Professor Linda Hantrais

Professor Hantrais joined the Department in 1991 as Professor of European Social Policy and Director of the European Research Centre, after previously being Professor of French Language at Aston University. From 1993-97, she served as Associate Dean for Research in the School of Human and Environmental Studies/Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. She became Emeritus Professor of European Social Policy in 2008.

Activities outside the University have involved membership of international research advisory committees, particularly in France (Agence nationale de la Recherche, British Council Franco-British Alliance Programme, Centre d’études de l’emploi, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Comité national d’évaluation de la recherche, Réseau des Maisons des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris Think Tank: Base Recherche Action INovation Santé, BRAINS). Linda acted as expert adviser to European and other International institutions, including the Council of Europe’s Committee on Social Policy for Families and Children, the European Commission’s High Level Group of Experts on Demographic Questions, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, and the Council of Advisors of Population Europe. She has also undertaken consultancies for the British Council, ESRC, European Commission’s DG Research, European Science Foundation and European Universities Association. Linda was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Social Research Association in 2008. Since 2006, she has been a Visiting Fellow, Senior Visiting Fellow and Visiting Professor at the Centre for International Studies and India Observatory (Sticerd), London School of Economics and Political Science. Currently she is  Visiting Professor at the LSE International Inequalities Institute. In 2008, she became an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. Linda was a member of the Academy’s Council between 2015 and 2018, and she has chaired its International Advisory Group since its establishment in 2011.

My research interests focus on three interrelated themes: international comparative research theory, methodology and practice, and the management of international research projects; international comparisons of public policy and institutional structures, with particular reference to European social policy, higher education and research and the implications of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic for EU and UK social policy; the relationship between socio-demographic change and policy responses, and the evidence base for policy.

These research activities have attracted external funding for international projects, publications, seminars and training workshops from the European Commission Framework Programme and Economic Social Research Council, among other funding bodies.

My single-authored book-length publications in the past two decades closely reflect these research interests. Family Policy Matters: responding to family change in Europe (The Policy Press, 2004) drew on the findings from a European Commission project funded under the Fifth Framework Programme, entitled ‘Improving Policy Responses and Outcomes to Socio-Economic Challenges: changing family structures, policy and practice’ (IPROSEC). My third edition of Social Policy in the European Union (Palgrave, 2007) spanned 50 years of EU social policy, extending to 27 member states and covering a period of intense activity associated with enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe. My single-authored book, International Comparative Research: theory, methods and practice (Palgrave, 2009), built on and developed the findings from seven series of research seminars and Cross-National Research Papers delivered over more than 20 years, together with analysis of the research methods adopted in a large body of other international projects. The work was made available as an e-book together with a web companion.

As Chair of the UK Academy of Social Sciences' International Advisory Group, in 2013–14 I convened a series of seminars on ‘Social Science Evidence and the Policy Process: International Insights’. Several of the papers from the series were subsequently published in 2015 in a themed issue of Contemporary Social Science, and then in 2016 in the Routledge: Contemporary Issues in Social Science book series, for which I acted as Guest Editor with members of the IAG. In 2017 and 2018, the IAG convened another series of seminars in ‘International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Evidence-based Policy’. Papers on the topics addressed at the seminars were published as guest-edited themed issues of Contemporary Social Science, covering the sustainability of natural resources in a changing environment, family change, intergenerational relations and policy responses and evidence-based policy in a digital society.

Among my most recent books, What Brexit Means for EU and UK Social Policy (Policy Press, 2019) and Comparing and Contrasting the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the European Union (co-authored with Marie-Thérèse Letablier, Routledge, 2021) build on and extend my previous work. The Brexit book considered in more detail the UK’s perspective on social policy in the EU and the role that it played in both promoting and hindering European social integration, leading ultimately to the decision to leave the EU. The Policy Press published an ‘Afterword’ in June 2020, covering the respective EU and national public policy competences. The COVID-19 book challenges the use of uncontextualised comparisons of COVID-19 cases and deaths in member states during the period when Europe was the epicentre of the pandemic. The study looks behind the headlines and the statistics to demonstrate the value for knowledge exchange and policy learning of comparisons that are founded on an in-depth understanding of key socio-demographic and public health indicators within their policy settings. The book adopts integrated, multi-disciplinary international perspectives to track and assess a fast-moving topical subject in an accessible format and to offer a template for analysing policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic using evidence-based comparisons to inform and support policy development. Chapters, articles and blogs published in 2020 and 2021 explored the combined impact of Brexit and the pandemic on socio-economic and political life in Europe and beyond, extending to a guest co-edited special issue of Frontiers in Sociology on the interactive relationship between family and COVID-19, which was published as an open access e-book in March 2022.

In 2021, I was invited to prepare a ‘How to … guide’ for Elgar. How to manage multidisciplinary international research projects was published in August 2022, accompanied by a web companion. The guide was promoted in their series of Professional Development Webinars hosted by the Regional Studies Association in October 2023.

