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Professor Elizabeth Silva

Elizabeth SIlva

Profile summary

  • Visiting Formal Academic
  • Emeritus Professor
  • Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
  • School of Social Sciences & Global Studies
  • Sociology
  • elizabeth.silva

Professional biography

I am Professor of Sociology, current Director of the Centre for Citizenship, Identity and Governance (CCIG), and Chair of the Postgraduate Team in Social Sciences.

Qualifications

PhD Imperial College (Industrial Sociology) - University of London, UK
MA (Political Science) - University of São Paulo, Brazil
BA (Social Sciences) - University of São Paulo, Brazil

Professional affiliations

Current Editorial Board membership

  • Editorial Advisory Board Member of SAGE’s Sociology Video Collection
  • International editorial board of the feminist academic journal Cadernos Pagu, published by the University of Campinas, Brazil (ISSN 0104-8333) 
  • International Advisory Board of Irish Journal of Arts Management and Cultural Policy (eJournal)
  • Editorial Board of the Brazilian refereed Journal Revista Tecnologia e Sociedade (ISSN 1984 3526 online; ISSN 1809-0044 printed) 
  • Editorial Board of the International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology (ISSN 2040-0748 online)
  • Editorial board of the International Journal Open Sociology (ISSN 1874-9461)
  • International editorial board of the feminist academic journal Cadernos Pagu, published by the University of Campinas, Brazil (ISSN 0104-8333)

Past Editorial board membership

  • Editorial board of the British Sociological Association Journal Sociological Review OnLine
  • Editorial board of the leading British Sociological Association Journal Sociology(ISSN 0038-0385)
  • Series Editor ‘Everyday Cultures’ Working Papers of the National Everyday Cultures Programme, NECP (ISSN 1476-7767)
  • Series Editor ‘GAPU Working Paper’, Gender Analysis and Policy Unit, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds (ISSN 0-907427-30-8)

Member of the British Sociological Association (BSA)
Member of the Centre for Citizenship, Identity and Governance (CCIG), Open University

Research interests

My current research interests are in Sociology and Culture. These encompass (1) Social Connections and Social Divisions particularly those of gender and class and (2) Connections between Material (objects / technologies) and Social Relations, particularly art objects and museums, and in the contemporary context of home and family life,. Feminist theories have informed these interests, as well as Bourdieu’s theorizing and Actor Network Theory. Research methodologies have been central to my concerns (qualitative approaches of focus groups, interviews, ethnographies and visual explorations, as well as quantitative survey methods. I also engage with exploration of how different approaches and cross-cultural and cross national comparisons complement the creation and understanding of social 'realities'.

I am currently developing a project on 'Exhibiting Social Change’ based on visual art engagements with the narratives of the Brazilian dictatorship violence and imagination for the future.

PhD supervision

My current interests in supervision focus on Cultural Sociology (I particularly welcome engagement with Bourdieu's work and with academic feminist work), Material Studies and Visual Art. I mostly appreciate uses of multiple comparative methods, in particular qualitative ones.

Podcasts, Video and Virtual roundtables

PUBLIC/Media Involvement

July 2016 – Video presentation of Centre for Citizenship, Identity and Governance

June 2016 – virtual roundtable – Sociological Review, ’Habitus and Social Sciences’ - http://www.thesociologicalreview.com/blog/habitus-and-social-science-a-virtual-roundtable.html

June 2016 – PodMag – special edition focusing on CCIG’s research and its contribution to teaching – http://podcast.open.ac.uk/pod/PodMag

December 2015 – Sociological Review – ‘Revitalising our understanding of habitus’ Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/thesociologicalreview/elizabeth-silva-on-revitalising-our-understanding-of-habitus

May 2015 - Bourdieu’ – Workshop ‘Great Thinkers and Our Thinking’, Faculty of Social Sciences, Open University, 15 May – Postgraduate Methods Day Workshop. Organizer of event: http://podcast.open.ac.uk/pod/Great-Thinkers-20150515

