Professor Michaela Benson
Professor in Public SociologyProfile
Michaela Benson (PhD, FAcSS) is Professor of Public Sociology. She is internationally renowned for her contributions to Migration Studies and Urban Sociology, through her research leadership of the fields of Brexit and Migration, Lifestyle Migration, Class, Space and Place and Self-build Housing. Her research has international reach and significance, is widely cited and has informed policy discussions in the UK and EU. Michaela has received several awards and recognitions for her research, including being conferred as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (2025).
She has been awarded funding by ESRC for her projects on self-build housing; Brexit and British citizens in the EU; and Rebordering Britain and Britons after Brexit (MIGZEN). From 2020-21 she held a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship for her research into Britain and its overseas citizens from decolonisation to Brexit. She has published several academic monographs including The British in Rural France (Manchester University Press, 2011), and Lifestyle Migration and Colonial Traces in Malaysia and Panama (co-authored with Karen O’Reilly; Palgrave, 2018) and journal articles in leading sociology, geography and migration studies journals.
Beyond academia, her research has informed political understandings and policy-making; the work of civil society organisations; and underpinned her collaborations with ThinkTanks, and Cultural Industry partners. Her expertise has led to numerous speaking engagements, for local, national and EU government departments and the general public, as well as regular approaches from journalists and other media professionals.
Committed to making complex social issues accessible and relevant to a broad audience, Michaela has produced a range of non-academic outputs through her research, including websites, animations, blog posts and podcasts. Her current podcast Who Do We Think We Are? examines questions of race, identity and belonging in Britain today.
Since 2022, Michaela has been the Chief Executive of The Sociological Review, a charitable foundation focussed on sociological education and the public value of sociology. In this role she oversees strategic initiatives that further these ambitions.
PhD Supervision Interests
Michaela welcomes applications from PhD students interested in working on the following themes from the sociological perspectives: Migration and citizenship; Brexit; Class; Home and housing; Urban sociology. She is particularly keen to work with students whose projects include empirical research, whether qualitative or ethnographic.
Brexit, citizens’ rights and British Citizens in the EU-27 5 years on
01/03/2025 → 01/09/2025
Consultancy
Rebordering Britain and Britons after Brexit (MIGZEN)
01/06/2021 → 29/03/2024
Research
BrExpats: Freedom of Movement, Citizenship and Brexit in the lives of Britons resident in the European Union
01/05/2017 → 31/12/2019
Research
Thinking Humanitarian Visas in Comparative Perspective: Safe and Legal Routes and the making of ‘Global Britain’
Invited talk
Practical Strategies to Feel 'in control' of your Career
Invited talk
Migration and the ‘Global Britain’ Project, presentation to the MA Media, Culture and Communication
Invited talk
Asylum and humanitarian migration: can we build an effective and sustainable system?
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Podcasts in the classroom (and on the curriculum)
Invited talk
Public Writing and Communication
Invited talk
Who Do we think We are: Connected Sociologies Workshop
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
The coloniality of British citizenship and the Hong Kong BN(O) visa
Invited talk
Introductory comments at the launch of Sexscapes of Pleasure: The Whore Stigma in Italy, by Dr. Elena Zambelli
Invited talk
Brexit, migration and making ‘Global Britain’
Invited talk
Hong Kong and the coloniality of British citizenship
Invited talk
Crafting the BrExpats case study
Invited talk
What does Brexit mean for migration and migrants (in migration journals)
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Hong Kongers and the coloniality of British citizenship from decolonisation to ‘Global Britain’
Invited talk
- Centre for Alternatives to Social and Economic Inequalities
- Centre for Health Futures