Baroness Ruth Lister, CBE, FBA

BA Essex, MA Sussex, Hon LL.D, University of Manchester, Hon Dr, Uni. of Essex , D. Litt, Glasgow

  • Emeritus Professor of Social Policy
Ruth Lister

From 1971 to 1987 I worked for the Child Poverty Action Group, the last 8 years as director. I joined the Department of Social Sciences after 6 years as Professor and Head of Department of Applied Social Studies, Bradford University. Between 2005 and 2007 I spent some time at the University of Glasgow as the first Donald Dewar Visiting Professor of Social Justice. I retired in October 2010 and joined the House of Lords as a Labour peer in February 2011. I was elected hon president of CPAG in December 2010. I currently sit on the Joint Committee of Human Rights, the board of the Smith Institute and am vice-chair of the Fair Pay Network and a patron of JustFair. In the past I have sat on a number of independent commissions, the National Equality Panel and the Community Development Foundation, as well as numerous other voluntary organisation and research advisory committees. In 2010 I received a life-time achievement from the Social Policy Association. In 2005 I was co-recipient of the Queens Anniversary Prize for Higher & Further Education awarded to the university for its contribution to social policy.

There have been two main strands to my research: poverty (together with social security and the welfare state) and citizenship.  In both cases this has embraced theoretical, conceptual, empirical and policy analysis and has involved a strong gender dimension.  I am currently writing a second edition of my book on the conceptof poverty.

Link to podcast

My research on citizenship has focused on feminist perspectives as well as the citizenship of children and young people. 

  • Citizenship: Feminist Perspectives (translated into Chinese)
  • Poverty, (translated into Polish, Macedonian and Japanese)
  • Gendering Citizenship in Western Europe (with F. Williams and others)
  • Understanding Theories and Concepts in Social Policy
  • Why Money Matters, co-edited with J. Strelitz
  • 'Investing in the citizens of the future: transformations in citizenship and the state under New Labour'
  • 'Young people talk about citizenship'
  • 'Inclusive citizenship: realising the potential'
  • 'Why citizenship: where, when and how children?'
  • 'A Nordic Nirvana? Gender, citizenship and social justice in the Nordic welfare states'