Dr Brian McDonough PhD, SFHEA
Course Leader
Faculty of Sport, Health and Social Sciences
Room no. RM239Biography
Brian is course leader for Solent's new BA (Hons) Sociology degree, starting in September 2019.
He was previously course leader of sociology at London Metropolitan University, where he was also associate director of the International Centre for Community Development (ICCD). Brian completed his undergraduate degree in Sociology at London Guildhall University in 2003 and completed a PhD in Technology and Expertise at Work at London Metropolitan University in 2013.
He has published numerous articles, book chapters and texts, including a Social Problems in the UK textbook (with Routledge, 2015) and a Universal Basic Income text (2019). Brian is working on a sociology textbook called Flying Aeroplanes and Other Sociological Tales.
Taught courses
Further information
Teaching experience
Brian’s teaching includes modules such as the sociological imagination, social inequalities and research methods. He has also taught a range of sociological theory modules in both classical and contemporary sociological theory. Brian has taught a broad range of units at other universities, from foundation level, through to undergraduate and master's programmes. He also supervises several PhD students who are generally interested in the sociology of work.
Research interests
Brian’s PhD focussed on the experts’ use of information and communication technology in the workplace. Drawing on Heidegger’s philosophy, it developed new ways of thinking about bodily presence at work, connecting to the challenges workers face when mediating technologies are used to communicate with others.
Brian has published in journals, such as Qualitative Research, focussing on how the body is used in a variety of workplace situations. His article examined how a commercial pilot used his body to fly aeroplanes for a large commercial airline company. Brian is also interested in precarious work and the increased use of automation in society. He has also written work on ideas for a universal basic income.
Recent publications
Book publications, book chapters and articles
- McDonough, B., Foley, A., Ginsburg, N., Isaacs, S., Silverstone, D., Young, T. (2015) Social Problems in the UK: An Introduction. London: Routledge.
- McDonough, B (2017) Precarious Work in Europe, in Isaacs, S (Ed) European Social Problems London: Routledge.
- McDonough, B (2017) The Hands Have It: Tactile Participation and Maximum Grip in the Aviation Sector. Qualitative Research.
Forthcoming books and articles
- McDonough, B. and Bustillos Morales, J. (2019) Universal Basic Income. London: Routledge.
- McDonough, B (2019) Flying Aeroplanes and other Sociological Tales: An Introduction to Sociology and Sociological Research. London: Routledge.
- McDonough, B. (2017) Inequalities, Precariousness and Education: Schooling Precarious Workers in Bustillos Morales, J and Abbeglan, S (2019) Education and Economics. London: Routledge.
Work in progress
Brian is working on a new introductory text for sociology, called Flying Aeroplanes and Other Sociological Tales: An Introduction to Sociology (Routledge, 2019).