Dr. Joe Whelan
Assistant Professor, Social Studies
Biography
Dr Joe Whelan is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin. He previously worked as a College Lecturer in the School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork.
Joe is an active social researcher with a track record of publishing in international, peer-reviewed, scholarly journals. Joe's main areas of research include the exploring the intersections of poverty, work and welfare, exploring and understanding lived experiences in the context of welfare recipiency with a focus on the processes and effects of welfare conditionality, critical social theory and sustainable social policy. Joe is a member of the Editorial Collective for the distinguished scholarly journal, Critical Social Policy and is the chairperson of the Sociological Association of Ireland's Work, Welfare and Markets study group.
As an educator, Joe's teaching philosophy is couched in a Freirean ethos of critical social pedagogy. By starting with the goal of diminishing hierarchy, Joe aims to be open and approachable and to build a good rapport with students. He feels this is important because it can empower students to find their voices and to participate in learning more actively. In general, his ambition for learners taking any of the modules on which he teaches is that they would take what is introduced in the classroom and pursue it further in a self-directed way. He therefore tries to foster passion, interest, excitement and curiosity. As an educator Joe also believes that there are many ways to connect students with learning that go beyond the traditional lecture format. In this respect, he uses music, literature, poetry and art in his teaching to help make visceral that which can seem abstract. He also incorporates the use of different technologies in his teaching in a way that promotes and fosters active learning and interaction.
Publications and Further Research Outputs
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Critical and Intersectional Approaches in Social Policy: Uses for Social Work in, editor(s)Bernard, C., Firmin, C. and Keating, F. , Handbook on Intersectionality and Social Work, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 2026, [Joe Whelan]
Axel Honneth and social work in, Critical Theory for Social Work: A simple introduction, Bristol, Policy Press, 2025, pp67-78 , [Whelan, Joe]
Joe Whelan, On the limits of cartography: A photo-essay on poverty and social exclusion, Journal of Class and Culture, 2025
Joe Whelan, Critical Theory for Social Work: A simple introduction., 1st, UK, Policy Press, 2025, 1 - 160pp
Judith Butler and social work in, Critical Theory for Social Work: A simple introduction, Bristol, Policy Press, 2025, pp121-134 , [Whelan, Joe]
Jürgen Habermas and social work in, Critical Theory for Social Work: A simple introduction, Bristol, Policy Press, 2025, pp53-66 , [Whelan, Joe]
W.E.B. Du Bois and social work in, Critical Theory for Social Work: A simple introduction, Bristol, Policy Press, 2025, pp37-52 , [Whelan, Joe]
`Won"t listen, can"t understand": Using epistemic injustice, doing poverty research, searching for narratives beyond quantification. in, editor(s)Rajendra Baikady , The Oxford Handbook of Power, Politics and Poverty, New York, 2025, [Joe Whelan]
Giorgio Agamben and social work in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Critical Theory for Social Work: A simple introduction, Bristol, Policy Press, 2025, pp135-150 , [Whelan, Joe]
Ways of knowing: traditional modernity and postmodernity in, Critical Theory for Social Work: A simple introduction, Bristol, Policy Press, 2025, pp7-24 , [Whelan, Joe]
Pierre Bourdieu and social work in, Critical Theory for Social Work: A simple introduction, Bristol, Policy Press, 2025, pp79-92 , [Whelan, Joe]
bell hooks and social work in, Critical Theory for Social Work: A simple introduction, Bristol, Policy Press, 2025, pp93-106 , [Whelan, Joe]
Karl Marx and social work in, Critical Theory for Social Work: A simple introduction, Bristol, Policy Press, 2025, pp25-36 , [Whelan, Joe]
Michel Foucault and social work in, Critical Theory for Social Work: A simple introduction, Bristol, Policy Press, 2025, pp107-120 , [Whelan, Joe]
Introduction to theory: theorising social work in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Critical Theory for Social Work: A simple introduction, Bristol, Policy Press, 2025, pp1-6 , [Whelan, Joe]
Summary: revisiting the learning outcomes in, Critical Theory for Social Work: A simple introduction, Bristol, Policy Press, 2025, pp151-158 , [Whelan, Joe]
Joe Whelan; Susan Flynn, Who's right? What rights? How? Rights debates in Irish social work: a call for nuance, Critical and Radical Social Work, 2024, p274 - 280