May 2015 – ‘Engaging with Pierre Bourdieu’s Thinking’ at Workshop ‘Great Thinkers and Our Thinking’, Faculty of Social Sciences, Open University, 15 May – Postgraduate Methods Day Workshop. http://player.open.ac.uk/embed/24eb93e193

The Social and Political Life of Methods. Blog published 26 Jan 2015, Centre for Citizenship, Identity and Governance, The Open University. http://www.open.ac.uk/ccig/dialogues/blogs/the-social-and-political-life-of-methods

Facebook – Friday Question – Faculty of Social Sciences, Open University, 10 October 2014.

Podcast interview for International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, about Special Edition on Brazil – 09 April 2014 - http://soundcloud.com/clem-herman/gst-podcast-002-elizabeth

PodMag – Interview – Faculty of Social Sciences, Open University, edition 13, 12 March 2014 about my research and teaching work on Technology and home/family life http://learn1.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=9241

PodMag – Interview – Faculty of Social Sciences, Open University, edition 8, 05 February 2014 about the role of sociology among the social sciences http://learn1.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=9153

'How do we know? Methodological Journeys in Social Research', Inaugural Professorial Lecture. The Open University, 14 March 2012.

'Accounting for the Modern Habitus', Round Table: 'Remembering Pierre Bourdieu, 1930-2002, held at the Maison Française d'Oxford, University of Oxford, 09 March 2012.

Teaching interests

I currently chair the Postgraduate Team for production of Three New Qualifications:

  • F73 – MSc in Forensic Psychological Studies 
  • F74 – MSc in Psychology
  • F75 – MA in Crime and Justice

I have contributed to production and presentation of undergraduate and postgraduate modules in the Faculty of Social Sciences at The Open University, most centrally on:

  • Postgraduate module Discourse and Society (D843), as chair
  • Investigating the social world (DD103), as author 
  • Introducing the social sciences (DD101) Level 1, as author and media lead (DVD and audio)
  • Sociology and society (DD201) Level 2, as author and video producer 
  • Making social worlds (DD308) Level 3, as author
  • Research methods dissertation in the social sciences (D845) Postgraduate Social Sciences, as team member.

Research groups

NameTypeParent Unit
Centre for Citizenship, Identifies and Governance (CCIG)CentreFaculty of Social Sciences
Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC)CentreFaculty of Social Sciences

Publications

Unity and fragmentation of the habitus (2016-02-25)
Silva, Elizabeth B.
The Sociological Review, 64(1) (pp. 166-183)

Habitus: beyond sociology (2016-02)
Silva, Elizabeth B.
The Sociological Review, 64(1) (pp. 73-92)

Class in contemporary Britain: comparing the Cultural Capital and Social Exclusion (CCSE) project and the Great British Class Survey (GBCS) (2015-05)
Silva, Elizabeth
Sociological Review, 63(2) (pp. 373-392)

Classe social e gênero: ativos de herança e ativos de escolha [Social class and gender: inherited and elective assets] (2015-03)
Silva, Elizabeth
Plural, 21, Article 97216(2) (pp. 20-46)

Gendered Habitus in Engineering: Experiences of Brazilian Students (2014-03)
Bonaldi, Eduardo and Silva, Elizabeth
International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, 6(1) (pp. 144-164)

Field analysis in cultural sociology: some critical reflections (2013-06)
Savage, Mike and Silva, Elizabeth
Cultural Sociology, 7(2) (pp. 111-126)

Materials in the field: object-trajectories and object-positions in the field of contemporary art (2013-06)
Dominguez Rubio, Fernando and Silva, Elizabeth
Cultural Sociology, 7(2) (pp. 161-178)

Cultural capital of couples: tensions of elective affinities (2011-12)
Silva, Elizabeth B. and Le Roux, Brigitte
Poetics, 39(6) (pp. 547-565)

