Dr Nathan Kerrigan

Associate Professor in Sociology

Email:: Nathan.Kerrigan@bcu.ac.uk

Dr Nathan Kerrigan is a sociologist whose research and teaching centre on the relationships between community, space, and power in contemporary society. His work brings together sociology, social and cultural geography, and continental philosophy to explore how informal social control, regulation, and everyday actions and routines shape the lived experience of place and belonging, exclusion.

He has published and presented on topics including informal social control, governmentality, and the sociologies of space and everyday life, rural studies and social theory. His theoretical orientation draws on critical theory, poststructuralism, existentialism and phenomenology, situating his work within the broader tradition of continental social thought.

Nathan’s research is driven by a commitment to qualitative inquiry, particularly ethnography and evaluation methods, and often involves collaborative work with community organisations. Alongside his ongoing research in community and spatial sociology, he is developing new projects in the sociology and philosophy of love and intimate life, and spatial literary studies.

Areas of Expertise

Community studies
Informal social control and governmentality studies
Sociologies of space and everyday life
Rural studies
Public policy and community research
Social identities and inequalities
Social and spatial theory
Continental philosophy
Ethnography and qualitative research methods

Qualifications

PhD Sociology
PgCert in Teaching & Learning in Higher Education
BA(Hons) Criminology

Memberships

British Sociological Association
Social Equality, Intersectionality, and Inclusion Research Group

Teaching

Nathan teaches on the following courses:

BA Sociology
BA Sociology & Criminology

Research

Nathan’s current research has focused on young people, digital exclusion, housing inequalities in the private rented sector, experiences of families of prisoners, and green spaces. His research projects include:

2024: Nuffield Foundation: Gypsy, Roma, Traveler Youth: Mitigating Exclusions using the Digital (£371K, Co-I)
2023: Nuffield Foundation: Gypsy, Roma, Traveler Youth: Mitigating Exclusions using the Digital (£255K, Co-I)
2023: Himaya Haven CIC: BAME Families of Prisoners (£5K, PI)
2023: Birmingham City Council: Enabling a Digital Birmingham Evaluation (£5K, PI)
2021: Walsall Council: Private Rented Sector (PRS) research on the impact of Universal Credit on evictions and abandonments across the Black Country Sub-Region (£9K, PI)
2018: Garden Organic: Evaluation of the Master Gardener Programme on alleviating food poverty in deprived urban communities (£17.5k, Co-I)
2017: Coventry University Pump-Priming: The role of advocacy in supporting young carers (£8k, Co-I)
2016: Coventry University Pump-Priming: Exploring the 2015 UK General Election and Brexit (£10k, Co-I)

Postgraduate Supervision

Nathan is currently supervising five PhD students:

Student: Beenish Ameer
Thesis Topic: The impact of Brexit on the lived experiences of migrant-owned businesses in rural Scotland in relation to welcoming by the Scottish government and ‘host’ rural communities.
Role: Director of Studies

Student: Ronald Winch
Thesis Topic: Policing, Ethics and AI
Role: Director of Studies

Student: Abigail Shaw
Thesis Topic: Community engagement and participation concerning the achievement of desistance for African and Caribbean women with offending histories in Birmingham.
Role: Director of Studies

Student: Maxwell Ayamba
Thesis Topic: People of Black African ancestry’ ‘lived experience’ and use of the Peak District National Park – comparative study of two English Cities.
Role: External Second Supervisor

Student: Julia Lurfova
Thesis Topic: Ethnography of ‘jam’ music spaces
Role: Second Supervisor

Publications

Books

Kerrigan, N., Jones, S. (In Press; 2026). Urban Greening, Informal Social Control, and the Working Class: Keep Off the Grass. London: Routledge.

Kerrigan, N., Breen, D., and Bakkali, Y. (2025). Liquid Racism: Education, Brexit, and Black Youth Culture. Bristol: Policy Press.

Kerrigan, N., Breen, D., and Bakkali, Y. (In Press; 2024). Liquid Racism: Education, Brexit, and Black Youth Culture. Bristol: Policy Press.