Flynn, S. and Whelan, J., A Sociological Reading of Statutory Social Work and Irish Corporate Governmentality: On the Death of Creativity, British Journal of Social Work, 54, (1), 2024, p95 - 104
Teaching for ecosocial work: What can ecosocial policy offer? in, editor(s)Catherine Forde, Satu Ranta-Tyrkkö, Pieter Lievens, Komalsingh Rambaree, Helena Belchior-Rocha , Teaching and Learning in Ecosocial Work: Concepts, Methods and Practice, UK, Springer Nature, 2024, pp187 - 204, [Joe Whelan]
Governmentalizing the 'social work subject': Social work in Ireland in the era of corporate governance: A sociological analysis. in, editor(s)Baikady, R. et al , The Oxford Handbook of Power, Politics and Social Work., The US, Oxford, 2024, pp775 - 791, [Joe Whelan]
Joe Whelan, Welfare, deservingness and the logic of poverty:: Who deserves?, Paperback edition, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024
Fiona Dukelow; Joe Whelan; Margaret Scanlon, In Transit? Insights from the lived experience of lone parents claiming Jobseeker"s Transitional Payment, Public Policy, 2024
Joe Whelan, Policy Silences and Poverty in Ireland: An Argument for Inclusive Approaches, Social Inclusion, 12, 2024
Joe Whelan, Hidden in statistics? On the lived experience of poverty, Journal of social work practice, 2023, p1 - 15
Joe Whelan, Hidden Voices: Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space. , Paperback, UK, Policy Press, 2023
Joe Whelan; Eva Garcia Albarran, Walking, thinking, and talking An exploration of the lived experiences and hidden geographies of poverty using walking as a participatory arts methodology., Dublin, School of Social Work & Social Policy, TCD, October, 2023
Joe Whelan, What role for social work in confronting the climate crisis? , European Conference of Social Work Researchers, Milan, 13/04/2023, 2023
Joe Whelan; Jo Greene, An exploration of hygiene poverty in Ireland, School of Social Work & Social Policy, TCD, 2023
Setting the stage: the development of the Irish welfare state and its place in the world of welfare in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Hidden Voices: Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, Bristol, Policy Press, 2022, pp13 - 31, [Joe Whelan]
Deservingness: othering, self-justification and the norm of reciprocity in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Hidden Voices: Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, Bristol, Policy Press, 2022, pp105 - 125, [Joe Whelan]
Joe Whelan, Hidden Voices: Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, 1st, Bristol, Policy Press, 2022
Joe Whelan; Fiona Dukelow; Robert Bolton, Some Useful Sources, Social Policy and Society, 2022, p1 - 2
Introduction in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Hidden Voices: Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, Bristol, Policy Press, 2022, pp1 - 12, [Joe Whelan]
Welfare Conditionality in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Hidden Voices: Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, Bristol, Policy Press, 2022, pp69 - 86, [Joe Whelan]
Fiona Dukelow; Joe Whelan; Robert Bolton, Introduction: Interrogating Welfare Stigma, Social Policy and Society, 21, (4), 2022, p1 - 5
Maintaining compliance and engaging in impression management in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Hidden Voices: Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, Bristol, Policy Press, 2022, pp87 - 104, [Joe Whelan]
Joe Whelan, From dissent to authoritarianism: What role for social work in confronting the climate crisis?, Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 34, (3), 2022, p21 - 33
COVID-19: policy responses and lived experiences in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Hidden Voices: Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, Bristol, Policy Press, 2022, pp136 - 147, [Joe Whelan]
Welfare, marginality and social liminality: life in the welfare 'space' in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Hidden Voices: Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, Bristol, Policy Press, 2022, pp32 - 45, [Joe Whelan]
The effect of the work ethic in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Hidden Voices: Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, Policy Press, 2022, pp46 - 68, [Joe Whelan]
Welfare is bad: bringing it all together in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Hidden Voices: Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, Bristol, Policy Press, 2022, pp126 - 135, [Joe Whelan]
Conclusion in, editor(s)Joe Whelan , Hidden Voices: Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space, Bristol, Policy Press, 2022, pp148 - 157, [Joe Whelan]
