RESEARCH PROFILE

Bob Carter studied at the Universities of London, Birmingham and Leicester. He is co-convenor of the MA in Race and Ethnic Studies. His research interests cover several areas. One is the evaluation of sociological accounts of racism and the politics of immigration restriction, and this has involved the development of a distinctive theoretical approach to the interpretation of ideas about race and the politics of racism, based broadly on the sociological realism associated with the work of Archer, Layder, Pawson and Sayer. This approach was set out in a number of journal articles and in the book Realism and Racism (2000).

A second area is the linking of social theory with empirical research. He was co-convenor of the ESRC funded seminar series 'Realising the Potential: Realist Social Theory and Empirical Research.' This series set out to explore the methodological implications of realist approaches to social theory and to assess the extent to which such theory might inform empirical research. With Caroline New, he co-edited Making Realism Work: Realist Social Theory and Empirical Research (2004).

A third interest is in language and social theory, in particular exploring the ways in which discussion of concepts of race and ethnicity within the social sciences can be enhanced by a more thorough engagement with social linguistics. These ideas have been developed, with Alison Sealey, in Aplied Linguistics as Social Science (2004).

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• Dr Robert Carter (2010) Nature, Society and Evironmental Crisis Editors: Carter, B and Charles, N, Blackwell Wiley
• Dr Robert Carter (2010) Human and Other Animals: Critical Perspectives Editors: Cater, B and Charles, N, Palgrave Macmillan
• Dr Robert Carter, Fenton, S, (2010) 'From Re-thinking Ethnicity to not thinking Ethnicity' Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour (0021-8308)
• Carter, B, Sealey, A, (2009) Reflexivity, Realism and the Process of Casing Editors: Ragin, Charles C and David Byrne, London: Sage
• Carter, B & Virdee, S (2009) 'Racism and the sociological imagination' British Journal Of Sociology 59 (4), 661 - 679 (0007-1315)

Further Publications