Introduction: cultural capital-histories, limits, prospects (2011-12)
Bennett, Tony and Silva, Elizabeth
Poetics, 39(6) (pp. 427-443)

Introduction to critical concepts: families, intimacies and personal relationships (2011-11)
Gabb, Jacqui and Silva, Elizabeth
Sociological Research Online, 16(4)

Maids, machines and morality in Brazilian homes (2010-03)
Silva, Elizabeth
Feminist Review, 94 (pp. 20-37)

Domestic relations in Brazil: legacies and horizons (2010)
Pinho, Patricia de Santana and Silva, Elizabeth B.
Latin American Research Review, 45(2) (pp. 90-113)

Empregadas domésticas, máquinas e moral nos lares brasileiros (2010)
Silva, Elizabeth
Revista Tecnologia e Sociedade, 10

Display, desire and distinction in housing (2009)
Silva, Elizabeth and Wright, David
Cultural Sociology, 3(1) (pp. 31-50)

Using mixed methods for analysing culture: The cultural capital and social exclusion project (2009)
Silva, Elizabeth; Warde, Alan and Wright, David
Cultural Sociology, 3(2) (pp. 299-316)

Researching cultural capital: Complexities in mixing methods (2008-10)
Silva, Elizabeth B. and Wright, David
Methodological Innovations Online, 2(3) (pp. 50-62)

Cultural capital and visual art in the contemporary UK (2008)
Silva, Elizabeth
Cultural Trends, 17(4) (pp. 267-287)

What's [Yet] to Be Seen? Re-Using Qualitative Data (2007-05-30)
Silva, Elizabeth B.
Sociological Research Online, 12(3)

Homologies of social space and elective affinities: researching cultural capital (2006-12-01)
Silva, Elizabeth B.
Sociology, 40(6) (pp. 1171-1189)

Distinction through visual art (2006-07)
Silva, Elizabeth B.
Cultural Trends, Volume 15(Issue 2/3) (pp. 141-158)

Introduction: Cultural Capital and Inequality: PolicyIssues and Contexts (2006-07)
Bennett, Tony and Silva, Elizabeth
Cultural Trends, 15(2/3) (pp. 87-106)

Conhecimientos no cotidiano: situações e estórias (Knowledge in daily life: Situations and stories) (2005-11)
Silva, Elizabeth B.
ARBOR: Ciencia Pensamiento y Cultura (Science, Thought and Culture), 181(716) (pp. 531-538)

Género e ciencia: interpretações feministas e distinções locais (Gender and science: feminist interpretations and local distinctions) (2005-11)
Silva, Elizabeth B.
ARBOR: Ciencia Pensamiento y Cultura (Science, Thought and Culture), 181(716) (pp. 463-470)

Gender, home and family in cultural capital theory (2005-03)
Silva, Elizabeth B.
British Journal of Sociology, 56(1) (pp. 83-103)

The judgement of taste and social position in focus group research (2005)
Silva, Elizabeth B. and Wright, David
Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale, n. 76-77 (pp. 241-253)

Time and emotion in studies of household technologies (2002-06)
Silva, Elizabeth B.
Work, Employment and Society, 16(2) (pp. 329-340)

Technology, Culture, Family: Influences on Home Life (2010-07)
Silva, Elizabeth
Studies in Family and Intimate Life
ISBN : 978-0-230-51748-6 | Publisher : Palgrave | Published : Basingstoke

Culture, Class, Distinction (2009)
Bennett, Tony; Savage, Mike; Silva, Elizabeth; Warde, Alan; Gayo-Cal, Modesto and Wright, David
CRESC: Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change
ISBN : 978-0-415-42242-0 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London

Cultural capital and the cultural field in contemporary Britain (2005-06)
Bennett, Tony; Savage, Mike; Silva, Elizabeth; Warde, Alan; Gayo-Cal, Modesto and Wright, David
CRESC Working Papers
ISBN : 1905405022 | Publisher : CRESC (Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change) | Published : Milton Keynes, UK

