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Professor Molly Andrews

Professor of Political Psychology

Social Sciences

Professor of Political Psychology, Department of Social Sciences and Co-director of the Centre for Narrative Research. For the academic year 2019-2020 Molly Andrews will be the Jane and Aatos Erkko Visiting Professor at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies at the University of Helsinki.

    Molly Andrews is Professor of Political Psychology and Co-director of the Centre for Narrative Research. With an interest in the intersection of individual biography and society, for the past twenty years she has been listening to, and writing about, the stories which people tell about their lives, specifically focussing on their perception of the political world and their role within it.

    Molly's research explores the implicit political worldviews which individuals impart through the stories they tell about their lives, as well as the wider social and political context which makes some stories more ‘tell-able’ than others.

    She has conducted research projects in Britain (life histories with lifetime socialists), the United States (analyzing anti-war activism as an expression of patriotism), East Germany (accounting for national identity in the context of the demise of one’s country) and South Africa (examining testimonies before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission). She was co-investigator on the “Narratives of Varied Everyday Lives and Linked Approaches,” (NOVELLA) project. Funded by the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods, NOVELLA conducts research concerned with the everyday practices of families and is a collaboration between UEL’s Centre for Narrative Research, the Institute of Education and Oxford University. 

    Molly’s work has been translated in to Chinese, German, Swedish, German, French and Spanish. In 2008, her book, Shaping history: Narratives of political change (2007 Cambridge University Press)  received the outstanding book of the year award from the American Education Research Association, Narrative and Research Special Interest Group. 

    She has a degree in Political Science from Tufts University (Massachusetts), a Masters in Education from Harvard University, and a PhD in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge. 

    Molly has been a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and received a University Teaching Fellowship since UEL in 2011.‌


    External committee membership

    • Editorial Board, Qualitative Psychology, from 2013.
    • Editorial Board, Political Psychology, from 2010.    
    • Editorial Board, Journal fűr Psychologie: Theorie, Forschung, Praxis, from 2010.
    • Editorial Board, Narrative Works: Issues, Investigations, & Interventions, from 2010.
      Editorial Board, Narrative Inquiry from 2019.
      Editorial Board, Aging and Society from 2018.
      Editorial Board, Journal of Narrative Politics from 2013.
    • Conference organizing committee, International Society of Political Psychology, Paris 2008.
    • Governing Council, International Society for Political Psychology (2006-2009 )
    • Chair, Dissertation Award Committee, International Society for Political Psychology, 2008-9

    Advisory Boards

    •  

      Advisory Board, Paris Centre for Narrative Matters, from October, 2015.

       

      Advisory Board, Centre for Interdisciplinary Narrative Studies, Tampere, Finland, from June 2014.


      Advisory Board  ESRC funded project “Understanding the Impact of Physical Activity on Experiences and Perceptions of (Self-) Ageing (everyday title "Moving Stories"), from September 2011-2014.
    • Advisory Board, Youth Empowering Parents (YEP), supported by $63,100 grant from Social Investment Fund of Toronto Community Housing Corporation. Recipient of Intercultural Innovation Award (2011) of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Programme. http://interculturalinnovation.org/the-award/Advisory board, Major Leverhulme Grant, ‘Gendered Ceremony and Ritual in Parliaments: India, South Africa and Westminster ’ 2007-2011.
    • Advisory board, Major ESRC award programme on Identities and Social Action Programme: Identity, Performance and Social Action: The Use of Community Theatre Among Refugees April 2005 – March 2008
    • Advisory Board for `Surviving prison in later life' (ESRC) 2002-2004
    • Advisory Committee, Clark/Holy Cross Consortium on Narrative (2004 -

    Overview

    Professor Molly Andrews is co-director of the Centre for Narrative Research.

    Her research explores the implicit political worldviews which individuals impart through the stories they tell about their lives, as well as the wider social and political context which makes some stories more ‘tell-able’ than others. She has conducted research projects in Britain (life histories with lifetime socialists), the United States (analyzing anti-war activism as an expression of patriotism), East Germany (accounting for national identity in the context of the demise of one’s country) and South Africa (examining testimonies before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission).

    Molly has published more than 50 articles and book chapters, including in Spanish, Czech and German.

    Narrative Imagination and Everyday Life

    Molly’s latest monograph 'Narrative Imagination and Everyday Life', (2014 Oxford University Press) explores the links between stories and imagination and how they affect the way we live, focusing specifically on ageing, education and politics.

    It is the first book to study in detail the role that imagination plays in narrative psychology and combines personal reflection with scholarly research.

    Read Molly’s blog post for Oxford University Press.

    Listen to Molly’s podcast for the National Centre for Research Methods.


    Research

    Publicly available research outputs are available to download from UEL's Research Open Access Repository (ROAR)

    Monographs

    (2014) Narrative Imagination and Everyday Life Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    (2007) Shaping history: Narratives of political change Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2008 Outstanding book of the year award, American Education Research Association, Narrative and Research Special Interest Group.  Translated into Chinese 2013.

