Yasmin Gunaratnam BSc MSc PhD
Staff details
Yasmin Gunaratnam joined the Department in 2008. She gained her doctorate and undergraduate degrees from the London School of Economics and her Masters at Royal Holloway. She has authored two books, 'Researching Race and Ethnicity: methods, knowledge and power' (Sage, 2003) and ‘Death and the Migrant’ (Bloomsbury Academic, 2013). She is one of the co-authors of ‘Go Home? The Politics of Immigration Controversies’ (Manchester University Press, 2017). Yasmin has edited seven collections including ‘A Jar of Wild Flowers: Essays in Celebration of John Berger’ (Zed Books, 2016). She is on the editorial collectives of Feminist Review and Media Diversified and is a published poet. She is co-director, with Professor Lisa Blackman (Media and Communications), of the Centre for Feminist Research and is a member of the Advisory Groups for Goldsmiths Press and the Environmental Humanities Collaborative (Linköping University).
Yasmin’s academic writing has been published in Body and Society, Dark Matter, European Journal of Women’s Studies, European Journal of Social Theory, Mortality, Sociological Review, Subjectivity, The Lancet, Qualitative Social Work, and Poem. She has also written for The Independent, The Guardian, Open Democracy, The Conversation and Red Pepper.
Teaching
Yasmin has taught across all levels of the undergraduate curriculum and has expertise in culture and representation, post/de-colonial, disability, critical migration and feminist theory and social research methods. She has convened ‘Researching Society and Culture’ and the ‘Sociology of Visuality’. She convenes ‘Culture, Representation and Difference’ and co-convenes the BA Media and Sociology Programme with Liz Moor (Media and Communications) and its core module, ‘Media and the Social’. She has been the departmental undergraduate admissions tutor, Acting Director of Teaching and Learning and admissions tutor for the MA Gender, Media and Culture.
At Masters level, Yasmin convened the MA Gender, Media and Culture between 2010-12, teaching on the core module Introduction to Feminist Theory and convening and teaching on the Body and Affect module. She is part of the course team for the new MA Race, Media and Social Justice.
Yasmin was awarded the Titmuss Prize in 1999 for the best PhD in the Department of Social Policy and Administration, London School of Economics.
She received a Peake Award for teaching in 2010 (awarded by Goldsmiths for excellence in teaching).
In 2016, Yasmin received the first Goldsmiths Student Led Teaching Award for ‘Compelling or Diverse Curriculum Content’. Her work was highlighted for making a “much-needed effort to diversify the curriculum and talk about theory and works from people of colour both prominent and lesser known, making the course so much more exciting”.
Areas of supervision
Yasmin currently supervises 10 doctoral students whose projects include research on sensory worlds of autism, Black lone parent mothers, Turkish Cypriot nationalism, dementia and soundscapes, the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and young asylum seekers in Italy. She is especially interested in supervising students whose work engages with and is relevant to diverse audiences.
Research Interests
Disability, gender and sexuality, health and illness, migration, methodologies, race.
The understanding and challenging of inequality and injustice is at the heart of Yasmin’s research. A longstanding interest is in how inequality can be normalised, how it impacts on bodies and minds and how it is resisted, informs both the content and methods of her work. Yasmin's empirical research includes an early ethnographic study of dying migrants in a London hospice (1999); a project using narrative interviews and psychoanalytic infant observation to examine and theorise identity transition among first-time mothers in a multicultural East London borough (2008); a fellowship investigating social pain and transnational dying (2013), and more recent work on hospitality and migration (2017). A driving force has been the pursuit of thought, methods and knowledge that bring into closer dialogue the worlds of theory, policy and practice. The productive interrelations between these worlds can be seen in her co-edited collection ‘Narrative and Stories in Health Care’ (Oxford University Press, 2009), which was shortlisted and ‘Highly Commended’ in the British Medical Association Book Awards 2010 and in ‘Go Home: The Politics of Immigration Controversy’ (Manchester University Press, 2017).