Pierre Bourdieu’s “Distinction and Beyond" (2024)
Silva, Elizabeth B.
In: Frosh, Stephen; Vyrgioti, Marta and Walsh, Julie eds. The Palgrave Handbook of Psychosocial Studies (pp. 105-123)
ISBN : 978-3-031-30366-1 | Publisher : Springer International Publishing | Published : Cham

Digital Connections and Family Practices (2018-06-26)
Silva, Elizabeth
In: Neves, Barbara and Casimiro, Claudia eds. Connecting Families? Information & Communication Technologies, Generations, and the Life Course (pp. 273-294)
ISBN : 978-1-4473-3994-6 | Publisher : Policy Press | Published : Basingstoke

Cultural Capital (2017-12-05)
Silva, Elizabeth
In: Turner, Brian ed. The Encyclopaedia of Social Theory (pp. 547-554)
ISBN : 9781118430873 | Publisher : Wiley | Published : London

Objects and materials: with, against and beyond Bourdieu (2016-10-24)
Silva, Elizabeth B.
In: Adkins, Lisa; Brosnan, Caragh and Threadgold, Steven eds. Bourdieusian Prospects. Routledge Advances in Sociology (210) (pp. 112-131)
ISBN : 978-1-138-84508-4 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London

Exploring home: sociology, social divisions and social change (2015)
Murji, Karim and Silva, Elizabeth
In: Murji, Karim ed. Investigating the Social World 1
Publisher : The Open University

Haunting in the materials of everyday life (2013-07-17)
Silva, Elizabeth
In: Harvey, Penny; Casella, Eleanor Conlin; Evans, Gillian; Knox, Hannah; McLean, Christine; Silva, Elizabeth B.; Thorburn, Nicholas and Woodward, Kath eds. Objects and Materials: A Routledge Companion. CRESC
ISBN : 978-0-415-67880-3 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London

Introduction to unsettling objects (2013-07-17)
Silva, Elizabeth
In: Harvey, Penelope; Casella, Eleanor; Evans, Gillian; Know, Hannah; McLean, Christine; Silva, Elizabeth; Thorburn, Nicholas and Woodward, Kath eds. Objects and Materials: A Routledge Companion. CRESC
ISBN : 978-0415678803 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Abingdon

Introduction: the importance of Bourdieu (2010-03-02)
Silva, Elizabeth and Warde, Alan
In: Silva, Elizabeth and Warde, Alan eds. Cultural analysis and Bourdieu's legacy : settling accounts and developing alternatives. Culture, Economy and the Social (pp. 1-13)
ISBN : 9780415495356 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London

Epilogue: Bourdieu's legacy? (2010-03-02)
Silva, Elizabeth and Warde, Alan
In: Silva, Elizabeth and Warde, Alan eds. Cultural analysis and Bourdieu's legacy : settling accounts and developing alternatives. Culture, Economy and the Social (pp. 157-160)
ISBN : 9780415495356 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London

Dis-identification and class identity (2010-03-02)
Savage, Mike; Silva, Elizabeth and Warde, Alan
In: Silva, Elizabeth and Warde, Alan eds. Cultural analysis and Bourdieu's legacy: settling accounts and developing alternatives. Culture, Economy and the Social (pp. 60-74)
ISBN : 9780415495356 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London

Making social order (2009)
Silva, Elizabeth
In: Taylor, Stephanie; Clarke, John; Bromley, Simon and Hinchcliffe, Steve eds. Making Social Lives (pp. 306-348)
ISBN : 9780749216412 | Publisher : The Open University | Published : Milton Keynes

Security, the self and the home (2008)
Silva, Elizabeth B.
In: Carter, Simon; Jordan, Timothy and Watson, Sophie eds. Security: Sociology and Social Worlds (pp. 81-100)
ISBN : 9780719078118 | Publisher : Manchester University Press | Published : Manchester

