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https://webcdn.mmu.ac.uk/profiles/img/profile-images/avatars_0000s_0028_Benedicte-Brahic-resize-100x100-528f74749576f.jpg
Why do I teach Sociology? Sociology gets us thinking about our everyday lives and the world we live in. It asks questions about power and where it lies. It can give a voice to people and groups who might not otherwise have one. Sociology is empowering, it can inspire individuals to challenge and change their reality.
My advice to anyone reading this is to constantly be asking ‘Why'. Why is the world like it is? Why do people live the way they do? Why does society 'work' the way it does? Be like that insistant child that won’t stop asking why. Also, allow yourself to study an area that fascinates you.
I like to see students becoming independent learners. My aim is to provide students with 'a sociological toolbox' they can call upon to develop their reflection.I strive to be approachable at all times, in seminars and outside.
Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCLTHE)
PhD in Sociology
MA Globalisation, Societies and Cultures
BA (Hons) Political Science
2011 - 2013: Research Officer, Women Working Worldwide, Manchester, UK
2010 - 2011: French Lector, Alliance Française Manchester, UK
2006: Research assistant, ‘Young European Professionals in Manchester’ project, Manchester, UK
2005 - 2012 : Associate Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
2005: Case worker, Barnardos, Manchester, UK
2001: Research assistant, International Organization for Migration, Brussels, Belgium
Deputy Programme Leader
English (near native)
French (near native)
Making Sense of Society (MSOS) Core unit, Year 1, Unit co-leader
World Without Borders (WWB) - Option, Year 2 and 3, Unit leader
Women's Lives (WL) - Option, Year 2 and 3, Unit co-leader
Globalisation, Media, Culture and Consumption (GMCC) - MA, Unit co-leader
Yasmin Hussain (in progress),
Working Title: 'A critical evaluation of the intersectionalities and competing discourses of globalisation, internationalisation and student mobility in the UK'
My research explores micro-scale expressions of the processes of globalisation and focuses on aspects of migration, relationship and gender. It is articulated around three strands.
Strand 1: Globalization, cosmopolitanism and personal relationships.
Project title: ‘Negotiating transnational relationships: between opportunities and challenges. Bi-national European couples in Manchester’ (PhD funded by the Manchester Institute of Social and Spatial Transformations).
This research project focused on the creation, negotiation and sustainment of transnational relationships formed by middle-class European bi-national couples living in Manchester. Based on qualitative interviews with individuals either involved in a bi-national couple formed by one European national and one British national (E/B couples) or a bi-national couple formed by two European migrants of different nationalities (E/E couples), this study sought to understand the significance of the bi-national component for European bi-national couples (for themselves as individuals, as a couple, and in relation to their families of orientation and procreation).
Strand 2: Cosmopolitan capital and hard and soft barriers to migration
Project title: “Reluctant communities? Exploring the social implications of raising a bilingual family for European movers in Manchester.” (with Dr Rowenna Baldwin)
Using Manchester as a base, this study explores the ambivalences and contradictions encountered by European migrants in Britain who forge long-term relationship with partners of a different nationality. In particular, the project focuses on the social implications of raising a bilingual family. This should contribute to the existing literature on European ‘movers’ (see Favell, Feldblum and Smith, 2006, Recchi, 2006) by (re)considering the resilience of national/cultural/linguistic attachments, an understudied theme. Second, this study should generate new perspectives on intra-European mobility by focusing on relations and networks rather than individuals. Third, an investigation of complementary schools - understood as a tangible connection points for movers - offers the prospect of deepening our understanding of the social implications of raising a bilingual family while casting light on the formation of (reluctant?) communities alongside the multiplication of bilingual family projects.
This research project was awarded a Research Accelerator Grant (£4500).
Follow-up project (with Dr Maxime Lallement):
'Leaving or living Brexit Britain: migrants' resilience in the new age of migration'
Strand 3: Globalisation, gender and work.
In collaboration with Dr S. Jacobs and Women Working Worldwide (WWW), a Manchester based NGO working with local partners to empower women workers to claim their labour rights.
Analysing the data collected by WWW and its partners in selected East-African agribusiness farms, the research carried out in collaboration with Dr. S. Jacobs explores the lives of women workers in global value chains.
S. Arun, B. Brahic, S. Taylor (2020). Global mobilities: united by dividing and accelerating precarities. Migration and Development. 9(1), pp.1-7.
