Dr Sophie Mackinder

Profile

Areas of expertise

• Social protection policy

• Fragile and conflict-affected situations policy

• Global governance

• Political economy of international organisations

Academic biography

Sophie joined the School for Business and Society in 2018 as an Associate Lecturer, before becoming Lecturer in Global Social Policy and International Development in 2020. She holds an MA (Cantab) in Classics, an MA in Social Policy from the University of York, and a PhD from the University of York in global social policy. She is Programme Leader for Postgraduate Programmes (Social Policy). Her research focuses on examining the processes by which ideas around social policies are conceived and developed within powerful global international development institutions and networks, and how these ideas are translated into policy and implemented within development contexts.

Research

Research

Sophie’s principal research looks at global governance institutions and how they influence, promote and implement discourses and programmes related to social policy. She has a particular interest on their impact on social protection, and on fragile or conflict-affected states and situations. Her research has recently evolved to examine the role of transnational corporations within the production of policies in development contexts, and the role of the private sector in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.

Recent research projects include a collaboration with UNICEF and Colombia University looking into public spending on children across 84 countries, and a project for the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in collaboration with the Open University that examines a global mechanism for funding social protection systems in developing contexts. She is also PI of a project between the University of York and the University of Durham that examines the potential impact of ‘marketisation’ within protracted refugee situations in the Global South.

PhD Supervision

I am interesting in supervising PhDs in the following areas:

• International organisations and social policy / global governance
• Social protection in developing contexts
• Social policy in fragile and conflict-affected contexts and situations
• Sustainable development

Teaching

Teaching

Sophie currently teaches across campus and online programmes on global social policies and international development. Modules she is involved with include Social Policy in Global Context (campus), Social and Political Issues in Development (online) Social Protection (online), Theories of Development Governance (online), Global Poverty and Inequality (online). Her teaching is research-led, and focuses on bridging the gap between the social policy and international development disciplines.

She is Programme Leader for campus-based Social Policy Postgraduate Programmes.

Publications

Full Publications List

See PURE Profile