Abi O'Connor

Abi O’Connor is an urban sociologist whose expertise centre on understanding the relationship between urban governance, local politics and the (re)structuring of place, specifically focusing on the impact of this on communities and areas impacted by regional inequality. She has a keen interest in democratising knowledge through grassroots movements.

Abi has extensive experience in undertaking place-based empirical research, with degrees in Sociology (BA), Social Research Methods (MA) and is finalising her PhD in Sociology & Social Policy (University of Liverpool). Her thesis explores how financial capital is extracted from housing markets in communities deemed to ​‘lack value’, focusing on the role of the local state in enabling this process. She has written about and been invited to present her research to various international audiences, and is frequently asked to respond to current issues on local and national media platforms.