Gender, class, emotional capital and consumption in family life (2007)
Silva, Elizabeth
In: Casey, Emma and Martens, Lydia eds. Gender and Consumption: Domestic Cultures and the Commercialisation of Everyday Life (pp. 141-162)
ISBN : 978-0-7546-4386-9 | Publisher : Ashgate | Published : Aldershot

Quantitative sociological research (2005)
Parr, J and Silva, E. B.
In: Redman, Peter; Silva, Elizabeth and Watson, Sophie eds. The Uses of Sociology (pp. 71-98)
ISBN : 0-7492 6826 3 | Publisher : Open University Worldwide | Published : UK

The uses of sociology: introduction (2005)
Redman, Peter; Silva, Elizabeth and Watson, Sophie
In: Redman, Peter; Silva, Elizabeth and Watson, Sophie eds. The Uses of Sociology (ix-xiv)
ISBN : 0-7492 6826 3 | Publisher : Open University Worldwide | Published : UK

Materials and morals: Families and technologies in everyday life (2004)
Silva, Elizabeth
In: Silva, Elizabeth and Bennett, Tony eds. Contemporary Culture and Everyday Life (pp. 52-70)
ISBN : 1-903457-09-2 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Durham, UK

Everyday life and contemporary culture (2004)
Bennett, Tony and Silva, Elizabeth
In: Silva, Elizabeth and Bennett, Tony eds. Contemporary Culture and Everyday Life (pp. 1-20)
ISBN : 1-903457-09-2 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Durham, UK

Objects and Materials: A Routledge Companion (2013-07-17)
Harvey, Penelope; Casella, Eleanor; Evans, Gillian; Knox, Hannah; McLean, Christine; Silva, Elizabeth; Thoburn, Nick and Woodward, Kath eds.
ISBN : 9780415678803 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London

Cultural analysis and Bourdieu’s legacy : settling accounts and developing alternatives (2010-03-02)
Silva, Elizabeth and Warde, Alan eds.
Culture, Economy and the Social
ISBN : 9780415495356 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London

Cultural Trends: Culture, Taste and Social Divisions in Contemporary Britain (2006-06)
Silva, Elizabeth and Bennett, Tony
Bennett, Tony; Silva, Elizabeth B. and Selwood, Sara eds.
Cultural Trends
Publisher : Routledge | Published : London

Contemporary Culture and Everyday Life (2004-03-01)
Silva, Elizabeth and Bennett, Tony eds.
ISBN : 1-903457-09-2 | Publisher : Sociologypress | Published : Durham, UK

Monsters and Morals (2002-10)
Silva, Elizabeth
Silva, Elizabeth B. ed.
Soundings
ISBN : 0 85315 966 1 | Publisher : Lawrence and Whishart | Published : London

Cultural Sociology, Vol.7, No.2 “Special Issue - Field analysis, boundary drawing and socio-cultural inequality” (2013-06)
Savage, Mike and Silva, Elizabeth
Sage

Transmission and Transformation of Asian Femininity in Everyday Life (2003)
Guru, Surinder
Pavis Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes.

National Everyday Cultures Programme Newsletter 3 (2002-05)
Bennett, Tony and Silva, Elizabeth
Pavis Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes.

Escaping the Everyday? Women's Clothing on Holiday (2002)
Banim, Maura; Guy, Ali and Gillen, Kate
Pavis Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes.

National Everyday Cultures Programme Newsletter 2 (2000-08)
Bennett, Tony and Silva, Elizabeth
Pavis Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes.

National Everyday Cultures Programme Newsletter 1 (2000-01)
Bennett, Tony and Silva, Elizabeth
Pavis Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes.

The politics of consumption at home: practices and dispositions in the uses of technologies (2000)
Silva, Elizabeth
Pavis Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes.

Special Issue of Gender, Technology and Science (1998)
Silva, Elizabeth
Unicamp, Campinas/Brazil.