B. Brahic (2013). The Politics of Bi-nationality in Couple Relationships: A Case Study of European Bi-national Couples in Manchester. Journal of Comparative Family Studies. 44(6), pp.699-714.
B. Brahic, S. Jacobs (2013). Empowering Women: A Labor Rights-Based Approach: Case Studies from East African Horticultural Farms. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 26(3), pp.601-619.
B. Brahic, S. Jacobs (2012). Empowering Women: A Labor Rights-Based Approach: Case Studies from East African Horticultural Farms. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 8(1-2), pp.1-19.
B. Brahic, MM. Olaiya, S. Jacobs, R. English (2011). Organizing women workers in the agribusiness sector: Case studies from East Africa. Labour, Capital and Society. 44(1),
BAM. Brahic, M. Medusa Olaiya, S. Jacobs, R. English (2011). 'Organizing Women Workers in the Agribusiness Sector: Case Studies from East Africa'. Labour, Capital and Society. 44(1), pp.70-97.
B. Brahic, K. Heyes, S. Arun (2023). At Whose Cost? Vulnerable Female Migrants with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) during the COVID-19 Crisis in England. In: Women and COVID-19. Routledge, pp.227-242.
BAM. Brahic (2015). European Bi-National Couples And Their Pre-Existing Families: ‘Doing Family’ Across Borders And Cultures. In: Family Change in Times of the De-Bordering of Europe and Global Mobility: resources, processes and practices. Vilnius University Press,
Brahic, B, Baldwin R. (2015) ‘Reluctant communities? Exploring the social implications of raising a bilingual family for European movers living in Manchester’, European Sociological Association, Prague.
Brahic, B., Jacobs, S. (2014), ‘Beyond the personal: sexual harassment and trade union interventions in East African agribusiness’, the 8th Biennial International Interdisciplinary ‘Gender, Work and Organization’ Conference, Keele University, UK.
Invited discussant on the panel ‘Phenomena and Conceptualizations’ in the ISA RC06 Seminar on Family Research entitled ‘Family and Migration’ in Vilnius, Lithuania, July 2013.
Brahic, B. (2013) ‘Negotiating transnational relationships – between opportunities and challenges: European bi-national couples living in Manchester, Family and migration conference, Vilnius University, Lithuania.
Jacobs, S., Brahic, B. (2013) ‘Gendered labour organisation in East African agribusiness: class, gender and precarious work in the cut-flower industry’, Rural resilience and vulnerability: the rural as locus of solidarity and conflict in time of crisis conference, Florence, Italy.
Brahic, B. (2013) ‘Human rights as gendered labour rights: a grassroots perspective on empowering women workers in East African horticulture’, Annual research programme, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Jacobs, S., Brahic, B. (2012) ‘Class, gender and strategies for resistance: the struggle for labour rights in east African agribusiness’, How class works conference, SUNY Stony Brooks, USA
Brahic, B. (2011) ‘Gender, work and globalisation: the struggle of East African women workers to win their rights from export horticulture producers’, Invited lecture, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Brahic, B. (2008) ‘Transnational European families: identity, culture and belonging’, Families in Global Transition conference, Houston, USA
Brahic, B. (2007) ‘The new European family: between opportunities and constraints’, Annual research student conference, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Brahic, B. (2007) ‘Negotiating transnational private spaces: identity, culture and belonging’, poster presentation, Departmental research conference, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Brahic, B. (2007) ‘The relational character of transnational private spaces’, Everyday life in the global city conference, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
2018: Jean Monnet Centre for Excellence Grant (£850)
2015: Jean Monnet Centre for Excellence Teaching and Learning Grants (£500)
2014: Research Accelerator Grant, Manchester Metropolitan University (£4500)
The Manchester Bilingual Cafe
co-founded with Dr Coralie Herve and in collaboration with Multilingual Manchester - University of Manchester
The Bilingual Cafe seeks to foster knowledge exchange between researchers and the local bilingual and bi-cultural community. One central aim is to disseminate information on bilingualism through the organisation of meetings where parents/carers of bilinguals can exchange. These meetings are an opportunity to learn from other people's experience and discuss with the researchers running the meeting.
http://mlm.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/activities/bilingual-cafe/
Arts et Cultures en Francophonie (registered charity number 1163079)
Arts et Cultures en Francophonie seeks to promote French-speaking arts and cultures outside London and organises regular events throughout the year as well as a mobile library service with interactive readings for young readers and pre-readers.