Research projects
2017-2018 Cultures of Consent: examining the complexity of sexual misconduct and power within universities (British Academy)
2017- 2018 Cartographies of Hospitality (Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, administered through Stockholm University)
2013-2015 Mapping Immigration Controversy (Economic and Social Research Council)
2012-2013 Case Stories: Social Pain and Transnational Dying (British Academy)
2006-9 - Involving people of diverse ethnicities in cancer research: An exploration of experiences, attitudes and barriers, Macmillan Research Unit, Southampton University (Macmillan Cancer Support)
Publications
Book
Go Home? The Politics of Immigration Controversies
Jones, Hannah; Gunaratnam, Yasmin; Dhaliwal, Sukhwant; Davies, Will; Jackson, Emma; Bhattacharyya, Gargi; Saltus,, Roiyah and Forkert, Kirsten. 2017. Go Home? The Politics of Immigration Controversies. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-1-5261-1322-1
Death and the Migrant: Bodies, borders, care
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2013. Death and the Migrant: Bodies, borders, care. London: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 1-208. ISBN 9781472515339
Palliative Care: Care for Life Limiting Illnesses - PALCOPE Information and Help for Older People
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2007. Palliative Care: Care for Life Limiting Illnesses - PALCOPE Information and Help for Older People. Leeds: PRIAE Policy Research Institute on Ageing & Ethnicity. ISBN 978-0953764273
Widening access to hospice care - A briefing paper for managers and trustees
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2006. Widening access to hospice care - A briefing paper for managers and trustees. London: Help The Hospices.
Researching Race and Ethnicity: Methods, Knowledge and Power
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2003. Researching Race and Ethnicity: Methods, Knowledge and Power. London: Sage. ISBN 978-0761972877
Checklist: Health and Race - A Starting Point for Managers on Improving Services for Black Populations
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 1993. Checklist: Health and Race - A Starting Point for Managers on Improving Services for Black Populations. London: King's Fund. ISBN 978-1857170429
Design and Development of Carers' Support.
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 1993. Design and Development of Carers' Support. London: King's Fund. ISBN 978-1857170443
Call for Care (Bengali Edition)
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 1990. Call for Care (Bengali Edition). London: Health Education Authority. ISBN 978-1854481733
Edited Book
A Jar of Wild Flowers: essays in celebration of John Berger
Gunaratnam, Yasmin and Chandon, Amarjit, eds. 2016. A Jar of Wild Flowers: essays in celebration of John Berger. London: Zed Books. ISBN 9781783608799
The Long White Thread of Words: poems for John Berger
Chandan, Amarjit; Evans, Gareth and Gunaratnam, Yasmin, eds. 2016. The Long White Thread of Words: poems for John Berger. Ripon: Smokestack Books. ISBN 9780993454745
Narrative and Stories in Health Care: Illness, Dying and Bereavement
Gunaratnam, Yasmin and Oliviere, David, eds. 2009. Narrative and Stories in Health Care: Illness, Dying and Bereavement. Oxford: OUP. ISBN 978-0199546695
Book Section
Introduction — Learning by heart
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2016. Introduction — Learning by heart. In: Yasmin Gunaratnam and Amarjit Chandan, eds. A Jar of Wild Flowers: Essays in Celebration of John Berger. London: Zed. ISBN 9781783608799
‘A Present Moment, More Present: John Berger’s Politics of Intensity’
Bell, Vikki. 2016. ‘A Present Moment, More Present: John Berger’s Politics of Intensity’. In: Yasmin Gunaratnam and Amarjit Chandan, eds. A Jar of Wild Flowers: Essays in Honour of John Berger. London: Zed. ISBN 9781783608799
Editor's Introduction
Chandon, Amarjit; Evans, Gareth and Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2016. Editor's Introduction. In: Amarjit Chandon; Gareth Evans and Yasmin Gunaratnam, eds. The Long White Thread of Words: Poems for John Berger. Ripon: Smokestack Books. ISBN 978 0 9934547 4 5
Sustaining Difference: Climate Change, Diet and the Materiality of Race
Clark, Nigel and Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2013. Sustaining Difference: Climate Change, Diet and the Materiality of Race. In: Rachel Slocum and Arun Saldanha, eds. Geographies of Race and Food Fields, Bodies, Markets. Burlington: Ashgate, 00-00. ISBN 9781409469278
Practices, Identification and Identity Change in the Transition to Motherhood
Gunaratnam, Yasmin; Elliott, Heather; Hollway, Wendy and Phoenix, Anna. 2009. Practices, Identification and Identity Change in the Transition to Motherhood. In: Margaret Wetherell, ed. Theorizing Identities and Social Action. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 19-37. ISBN 978-0230580886
Narrative Interviews and Research
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2009. Narrative Interviews and Research. In: David Oliviere, ed. Narrative and Stories in Healthcare: Illness, Dying and Bereavement. Oxford University Press, p. 224. ISBN 978-0-19-954669-5
What Difference Does Our Difference Make in Researching Infertility?.