    (1991/ re-issued 2008) Lifetimes of commitment: Aging, politics, psychology Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Edited collections

    (2013) co-edited with Squire, C. and  Tamboukou, M. Doing narrative research Second Edition London: Sage Publications.

    (2008) co-edited with Squire, C. and  Tamboukou, M. Doing narrative research London: Sage Publications.

    (2004) co-edited with Bamberg, M. Considering Counter-narratives: Narration and resistance Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

    (2000) co-edited with Shelley Day Sclater, Corinne Squire, and Amal Treacher Lines of narrative: Psychosocial perspectives  London: Routledge. Republished in 2004 by Transaction Publishers, London, as The uses of narrative: Explorations in Sociology, Psychology, and Cultural Studies. 

    Journal Articles

    (2018) “The Narrative Architecture of Political Forgiveness”  Political Psychology

    (2018) “Imagining the ‘baffling geography’ of age”  Journal of Aging and Society Vol. 47: 90-95.

    (Winter 2017-2018) “The Seduction of Agelessness, Take 2” Generations Special Issue Gender and Age: A Focus on Women” Vol. 41/No 4: 75-82.

    (2017) “Enduring Ideals: Revisiting Lifetimes of Commitment Twenty-Five Years Later”Contemporary Social Science, Special Issue “Political Activism Across the Life Course” Vol.12/1-2: 153-163.

    (2012) ''Unexpecting Age” Journal of Aging Studies 26/4: 386-393.

    (2009) “The narrative complexity of successful aging” International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy Special issue on Theorising Aging Studies Vol. 29/1-2: 73-83.

    (2007) Ruppel, Paul Sebastian; Dege, Martin; Andrews, Molly & Squire, Corinne. “Tackling Problems of Qualitative Social Research: A Conversation.” Conference Essay: Methods in Dialogue [129 paragraphs]. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 9(1), Art. 41, http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/1-08/08-1-41-e.htm .

    (2006) “Breaking down barriers: Feminism, politics, and psychology” Feminism and psychology 16(1): 13-17.

    (2003) “Truth commissions and collective memory” Invited article for special issue on Cultural Memory, Media, Culture and Society 25/1: 45-66.

    (2002) “Feminist research with non-feminist and anti-feminist women: Meeting the challenge” Feminism and Psychology 12/1: 55-78.

    (2002) “Memories of mother: Counter-narratives of early maternal influence” Narrative Inquiry 12/1: 7-27.

    (2002) “Introduction: Counter-narratives and the power to oppose” Narrative Inquiry 12/1:1-6.

    Book chapters

    (forthcoming) “The Mystery of the Dangerous Book” in Squire, C., ed. Stories Changing Lives Oxford University Press, New York: Oxford.

    (2017) “Political Narratives and Abraham Obama” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

    (2017) “Popular Representation of East Germany: Whose History is It?”  In Meretoja, H. and C. Davis, eds. Storytelling and Ethics: Culture, Visual Arts and the Power of Narrative New York: Taylor and Francis.

    (2016) “Political Lives”  in Goodson, I., Antikainen, A., Sykes, P., Andrews, M., eds. (2016) Routledge International Handbook on Narrative and Life History Oxon: Routledge.

    (2014) “Beyond Narrative: The Shape of Traumatic Testimony”  in Jensen, M. and Jolly, M., eds. Life Narratives and Human Rights,  Madison, WI: Wisconsin University Press.

    (2012) “Learning from Stories, Stories of Learning” in Goodson, I.F., A. M. Loveless, and D. Stephens, eds. Explorations in Narrative Research Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

    (2011) “Interfaces in teaching” with C. Squire and M. Tamboukou, in S. Trahar, ed. Travelling in the Borderlands: Learning and Teaching Narrative Inquiry Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

    (2010) “Beyond narrative: The shape of traumatic testimony” in Hyvärinen, M., Hydén, L.C. , M. Saarenheimo, and Tamboukou, M. (eds.) Beyond narrative coherence Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

    (2009) “The narrative complexity of successful aging” International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy Special issue on Theorising Aging Studies Vol. 29/1-2: 73-83.

    (2009) “Against good advice: Reflections on conducting research in a country where you don’t speak the language” (reprinted from 1995 publication in The Oral History Review) in Harrison, B., ed. Life story research Volumes 1-4 London: Sage.

    (2008) co-edited with Squire, C. and M. Tamboukou Doing narrative research London: Sage Publications.

    (2008) “Never the last word: Narrative research and secondary analysis” in Squire, C., M. Tamboukou, and M. Andrews, eds. Doing narrative research London: Sage.

    (2008) “Never the last word: Narrative research and secondary analysis” in Squire, C., M. Tamboukou, and M. Andrews, eds. Doing Narrative Research London: Sage.

    (2006) “Exploring cultural boundaries” in Clandinin, J., ed. Handbook of narrative inquiry London: Sage.

