views of key stakeholders: A consultation on behalf of Galtan Approved Housing Body

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Details Date From Date To
Sociological Association of Ireland
Irish Social Policy Association
Irish Association of Social Workers
Professionally qualified, CORU registered social worker.
Critical Social Policy: Editorial Collective Member.
All-Island Social Security Network.
Governmentalizing the 'social work subject': Social work in Ireland in the era of corporate governance: A sociological analysis. in, editor(s)Baikady, R. et al , The Oxford Handbook of Power, Politics and Social Work. , The US, Oxford, 2023, [Joe Whelan], Notes: [Forthcoming], Book Chapter, IN_PRESS
Joe Whelan, Hidden in statistics? On the lived experience of poverty, Journal of social work practice, 2023, p1 - 15, Notes: [https://www.tandfonline.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1080/02650533.2022.2097209], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Joe Whelan, What role for social work in confronting the climate crisis? , European Conference of Social Work Researchers, Milan, 13/04/2023, 2023, Oral Presentation, PUBLISHED
Joe Whelan, Hidden Voices: Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, 1st, Bristol, Policy Press, 2022, Book, PUBLISHED  URL
Setting the stage: the development of the Irish welfare state and its place in the world of welfare in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Hidden Voices: Loved Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, Bristol, Policy Press, 2022, pp13 - 31, [Joe Whelan], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  DOI
Welfare, marginality and social liminality: life in the welfare 'space' in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Hidden Voices: Loved Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, Bristol, Policy Press, 2022, pp32 - 45, [Joe Whelan], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  DOI
The effect of the work ethic in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Hidden Voices: Loved Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, Policy Press, 2022, pp46 - 68, [Joe Whelan], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  DOI
Welfare Conditionality in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Hidden Voices: Loved Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, Bristol, Policy Press, 2022, pp69 - 86, [Joe Whelan], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  DOI
Maintaining compliance and engaging in impression management in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Hidden Voices: Loved Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, Bristol, Policy Press, 2022, pp87 - 104, [Joe Whelan], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  DOI
Deservingness: othering, self-justification and the norm of reciprocity in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Hidden Voices: Loved Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, Bristol, Policy Press, 2022, pp105 - 125, [Joe Whelan], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  DOI
  

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Joe Whelan, "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men [sic].": Why child poverty matters., Treoir Annual Policy Conference: Perspectives on Child Poverty., Dublin, 18/05/2023, 2023, Oral Presentation, PUBLISHED
Fiona Dukelow; Joe Whelan. , In Transit: Documenting the lived experiences of welfare, working and caring for one-parent families claiming Jobseeker's Transitional Payment. , Ireland, May, 2023, Notes: [Relevant to public and social policy inn the area of social protection and poverty. ], Report, PUBLISHED
Joe Whelan, Narratives beyond quantification: Lived Experiences of poverty and welfare recipiency. , Irish Association of Social Workers Annual Conference, Dublins, 21/08/2022, 2022, Irish Association of Social Workers, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
The Sociological Observer, 1, 2, (2022), 93 - 100p, Tom Boland and Ray Griffin, Journal, PUBLISHED
Robert Bolton; Joe Whelan; Fiona Dukelow, Some Useful Sources, Social Policy and Society, 2022, p1 - 2, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Joe Whelan, A pro-welfare imaginary, 2020, -, Miscellaneous, PUBLISHED
Joe Whelan, How our generosity for charities exposes the failure of state., 2020, -, Miscellaneous, PUBLISHED
Joe Whelan; Fiona Dukelow; Tom Boland, What Ireland has to say about unemployment during the pandemic?, 2020, -, Miscellaneous, PUBLISHED
Joe Whelan, Coronavirus: in Ireland hundreds of thousands have applied for government support - but is it enough?., 2020, -, Miscellaneous, PUBLISHED
Joe Whelan, SLOWING THE ROLL: WHY SLOWING ECONOMIC GROWTH IS A GOOD THING FOR THE PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT., 2020, -, Miscellaneous, PUBLISHED

  

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Award Date
IRJ Distinguished Article Prize : Awarded by the Sociological Association of Ireland for the paper adjudicated to represent the best original contribution to the journal in a given year. 13/05/2022
Quercus College Scholar (UCC) 2014
Quercus College Scholar (UCC) 2015
College Scholar 2016
I am an active social researcher with a track record of publishing in international, peer-reviewed, scholarly journals and a selection of my work can be seen below. I am a critical scholar engaged in both theoretical and empirical work. 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 the context of welfare recipiency. 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 and sustainable social policy.