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2009. What Difference Does Our Difference Make in Researching Infertility?. In: Lorraine Culley; Nicky Hudson and Floor van Rooij, eds. Marginalized Reproduction: Ethnicity, Infertility and Reproductive Technologies. Earthscan: London, pp. 80-94. ISBN 978-1-84407-576 8
Blind Date
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2008. Blind Date. In: Sarah Earle; Caroline Bartholomew and Carol Komaromy, eds. Making Sense of Death, Dying and Bereavement: An Anthology. London: Sage, pp. 45-46. ISBN 978-1847875129
Ethnicity, Difference and Care
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2008. Ethnicity, Difference and Care. In: Jessica Corner and Christopher Bailey, eds. Cancer Nursing - Care in Context. John Wiley & Sons, pp. 620-637. ISBN 978-1405122535
For Phyllis
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2008. For Phyllis. In: Sarah Earle; Caroline Bartholomew and Carol Komaromy, eds. Making Sense of Death, Dying and Bereavement: An Anthology. London: Sage, p. 44. ISBN 978-1847875129
Where is the Love? Art, aesthetics and research
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2008. Where is the Love? Art, aesthetics and research. In: Prue Chamberlayne and Martin Smith, eds. Art, Creativity and Imagination in Social Work Practice. Routledge, pp. 13-29. ISBN 978-0415465083
Complexity and Complicity in Researching Ethnicity and Health
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2006. Complexity and Complicity in Researching Ethnicity and Health. In: Jenny Douglas; Sarah Earle and Stephen Handsley, eds. A Reader in Promoting Public Health: Challenge and Controversy. Open University, pp. 147-156. ISBN 978-1412930758
The Bed
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2004. The Bed. In: Liz Forbat; Caroline Malone; Matt Robb and Janet Seden, eds. Relating Experience: Stories from Health and Social Care: An Anthology About Communication and Relationships. London: Routledge, pp. 101-102. ISBN 978-0415326582
'Bucking and Kicking’: ‘race’, gender and embodied resistance in health care
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2004. 'Bucking and Kicking’: ‘race’, gender and embodied resistance in health care. In: Ursula Apitzsch; Joanna Bornat and Prue Chamberlayne, eds. Biographical Methods and Professional Practice: An International Perspective. Bristol: Policy Press, pp. 205-219. ISBN 978-1861344922
Skin Matters: 'Race' and Care in the Health Services
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2004. Skin Matters: 'Race' and Care in the Health Services. In: Janet Fink, ed. Care: Personal Lives and Social Policy. Bristol: Policy Press, pp. 112-144. ISBN 978-1861345196
More Than Words: dialogue across difference
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2003. More Than Words: dialogue across difference. In: Moyra Sidell; Linda Jones; Jeanne Katz; Jenny Douglas and Alyson Peberdy, eds. Debates and Dilemmas in Promoting Health: A Reader. Basingstoke: Palgrave, pp. 112-121. ISBN 978-1403902283
Whiteness and Emotions in Social Care
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2001. Whiteness and Emotions in Social Care. In: Bill Bytheway; Vivien Bacigalupo; Joanna Bornat; Jenny Johnson and Susan Spurr, eds. Understanding Care, Welfare and Community: A Reader. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 158-167. ISBN 978-0415258609
Breaking The Silence: Asian carers in Britain
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 1993. Breaking The Silence: Asian carers in Britain. In: Joanna Bornat; Charmaine Pereira; David Pilgrim and Fiona Williams, eds. Community Care – A Reader. Macmillan in Association with The Open University, pp. 114-123. ISBN 978-0333587157
Article
Fly
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2018. Fly. Podiun,
Introduction - environment
Hamilton, Carrie and Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2018. Introduction - environment. Feminist Review(118), pp. 1-9. ISSN 0141-7789
Race Traitor
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2017. Race Traitor. Poem: International English Language Quarterly, 5(2-3), pp. 230-233. ISSN 2051-9842
Introduction: The Wherewithal of Feminist Methods
Gunaratnam, Yasmin and Hamilton, Carrie. 2017. Introduction: The Wherewithal of Feminist Methods. Feminist Review, 115(1), pp. 1-12. ISSN 0141-7789
Earthing the Anthropos? From ‘socializing the Anthropocene’ to geologizing the social
Clark, Nigel and Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2016. Earthing the Anthropos? From ‘socializing the Anthropocene’ to geologizing the social. European Journal of Social Theory, 20(1), ISSN 1368-4310
The Time of our Lives
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2015. The Time of our Lives. The Lancet, 386(10007), pp. 1937-1938. ISSN 0140-6736
'The Branch on which I sit' Heidi Safia Mirza in conversation with Yasmin Gunaratnam
Mirza, Heidi and Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2014. 'The Branch on which I sit' Heidi Safia Mirza in conversation with Yasmin Gunaratnam. Feminist Review, 108, pp. 125-133. ISSN 0141-7789
black British feminisms: many chants
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2014. black British feminisms: many chants. Feminist Review, 108, pp. 1-10.