Robert Bolton; Joe Whelan; Fiona Dukelow, What Can Welfare Stigma Do?, Social Policy and Society, 2022, p1-14
Joe Whelan, On Your Marx"? A World to Win or the Dismantlement of a Profession? On Why We Need a Reckoning, The British Journal of Social Work, 2021
Joe Whelan, Work and thrive or claim and skive: Experiencing the `toxic symbiosis" of worklessness and welfare recipiency in Ireland, Irish Journal of Sociology, 2021, p079160352095720
Joe Whelan, Welfare Deservingness and the Logic of Poverty: Who Deserves?, 1st, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars, 2021
Joe Whelan, Tales of precarity: A reflexive essay on experiencing the COVID pandemic as a social work educator on a precarious contract, Qualitative Social Work, 20, (1-2), 2021, p579--586
Joe Whelan, Specters of Goffman: Impression Management in the Irish Welfare Space, Journal of Applied Social Science, 2021, p193672442098357
Joe Whelan, Solidarity or Stigma? A Critical Realist Exploration of the Anatomy of Irish Welfare Stigma, National University of Ireland, 2020
Joe Whelan, We have our dignity, yeah? Scrutiny undersuspicion: Experiences of welfare conditionality in the Irish social protection system, Social Policy and Administration, 55, (1), 2020, p34 - 50
Joe Whelan, 'The roles of values and advocacy approaches in Irish social work practice: Findings from an attitudinal survey of practising social workers', Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics, 17, (2), 2020, p39 - 55
Joe Whelan, Values and ethics discourses in Irish social work: Which values do practitioners view as realistic and implementable in day to day practice?', The Irish Social Worker, 2017
Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications
Joe Whelan, Book Review: Environmental Justice as Social Work Practice., Review of Environmental Justice as Social Work Practice., by Christina L. Erickson , Ethics and Social Welfare, 2024, p1-2
Joe Whelan, "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men [sic].": Why child poverty matters., Treoir Annual Policy Conference: Perspectives on Child Poverty., Dublin, 18/05/2023, 2023
Fiona Dukelow; Joe Whelan. , In Transit: Documenting the lived experiences of welfare, working and caring for one-parent families claiming Jobseeker's Transitional Payment. , Ireland, May, 2023
Joe Whelan; Jo Greene, An exploration of hygiene poverty in Ireland: Final report, researcher's copy, Dublin, School of Social Work & Social Policy, TCD, 2023
Robert Bolton; Joe Whelan; Fiona Dukelow, Some Useful Sources, Social Policy and Society, 2022, p1 - 2
The Sociological Observer, 1, 2, (2022), 93 - 100p, Tom Boland and Ray Griffin
Joe Whelan, Narratives beyond quantification: Lived Experiences of poverty and welfare recipiency. , Irish Association of Social Workers Annual Conference, Dublin, 21/08/2022, 2022
Joe Whelan, Walking, thinking, and talking: The An exploration of the lived experiences and hidden geographies of poverty using walking as a participatory arts methodology., The North/South Social Welfare Summer School, DCU (Dublin), 15/08/2022, 2022, Department of Social Protection (Ireland) Department of Work and Pensions (UK).
Social Justice Ireland, 'SJI Interview Series Ep29: Dr. Joe Whelan on Welfare Stigma, COVID response and the need for a paradigm shift.', Social Justice Ireland, Episode 29, (Social Justice Matters), Online, Social Justice Ireland, 2021, -
Social Justice Ireland, '36. SJI Interviews Ep20: Welfare Conditionality and Stigma with Joe Whelan', Social Justice Ireland, Episode 36, (Social Justice Matters), Ireland, Social Justice Ireland, 2020, -
Contexts, (2020), 0 - 0p
Joe Whelan, 'Review of: Troublemakers: the construction of `troubled families" as a social problem', (Social Justice Matters), 2018, -
Joe Whelan, Review of: Delivering Social Welfare: Governance and Service Provision in the U, Review of Delivering Social Welfare: Governance and Service Provision in the U, by Derek Birrell and Ann Marie Gray , 53, (1), 2018, p191-192
Joe Whelan, Review of: Chronic illness, vulnerability and social work: autoimmunity and the contemporary disease experience, Review of Chronic illness, vulnerability and social work: autoimmunity and the contemporary disease experience, by Liz Price and Liz Walker , Disability and Society, 32, (5), 2017, p766-768
Research Expertise
Projects
- Title
- Hygiene Poverty in Ireland
- Summary
- This research seeks to understand the relevance and effects of hygiene poverty in Ireland. Key objectives . To understand the factors that lead to hygiene poverty . To explore the impact of hygiene poverty . To share our findings on hygiene poverty to increase awareness . To share findings and recommendations with key stakeholders.
