Jennifer MacKay is a Lecturer in Sociology within the Division of Psychology, Sociology and Education.
- Overview
- Research Interests
- Teaching & Learning
- Research Publications
I started as Lecturer in Public Sociology and Sociology at QMU in 2019. I teach political ecology, environmental and gender justice, posthuman feminism, feminist political ecology, community/activist education, and feminist pedagogy. I supervise undergraduate dissertations.
I am also a PhD candidate and my research is based in the Centre for Applied Social Sciences and aims to examine the critical differences of community waste reduction initiatives, particularly composting, through a posthuman feminist political ecology lens. My PhD supervisor is Eurig Scandrett. My research is interdisciplinary across sociology, public sociology, and human geography.
I have held research fellow positions in conducting and analysing research on environmental justice communities alongside Eurig Scandrett. I am involved in several posthuman research networks throughout Europe and environmental humanities.
Before coming to QMU, I wrote a chapter for a book edited by Anne Harley and Eurig Scandrett entitled ‘Environmental Justice, popular struggle and community development’, which was published in 2019. Prior to this, I worked for NGOs and ran a small charitable organisation called SEAD (Scottish Education and Action for Development) which focused on popular education methods, community development within international social and environmental justice projects and links with Scotland. I have a long history of being involved in climate justice activism, extraction (oil & coal) and zero waste movements. I have worked with several environmental campaign groups in Scotland and globally.
Affiliations/Memberships to Other Organisations:
- British Sociological Association
- Associate Fellow, Royal Geographical Society with IBG
- The International Society for Ecological Economics
- International Association for Feminist Economics
- Board member of Feminist Studies Association UK, 2026 - present
Research/Knowledge Exchange Centre Membership:
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Full member of the Centre for Applied Social Sciences
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Full member of the Centre for Dialogue and Public Engagement
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Full member of the Public Sociology Research Group
My primary research areas are based in environmental, climate and social justice, zero waste, activism & social movements post humanism and environmental humanities and feminist political ecology. I primarily focus on interdisciplinary methods which involve post human, collaborative, participatory and decolonised approaches.
Active Research Interests:
- Feminist/Post humanism: environment, gender and education
- Environmental Humanities
- Feminist Political Ecology
- Environmental Justice
- Decolonisation of knowledge
- Gender and Environment/Climate Change
- Feminist Pedagogy
- Popular Education
- Actor Network Theory
- New Materialism
Research Methods:
- Qualitative
- Observational
- Participatory/Collaborative/Popular Education
- Ethnography
- Feminist and Acton Research
- Dialogical process
- Video Participatory
- Story telling
- Decolonisation of Knowledge
I teach in the areas of gender justice and am a module co-ordinator in the areas of: organic intellectual and social and environmental justice.
