Lisa Kings

I completed my PhD in Sociology in 2011 with the dissertation Defending the Local: Civil Society in the Urban Periphery (in Swedish) (Arkiv förlag). Since 2014, I have been a Senior Lecturer in Social Work and was appointed Associate Professor in 2020.

My research concerns the roles of civil society, urban transformation processes, and local forms of organizing. I analyse the interplay between social mobilisation, welfare institutions, and local social structures, particularly in urban areas marked by socioeconomic inequality.

I am interested in both the opportunities and the constraints that emerge in this interplay, and in how people organize to change their living conditions. Methodologically, I work primarily with qualitative methods and have a particular interest in participant‑oriented approaches that enable the development of knowledge in close collaboration with those most directly affected.

Key research areas

• urban development processes and urban theory
• civil society organization and social movements
• inequality, vulnerability, and processes of marginalization
• community work and preventive social work

Ongoing research projects

I am currently involved in two research projects:

• Contemporary Community-Based Social Work (Principal Investigator)

This project develops new knowledge on how research and practice can collaborate to strengthen local communities, with a particular focus on participation and social mobilization. Funder: FORTE

Read more (articel in Swedish): Forskare och praktiker enas för att stärka marginaliserade områden

• Civil Society Capacity for a Stronger Society External link. (Research Collaborator)

The project is led by Filip Wijkström at the Stockholm School of Economics and analyses how different societal actors cooperate to address complex and urgent social challenges. Funder: MSB