In 2024, under the auspices of the UK Academy of Social Sciences, I launched a series of international multidisciplinary policy briefings designed to address the complex challenges facing contemporary societies on topics spanning climate change, socio-demographic trends, health crises and the digital age.

Selected Publications

Books and Edited Journals

• Hantrais, L. (ed.), How to Manage International Multidisciplinary Research Projects, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021.
• Hantrais, L., Brannen, J., Le Feuvre, & Letablier, M-T. (eds), Families and COVID-19: An Interactive Relationship, Frontiers in Sociology, Frontiers Media SA., 2022. Doi: 10.3389/978-2-88974-701-6.
• Hantrais, L. and Thomas Lenihan, A. (eds), Evidence-based Policy in a Digital Society, Contemporary Social Science, Themed issue, 16(2), 2021.
• Hantrais. L. and Letablier, M-T., Comparing and Contrasting the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the European Union, Routledge, 2021.
• Hantrais, L., Brannen. J & Bennett, F. (eds), Family Change, Intergenerational Relations and Policy Responses, themed issue of Contemporary Social Science, Themed issue, 15(3), 2020.
• Hantrais, L., What Brexit Means for EU and UK Social Policy, Policy Press, 2019.
• Hantrais, L., Thomas Lenihan, A. and Kattumuri, R. (eds), Sustaining Natural Resources in a Changing Environment, Routledge, 2018.
• Hantrais, L., Thomas Lenihan, A. and Kattumuri, R. (eds), Sustaining Natural Resources in a Changing Environment, Contemporary Social Science, Themed Issue, 13 (1), 2018.
• Hantrais, L., with Lenihan, A.T. and MacGregor, S. (eds), International and Interdisciplinary Insights into Evidence and Policy, Routledge, 2016 HB, 2019 PB.
• Hantrais, L., Thomas Lenihan, A. and MacGregor, S. (eds), International and Interdisciplinary Insights into Evidence-based Policy, Contemporary Social Science, Themed Issue, 10 (2), 2015.
• Hantrais, L., International Comparative Research: theory, methods and practice, Palgrave Macmillan and St Martin’s Press, 2009.
• Hantrais, L., Social Policy in the European Union, 3rd edn, Palgrave Macmillan and St Martin’s Press, 2007 (1st edn, 1995, 2nd edn, 2000).
• Hantrais, L., Pour une meilleure évaluation de la recherche publique en sciences humaines et sociales, vol. 2, La Documentation française, 2006.
• Hantrais, L., Family Policy Matters: responding to family change in Europe, The Policy Press, 2004.

Chapters

• Hantrais, L., ‘The European Union and social policy’, in P. Alcock, T. Haux,V. McCall and  M. May (eds), The Student’s Companion to Social Policy, 6^th edn, Wiley–Blackwell, chapter 64, 2022.
• Hantrais, L., ‘Reconceptualising and delivering social policy: competing challenges in (post-) Brexit and pandemic Europe’, in M. Donoghue & M. Kuisma (eds), Whither Social Rights in (Post-) Brexit Europe? Opportunities and Challenges, Social Europe, 2020.
• Hantrais, L., ‘Social policy’, in T. Oliver & G. Walshe (eds), The Impact of the UK’s Withdrawal on EU Integration, Report to the European Parliament’s Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs Committee (AFCO), Brussels: European Parliament, chapter 8, 2018. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2018/604973/IPOL_STU(2018)604973_EN.pdf  
• Hantrais, L., ‘The European Union’, in P. Alcock, T. Haux, M. May and S. Wright (eds), The Student’s Companion to Social Policy, 5^th edn, Wiley–Blackwell, chapter 46, 2016.
• Hantrais, L., ‘International Comparative Research’, in N. Gilbert and P. Stoneman (eds), Researching Social Life, 4^th edn, SAGE, chapter 10, 2015.
• Hantrais, L., ‘Social policy and the European Union’, in P. Alcock, M. May and S. Wright (eds), The Student’s Companion to Social Policy, Wiley, 4^th edn, Wiley–Blackwell, chapter 43, 2012.
• Hantrais, L., ‘Crossing cultural boundaries’, in P. Kennett (ed.), A Handbook of Comparative Social Policy, 2nd edn, Edward Elgar, 2^nd edn, 2013, chapter 12, pp. 227–42­.