- Funding Agency
- The Hygiene Hub
- Date From
- May 2023
- Date To
- November 2023
- Title
- The flats are coming down! Yup the Flats: A sociological exploration of life in the Dolphin House flat complex using arts based creative methods.
- Summary
- Dolphin House and Park is a strong, neighborly and proud community in Dublin's South Inner City. Built in 1957, the complex is made up of 392 flats in 6 blocks. It remains Dublin's largest public housing flat complex while also remaining one of Dublin's most deprived areas. Generations of families live there and now, through the slow process of regeneration, people are being 'de-tenanted' and the flats are coming down. While Dolphin House yet remains standing, this project will seek to understand how regeneration is being experienced and to document life in the flats using arts based creative techniques.
- Funding Agency
- Research Ireland
- Date From
- January 2025
- Date To
- January 2026
- Title
- Walking, thinking and talking: An exploration of the lived experiences and hidden geographies of poverty using walking as a participatory arts methodology.
- Summary
- In Ireland, research that dwells on lived experiences in the context of poverty has been absent in recent years. The research proposed here aims to address this in creative ways. In the first instance, the research will be fully participative, with input from participants invited at all stages. With respect to capturing lived experiences as a form of knowledge, the research will employ walking as a participatory arts methodology - using photographs, sound files, video/film, drawing/mapping to capture meaning. The aim for this research is to connect with lived experiences of poverty in ways that are tangible, visceral and visible.
- Funding Agency
- Irish Research Council
- Date From
- December 2022
- Date To
- September 2023
- Title
- In transit? Documenting the lived experiences of welfare, working and caring for one parent families claiming Jobseeker's Transitional Payment.
- Summary
- In recent years, in Ireland, activation measures that aim to promote (re)entry into formal paid employment have become a prominent feature of the policy landscape. One specific feature of this turn toward activation is the necessity for those receiving the One Parent Family Payment (OPFP) to transition onto Jobseekers Transitional Payment (JST) once their youngest child has turned seven. This has been in place since 2013. However, little is known about the experiences of those receiving the payment. This research aims to address this knowledge deficit in a way that will benefit new entrants to the scheme.
- Funding Agency
- Irish Research Council
- Date From
- 2022
- Date To
- 2022
- Title
- Greening the welfare state: How can we do welfare more sustainably? A foundational literature and policy review.
- Summary
- As the environmental crisis deepens and the effects begin to emerge in the form of destructive climate events, more and more nation states have committed to carbon net zero by 2050. Achieving this target will require a reconstitution of economies and societies. This reconstitution will need to occur most forcibly and rapidly in the developed economies of the global north. However, recent geopolitical summits, such as COP 26, have arguably resulted in lacklustre and vague commitments rather than any serious attempts at creating agreement on how to reconstitute the economies of the global north. Research in the context welfare and welfare states in the global north is abundant and diverse. However, research which looks at how the doing of welfare may have to change to become more sustainable remains disparate Aim: To review and synthesise the existing domestic and international literature and policy in this area. Objectives: 1) To develop a comprehensive overview of existing literature and policy 2) To develop a research agenda which will move the project beyond the initial review and toward qualitative fieldwork with key stakeholders. Central research question: What does existing literature and policy say about doing welfare sustainably and what gaps are apparent? Methodology: The methodology for this project will be desk-based and will devolve upon conducting a scoping review and synthesis of key literatures and policy. The purpose of this is to develop a scholarly foundation upon which further purposive qualitative research will be based. Literature will be reviewed using adapted systematic review techniques meaning that a thorough, objective and reproducible search of a range of sources to identify as many relevant scholarly articles as possible will be conducted. This literature will then be synthesized in order to draw out the main conclusions and identify existing gaps. Policy will be examined using a framework developed by Bacchi (2009): 'What's the problem represented to be?' (WPR). This approach, inspired by theoretical insights and research tools first developed by Foucault, works on two propositions: firstly, that it is possible to work backwards from a specific policy proposal(s) to identify what a problem is understood to be, and secondly that the resulting problematisations are key to understanding how these areas of policy are governed. As such, policy documents are not treated as reactive but as productive. This approach to the review of policy documents is useful as it has the potential to unveil how policies which go across both welfare and sustainability define the context in which they are developed and thus unveil their strengths and limitations. Literature and policy published since 2010 will be considered. The reason for this limitation is firstly to make sure that the review is manageable and secondly to capture publications that constitute the most up-to-date evidence.
