Congratulations to sociology student Josh Moody on successfully defending his PhD at his Viva Voce on 6 July 2022.
Situated within the Sociology of Work and labour process theories, Josh’s thesis examined the working lives of ‘coders and creatives’ in Ireland and is based on 44 semi-structured in depth interviews. It provides insights into the contemporary working conditions, pressures and subjectivities of workers and develops a novel conceptual framework based on three ‘contested terrains’ and four ‘socio-material contingencies’
The examiners commented “Not only does the thesis make a major contribution to the understanding of work in the software sector and in certain parts of the “cultural and creative industries”, it also offers real advances in understanding the forms that such work takes, and how workers experience it. The study also contributes a compelling insight into the contemporary manifestation of long-standing contested terrains and how these play out within novel forms of work and new channels of commodification…. Throughout the thesis, the candidate demonstrates a high level of care and thoughtful engagement with both the literature and interviewees.”
Josh received funding from the John and Pat Hume scholarship scheme in Maynooth (2017) and the Irish Research Council (2018-2021).
In the picture from top left anti-clockwise: Dr. Jamie Saris, Anthropology (chair), Prof. David Hesmondhalgh, University of Leeds (external), Prof. Aphra Kerr and Prof. Sean O’Riain (co-supervisors), Dr. Jean Cushen, Business (internal examiner) and Dr. Josh Moody.