Articles

• Corbett, A. & Hantrais, L., ‘Higher education and research in the Brexit policy process’, Journal of European Public Policy, 30(11), 2397−2420, 2023. Doi: 10.1080/13501763.2023.2181854
• Hantrais, L., Brannen, J., Le Feuvre, & Letablier, M-T., ‘Editorial: Families and COVID-19: An Interactive Relationship’, Frontiers in Sociology, vol. 7, 1−7, 2022. Doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2022.841518
• Hantrais, L., ‘Social perspectives on Brexit, COVID-19 and European (dis)integration’, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, vol. 59, Annual Review, 69−80. 2021. Doi: 10.1111/jcms.13218
• Hantrais, L. &Thomas Lenihan, A., ‘Social dimensions of evidence-based policy in a digital society’, Contemporary Social Science, 16(2), 2021, 141−155, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/21582041.2021.1887508
• Hantrais, L., Allin, P., Kritikos,M., Sogomonjan, M., Anand, P.B., Livingstone, S., Williams, M. & Innes, M., ‘Covid-19 and the digital revolution’, Contemporary Social Science, 16(2), 256−270, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/21582041.2020.1833234
• Hantrais, L., Brannen, J. & Bennett, F., ‘Family change, intergenerational relations and policy implications, Contemporary Social Science, 15(3), 275-290, 2020. Doi: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1519195
• Hantrais, L., Stewart, K. and Cooper, K, ‘Making sense of the social policy impacts of Brexit’, Contemporary Social Science, 14(2), 2019, 242−255, 2019. Doi: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1572217.
• Hantrais, L., Assessing the past and future development of EU and UK social policy, Social Policy and Society, 17(2), 2018, 265–279. Doi:10.1017/S1474746417000483.
• Hantrais, L., with Letablier, M-T., ‘Le rôle de la protection sociale dans la compensation des inégalités économiques entre femmes et hommes après divorce: une analyse comparative’, Revue de droit sanitaire et social, no. 5, 2016, 885鈥�903.
• Hantrais, L., with Lenihan, A.T. and MacGregor, S., ‘Evidence-based policy: exploring international and interdisciplinary insights’, Contemporary Social Science, 10(2), 101–113, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21582041.2015.1061687.
• Hantrais, L., ‘Living as a family in Europe’, in Council of Europe, Population Studies: Policy implications of changing family formation, no. 49, 2006, pp. 117–81.
• Hantrais, L., ‘Combining methods: a key to understanding complexity in European societies’, European Societies, 7(3), pp. 399–421, 2005.

Web Publications (papers, blogs, promotional material)

• Hantrais, L. (ed.), IAG Briefing Series, UK Academy of Social Sciences, 2024. https://acss.org.uk/publication-category/iag-briefing-series/
• Hantrais, L. & Nithyanandan, A., What associated country status means for UK social sciences and humanities researchers, LSE EUROPP Blog. 30 May 2024. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2024/05/30/what-associated-country-status-means-for-uk-social-sciences-and-humanities-researchers/
• Daley, C. & Hantrais, L., A ranking for interdisciplinarity is a poor measure for the quality of research and teaching in universities, LSE Impact blog, 17 January 2024.
• https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2024/01/17/a-ranking-for-interdisciplinarity-is-a-poor-measure-for-the-quality-of-research-and-teaching-in-universities/
• Hantrais, L. (chair D. Filipovi膷-Carter), Managing international multidisciplinary research projects, Regional Studies Association, Professional Development Webinar Series: Research Methods,18 October 2023.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXM4cMFYWMk
• Hantrais, L. & McConnell, G., What the uncertainty over access to EU funding means for social science and humanities research in the UK, 24 January 2023. http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2023/01/24/what-the-uncertainty-over-access-to-eu-funding-means-for-social-science-and-humanities-research-in-the-uk/
• Hantrais, L. Social policy perspectives on COVID-19, AcSS hub, Coming out of Covid, 3 June 2021. https://campaignforsocialscience.org.uk/news/social-policy-perspectives-on-covid-19/
• Hantrais, L. & MacGregor, S., Containing COVID, LSE Public Policy Blog, parts 1−4, 29 April 2021. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/covid19/2021/04/29/containing-covid-part-1-first-things-first-the-difficulty-of-building-an-evidence-base/; https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/covid19/2021/04/29/containing-covid-part-2-the-problem-of-unreliable-and-incompatible-evidence/; https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/covid19/2021/04/29/containing-covid-part-3-learning-or-not-from-past-crises/; https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/covid19/2021/04/29/containing-covid-part-4-the-limits-of-knowledge-exchange/
• Hantrais, L., Policy learning from COVID-19 in Europe, Emerald Open Res 2021, 3:4. https://doi:.org/10.35241/emeraldopenres.1114904.1
• Hantrais, L. & MacGregor, S., Incorporating complexity into policy learning: the case of COVID-19 in Europe, LSE EUROPP Blog, 22 February 2021.  https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2021/02/22/incorporating-complexity-into-policy-learning-the-case-of-covid-19-in-europe/
• Hantrais, L., Comparing European reactions to Covid-19: Why policy decisions must be informed by reliable and contextualised evidence, LSE EUROPP Blog, 19 May 2020. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2020/05/19/comparing-european-reactions-to-covid-19-why-policy-decisions-must-be-informed-by-reliable-and-contextualised-evidence/