Dr Liz Ackerley

1.     Current Research

Austerity and Altered Life-Courses, 2021-2025

I currently work alongside Laura Fenton, Sarah Marie Hall and Santiago Leyva del Rio on the ‘Austerity and Altered Life-Courses’ project. Using oral histories and futures methods this project seeks to explore the socio-political ruptures young people have experienced as a result of austerity policies. This includes interconnected impacts on family life, employment opportunities, and housing arrangements. The project is focussed on three European devolved or autonomous regions: Greater Manchester (UK), Barcelona Province (Catalonia, Spain) and Sardinia (Italy). I lead on the fieldwork in Sardinia, working in partnership with the Università degli Studi di Cagliari, and youth engagement voluntary organisation Associazione TDM 2000 ODV (Organizzazione Di Volontariato).

2.     Other / Previous Research

Young People’s Activism in Times of Austerity, 2018-2022

In 2022 I completed a CASE PhD studentship exploring young people’s activism in times of austerity. My research was carried out in collaboration with RECLAIM, a Manchester-based youth engagement organisation committed to amplifying the voices of working class young people. Using online and offline ethnographic and participatory methods such as activity booklets and biographical mapping, my research looked at how young people understand, describe and engage in activism, the impact early political education has on young people across the life-course, and how a small youth charity navigates a challenging and changeable socio-economic context.

Prior to joining the University of Manchester I worked as an administrative and communications intern at the MsUnderstood Partnership and as a Research Assistant at the Safer Young Lives Research Centre at the University of Bedfordshire. Throughout this time my work focussed on developing creative, meaningful and ethical ways of involving children and young people in research into sexual violence and related forms of harm. One of the projects I worked on during this time was the Making Noise: Children’s Voices for Positive Change after Sexual Abuse project, in collaboration with the NSPCC. I was also involved in setting up and supporting the Young Researcher’s Advisory Panel.

I am a member of the Morgan Centre for Research into Everyday Lives, the Cities, Politics, Economies Research Group, and the Manchester Urban Institute Feminist Collective, all based at the University of Manchester. As part of the Feminist Collective I have recently been involved in a small project about gender and homelessness in times of intersecting crises, working with grassroots and larger third sector organisations as well as policy makers, activists and academics. I hope to continue work in this area and working within and outside of the university to challenge intersecting inequalities.

I am an Ordinary Committee Member for the Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group (RGS-IBG) and enthusiastic about making connections with people in and outside of the university interested in young people’s lives and futures.

Links to Published Works:

Ackerley, E. (2023) Young people's activism in times of austerity. University of Manchester.

Briggs, A., Cohen, S., Leyva del Río, S., Ackerley, E., Fenton, L., and Hall, S.M. (2023). International Innovations in Childcare – What can Manchester share and learn? CAPE| Policy@Manchester.

Ackerley, E. and Latchford, L. (2018) ‘Applying an intersectional lens to sexual violence research and practice’ in Understanding and responding to child sexual exploitation. Pearce, J. & Beckett, H. (eds.). Routledge, pp. 54-66.