    (2004), with Day Sclater, S., C. Squire and M. Tamboukou, “Stories of narrative research” in Seale, C., D. Silverman, J. Gubrium and G. Gobo, eds. Qualitative Research Practice London: Sage

    (2004) with Michael Bamberg “Introduction” ” in Bamberg, M. and M. Andrews, eds. Considering Counter-narratives: Narration and Resistance Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

    (2004) “Memories of mother: Counter-narratives of early maternal influence” in Bamberg, M. and M. Andrews, eds. Considering Counter-narratives: Narration and Resistance Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

    (2004) “Response to Commentaries” in Bamberg, M. and M. Andrews, eds. Considering Counter-narratives: Narration and Resistance Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

    (2003) “Generational consciousness, dialogue, and political engagement” in Edmunds, June and Bryan Turner, eds. Generational consciousness, narrative and politics Boulder, CO: Rowman & Littlefield.

    (2003) “Continuity and discontinuity of East German identity following the fall of the Berlin Wall: A case study” in Gready, Paul, ed, Cultures of political transition: Memory, identity and voice London: Pluto Press.

    Translations of work

    (2010) “Biographie und Geschichte: Dynamiken individueller und kollektiver politischer Erzählungen” [Problems of biography and history: Dynamics of individual and collective political narratives] In: M. Dege, C. Dege, T. Grallert, N. Chimirri (Eds.). Können Marginalisierte widersprechen? Sozialwissenschaften und politisches Handeln. Gießen: Psychosozial-Verlag

    "Das Erwachen des politischen Bewubtseines. Eine Fallstudie”[Awakening of Political Consciousness: A Case Study] in Hoerning, Erika M., ed. (2000) Biographisch Sozialisation Stuttgart: Lucius & Lucius.

    "Politika zapominani: rekonstrukce minulosti v prechodu k postkomunismu" [The Politics of Forgetting: Reconstructions of the Past in the Transition to Post-communism] in Konopasek, Zdenek, ed. (2000) Otevrana minulost: autobiografika sociologie statniho socialismu [Opening the Past: Autobiographical Sociology of State Socialism] Prague: Charles University Press.

    “Pero si no he acabado.. Tengo mάs que contra”’: Las limitaciones de las narraciones estructuaradas de los testimonios públicos’ [‘”But I am not finished…there is more”: Public testimony and the limitation of structured narratives’] (forthcoming) Antipoda No. 4.

    Publications

    Grants and Recent awards

    Co-investigator, “Narratives of Varied Everyday Lives and Linked Approaches,” (NOVELLA) ESRC-funded, National Centre for Research Methods Phase III node, £1,292.164; 2011-2014.
    Fellow, Higher Education Academy, Standard Descriptor 3. Awarded 2011.
    University Teaching Fellow, University of East London. 2011.
    2008 Outstanding book of the year award, American Education Research Association Narrative and Research Special Interest Group.

    Funding

    Psychosocial basis of political commitment
    Gender and aging
    Generations
    Counter-narratives
    Political psychology of Forgiveness
    Psychological challenges associated with acute political change
    Collective memory/ Politics of memory
    Patriotism
    Life histories
    Feminist methodology 



    Interests

    Molly teaches at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level.


    Programmes
    BA Sociology
    MA Narrative Research
    PhD

    Current PhD students

    Michelle Harewood "Exploring narratives of power, rights and agency: The case of British Caribbeans in the UK"

    Alice Mukaka "Feminist Organizing for Migrant Rights" (UEL PhD studentship)

    Masihza Vaala "The Silence and the Screams: Iranian youth and the Nation’s Traumatic Past"


    Former PhD students

    Ali Ali: The Determinants of Migration Decisions Amongst Iraqi Refugees

    Celine Cantat, “Contesting Europeanism: Discourses and Praxes of Migrants’ Organisations in the European Union”

    Kathleen Coppens: Back home? Social integration and coping with trauma in former child soldiers in Northern Uganda (jointly supervised with Vrije Universiteit Brussel; funded by the Belgium Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

    Cigdem Esin: The Norms of Gendered Sexuality of Young Women in Turkish Society and the Underlying Cultural Factors

    Mastoureh Fathi: Class narratives of Iranian Women Migrants in Britain

    Solveigh Goett: Linking Threads of Experience and Lines of Thought: Everyday Textiles in the Narration of the Self (funded by the AHRC)

    Kathleen Manion: "Voices of the Unheard: Perceptions of the success of Interventions with Commercially Sexually Exploited Girls in Three Countries"

    Rónán MacDubhghaill, “Cultural memory in the present: narrative, discourse, power’  

    Noelle McCormack   “Words Fail Us: An exploration of the challenges of doing life story work with people who have profound and multiple learning disabilities”  (AHRC funded)

    Nicola Samson "Narratives of Belonging: Life Histories of Women in East London post Second World War (Funded by the AHRC)"

    Linda Sandino  "Making Concordance: Encounters with Narrative Research and Oral History in the Visual Arts"

    Helen Taylor: "The View from Here: Cypriot Refugees and the Meaning of Home in the Metropolitan Context of London"

    Anthea Williams: Priests in the Making or Priests Already? The Life Stories of Candidates for Ordination in the Church of England

    Teaching