My PhD is in Social Anthropology. Before coming to CCCU, I taught for 9 years in Hong Kong where I was an instructor (2012-13), teaching fellow (2013-16), and Assistant Professor (2016-21). I am Module Lead for Sociology, Society and Social Work, Social Work Research, Social Work Dissertation and Dissertation module. Since my first book entitled Young Chinese in Urban China (2012), much of my work has focused upon issues of social inclusion and social exclusion and especially how ability and disability are made through social encounters, discourse, media representations, and everyday practices. My recent work has also explored the tactics disabled people and their families deploy to cope, and make do, with exclusionary places and practices and the ways they attempt to manage disabling social encounters. My research has been published in many peer-reviewed journals. These include Disability and Society, The British Journal of Social Work, Cultural Geographies, The China Journal, Time and Society, and Social Semiotics.In 2024, my book entitled Learning Disability and Everyday Life was published by Routledge. This is part of the Routledge Advances in Disability Studies series.
Dr Alex Cockain
& Research Supervisor