Kerrigan, N., and de Lima, P. (2023). The Rural-Migration Nexus: Global Problems, Rural Issues. London: Palgrave-Macmillan.

Nahaboo, Z., Kerrigan, N. (2021). Migrants, Borders, and The European Question: The Calais Jungle. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave-Macmillan

Kerrigan, N. (2018). A Threatened Rural Idyll? Informal social control, exclusion and the resistance to change in the English countryside. Wilmington: Vernon Press.

Book Chapters

O’Sullivan, A., and Kerrigan, N. (In Press; 2024). ‘Rebels in Society? Street Politics and Organic Intellectuals in the UK Oi! punk scene during the Miners’ Strike 1984-85’. In. Blackman, S., (CCC), Raine, S., Hamilton, C., and McPherson, R. (Eds.) Popular Music Ethnographies. London: Intellect.

Kerrigan, N. (2023). ‘Student Producers Ain’t No Losers: Zine-making in a sociology and criminology classroom’. In. Stewart, F., and Way L. (Eds) Punk Pedagogies in Practice: disruptions and connections. London: Intellect Book

Kerrigan, N. (2020) ‘Disability, Age, the British Countryside and Social Exclusion’. In. Kelly, C.; Aubrecht, K.; Rice, C (Eds). Disability/Aging Nexus. Toronto: British Columbia Press.

Kerrigan, N. (2019). ‘Rural Racism in a digital age’. In. Harmer, E., and Lumsdem, K. (Eds) Online Othering: exploring the dark side of the web. London: Palgrave-Macmillan.

Journal articles

Kerrigan, N. (2025). ‘Rural being: Merleau-Ponty, embodied perception and intersectionality’. In. Sociologia Ruralis, 65(1), p.e12501.

Redshaw, S., Thomas, C., Kerrigan, N., Krivokapic-Skoko, B., and Flynn, S. (2025). ‘Rurality and intersectionality: a literature review’. In. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 44(9), pp.208-226.

O’Sullivan, A., Breen, D., and Kerrigan, N. (2025). ‘Not-so-critical race theory: a retort to Hodgkinson et al’s ‘critical assessment’ of the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK’. In. Justice, Power and Resistance, 8(2), pp.149-169.

Edited Special Issues

Tomas, C., Kerrigan, N., Philips, J., Krivokapic-Skoko, B., Flynn, S., and Gorriss-Hunter, A. (Eds). (In Press; 2024). ‘Special Issue: Place and Space in Social Research: Rurality and Intersectionality’. In. Sociologia Ruralis.

Reports

Kerrigan, N., and Buck‐Matthews, E. (2025). BAME Families of Prisoners Evaluation. Birmingham: Birmingham City University.

Kerrigan, N. (2024). Enabling a Digital Birmingham: an evaluation of the Birmingham Digital Inclusion Strategy. Birmingham: Birmingham City University.

Kerrigan, N., Jones, S., and Riley, T. (2023). Private Rented Sector (PRS) Research: The Impact of Universal Credit on Eviction and/or Abandonments Across the Black Country Sub-Region. Birmingham: Birmingham City University.

Brown, G., Kerrigan, N., and Fried, J. (2019). The Master Gardener Programme working with urban communities: Garden Organic’s London Food Poverty Project. Coventry University: Coventry

Brown, G., and Kerrigan, N. (2018). Who cares for the carer: Exploring the role of advocacy in supporting young carers. Coventry University: Coventry

Media Work

Nathan is available for comment and analysis on issues relating to: -

Community and social cohesion
Social identities and everyday life
Rural change and inequality
Late/liquid modernity and social and cultural transformation

Work With Industry

Dr Kerrigan has collaborated with local authorities, and voluntary and community organisations on research and evaluation projects that examine the impact of public and community organisations’ interventions on individual and group experiences of inequality as to identify ways of bringing about change. His work has contributed to evidence-based approaches in public policy and community development.

Links and Social Media

ORCID ID
BCU Pure Profile

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