Morbid mixtures: Hybridity, pain and transnational dying
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2014. Morbid mixtures: Hybridity, pain and transnational dying. Subjectivity, 7(1), pp. 74-91. ISSN 1755-6341
Rethinking Hybridity, Interrogating Mixedness
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2014. Rethinking Hybridity, Interrogating Mixedness. Subjectivity, 7(1), pp. 1-17. ISSN 1755-6341
Secrets and lies: Narrative methods at the limits of research
Anim-Addo, Joan and Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2013. Secrets and lies: Narrative methods at the limits of research. Journal of Writing in Creative Practice, 5(3), pp. 383-396.
Roadworks: British Bangladeshi mothers, temporality and intimate citizenship in East London
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2013. Roadworks: British Bangladeshi mothers, temporality and intimate citizenship in East London. European Journal of Women's Studies, 20(3), pp. 249-263. ISSN 1350-5068
Pre-Race Post-Race: Climate Change and Planetary Humanism
Gunaratnam, Yasmin and Clark, Nigel. 2012. Pre-Race Post-Race: Climate Change and Planetary Humanism. Darkmatter,
Learning To Be Affected: Social suffering and total pain at life’s borders.
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2012. Learning To Be Affected: Social suffering and total pain at life’s borders. The Sociological Review, 60(S1), pp. 108-123. ISSN 0038-0261
Cultural vulnerability: A narrative approach to intercultural care
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2011. Cultural vulnerability: A narrative approach to intercultural care. Qualitative Social Work, pp. 1-15.
Cultural Vulnerability and Professional Narratives
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2011. Cultural Vulnerability and Professional Narratives. Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life & Palliative Care, 7(4), pp. 338-3349. ISSN 1552-4256
Precarious Street Life
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2011. Precarious Street Life. Street Signs, pp. 24-26.
Secrets and Lives (for James)
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2011. Secrets and Lives (for James). You are here, the journal of creative geography, XIV, pp. 57-68.
Death in the City
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2010. Death in the City. Street Signs, pp. 31-33.
Care, artistry and what might be
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2009. Care, artistry and what might be. Ethnicity and Inequalities in Health and Social Care, 1(1), pp. 9-17. ISSN 1757-0980
Talking about breastfeeding: emotion, context and ‘good’ mothering
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2009. Talking about breastfeeding: emotion, context and ‘good’ mothering. The Practising Midwife, 12(6), pp. 2-6. ISSN 1461-3123
From competence to vulnerability: Care, ethics, and elders from racialized minorities
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2008. From competence to vulnerability: Care, ethics, and elders from racialized minorities. Mortality, 13(1), pp. 24-41. ISSN 1357-6275
The research priorities of patients attending UK cancer treatment centres: findings from a modified nominal group study
Corner, Jessica; Wright, David; Hopkinson, Jane; Gunaratnam, Yasmin; J W, MacDonald and Claire, Foster. 2007. The research priorities of patients attending UK cancer treatment centres: findings from a modified nominal group study. British Journal of Cancer, 96(6), 875 -881. ISSN 0007 – 0920/07
Dr Terrorist
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2007. Dr Terrorist. Dark Matter,
Intercultural palliative care: do we need cultural competence?
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2007. Intercultural palliative care: do we need cultural competence? International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 13(10), pp. 470-477. ISSN 1357-6321
Where is the Love? Art, aesthetics and research
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2007. Where is the Love? Art, aesthetics and research. Journal of Social Work Practice, 21(3), pp. 271-287. ISSN 0265-0533
A Sweeter Palliative
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2006. A Sweeter Palliative. Community Care, 28(4), pp. 36-37.
Awareness Differs by Ethnicity and Age
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2005. Awareness Differs by Ethnicity and Age. Practice Nursing, 16(11), pp. 528-530. ISSN 0964-9271
Racialising emotional labour and emotionalising racialised labour: anger, fear and shame in social welfare
Gunaratnam, Yasmin and Lewis, Gail. 2001. Racialising emotional labour and emotionalising racialised labour: anger, fear and shame in social welfare. Journal of Social Work Practice, 15(2), pp. 125-142. ISSN 0265-0533
Eating into Multiculturalism: Hospice staff and service users talk food, ‘race’, ethnicity and identities
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2001. Eating into Multiculturalism: Hospice staff and service users talk food, ‘race’, ethnicity and identities. Critical Social Policy, 21(3), pp. 287-310. ISSN 0261-0183
We mustn’t judge people….but’: Staff dilemmas in dealing with racial harassment amongst hospice service users
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2001. We mustn’t judge people….but’: Staff dilemmas in dealing with racial harassment amongst hospice service users. Sociology of Health and Illness, 23(1), pp. 65-83. ISSN 0141-9889
Ethnic monitoring in higher education: some reflections on methodology
Gunaratnam, Yasmin and Van Dyke, Ruth. 2000. Ethnic monitoring in higher education: some reflections on methodology. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 3(4), pp. 325-345. ISSN 1364-5579
Implications of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry for Palliative Care
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2000. Implications of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry for Palliative Care. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 6(3), pp. 147-149. ISSN 1357-6321
Anti-discrimination, emotions and professional practice
Gunaratnam, Yasmin; Bremner, Isobel; Pollock, Lois and Weir, Catherine. 1998. Anti-discrimination, emotions and professional practice. European Journal of Palliative Care, 5(4), pp. 122-124. ISSN 1352-2779
Conference or Workshop Item
Debilities: Sensing Bodies and Worlds
Puar, Jasbir; Gunaratnam, Yasmin; Hickey-Moody, Anna Catherine and Ahmed, Sara. 2014. 'Debilities: Sensing Bodies and Worlds'. In: Debilities: Sensing Bodies and Worlds. Goldsmiths, Universirty of London, United Kingdom.
Digital
Every Minute Of Every Day [Blog/Website]
Gunaratnam, Yasmin; Back, Les; Psarras, Bill and Feinstein, Sarah. 2017. Every Minute Of Every Day [Blog/Website].
How John Berger Changed Our Way of Seeing Art
Gunaratnam, Yasmin and Bell, Vikki. 2017. How John Berger Changed Our Way of Seeing Art.
The enigma of Departure; What can we learn from dying migrants
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2015. The enigma of Departure; What can we learn from dying migrants.
Allegations of assault by guards at a UK detention centre
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2014. Allegations of assault by guards at a UK detention centre.
Stephen Sutton and the Politics of the deathbed smile
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2014. Stephen Sutton and the Politics of the deathbed smile.
"Swamped" by anti-immigration campaigns
Jones, Hannah; Bhattacharyya, Gargi; Forkert, Kirsten; Davies, Will; Dhaliwal, Sukhwant; Gunaratnam, Yasmin; Jackson, Emma and Saltus,, Roiyah. 2014. "Swamped" by anti-immigration campaigns.
Complicit No More - Introduction
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2014. Complicit No More - Introduction.
Combating Racism at an English University - "I too, am Oxford'
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2014. Combating Racism at an English University - "I too, am Oxford'.
Diasporic Walking Sticks
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2014. Diasporic Walking Sticks.
‘Unwitting’ racism and rise in abuse makes it harder for NHS staff to do their job
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2014. ‘Unwitting’ racism and rise in abuse makes it harder for NHS staff to do their job.
How should we prepare our children for racism?
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2014. How should we prepare our children for racism?.
Plight of Sri Lanka's 'ghost' workers raises spectre of inequality and abuse
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2013. Plight of Sri Lanka's 'ghost' workers raises spectre of inequality and abuse.
Case Stories
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2013. Case Stories.
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva and the Muslim mother as terrorist
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2013. Zubeidat Tsarnaeva and the Muslim mother as terrorist.
Film/Video
Medicine Unboxed 2014 FRONTIERS - Crossing - Daljit Nagra and Yasmin Gunaratnam
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2014. Medicine Unboxed 2014 FRONTIERS - Crossing - Daljit Nagra and Yasmin Gunaratnam.
Two Sighs - Transnational Dying and Care
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2014. Two Sighs - Transnational Dying and Care.
Report
Improving the quality of palliative care
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2007. Improving the quality of palliative care. Other. UNSPECIFIED, London.
Other
Breathe/Swallow/Feel
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2016. Breathe/Swallow/Feel. Feminist Review, London.
In extremis
Gunaratnam, Yasmin. 2014. In extremis. Autograph ABP, London.