- Funding Agency
- TCD Benefaction Fund
- Date From
- 2022
- Date To
- 2022
- Title
- Capturing lived experiences of work disruption during COVID-19 pandemic.
- Summary
- A series of surveys conducted by Joe Whelan; Fiona Dukelow and Tom Boland under the Work and Welfare Study collective.
- Funding Agency
- Unfunded
- Date From
- March 2020
- Title
- Views of key stakeholders: A consultation on behalf of Galtan Approved Housing Body
- Summary
- A directly commissioned piece of research which collected the views of key stakeholders on behalf of Galton AHB in order to inform and enhance plans for growth and expansion.
- Funding Agency
- Unfunded
- Date From
- July 2020
- Date To
- July 2021
- Title
- Key social policy reforms in Ireland from 1900-present day.cy reforms in Ireland from 1900-present day
- Summary
- This research was completed in conjunction with Dr Fiona Dukelow. This research aimed to comprehensively record the key social policy reforms in Ireland from 1900-present day. This This research was commissioned by Dr Moira Nelson from the University of Lund in Sweden for use in a comparative study. It was completed in 2018.
- Funding Agency
- University of Lund, Sweden.
- Date From
- 2017
- Date To
- 2018
- Title
- Values and Ethics Discourses in Social Work, Definitions, Views and Emergent effects: An Attitudinal Survey.
- Summary
- A survey of practising social workers in the Ireland concentrating on social work values and ethics.
- Funding Agency
- Unfunded
- Date From
- 2016
- Date To
- 2020 (final publication)
Recognition
Representations
Academic consultant/advisor for All-Together in Dignity, Ireland (voluntary capacity).
Programme Approval Panel Member for Applied Social Studies, University College Cork.
External examiner in social policy for the South East Technological University.
Member of the All-Island Social Security Network
Reviewer for Poverty and Social Justice
Research advisor for the Work Package 3 (Peer Led Transition) of the 3set research project.
Book proposal reviewer for Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Grant Reviewer for the ERC Consolidator Grants 2022
Book proposal reviewer for Routledge
Book proposal reviewer for De Gruyter
Book proposal reviewer for Policy Press
Member of the Editorial Collective of the high impact journal, Critical Social Policy.
Member of the International Advisory Board of the newly introduced Journal, Discover Global Society.
Reviewer for Oxford University Press
Reviewer for the Journal of Social Work Practice
Reviewer for Sociological Research Online.
Reviewer for Social Policy and Society
Reviewer for the Journal of Social Policy
Chair of the Sociological Association of Ireland's Work, Markets and Welfare group.
Awards and Honours
Nominated for the 'Academics stand against poverty' book award for 'Hidden Voices; Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space'.
Nominated for the Richard Titmuss Book Award for the book: Hidden Voices; Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space
Invited to present the book 'Hidden Voices: Lived Experiences in the Irish Welfare Space' to President Michael D Higgins as a work of significant social importance.
IRJ Distinguished Article Prize for the Artilce 'Work and Thrive or Claim and Skive: Experiencing the 'toxic symbiosis' of worklessness and welfare recipiency in Ireland : Awarded by the Sociological Association of Ireland for the paper adjudicated to represent the best original contribution to the journal in a given year.
Quercus College Scholar (UCC). Awarded to the top performing student in a cohort. Most equivalent to TCD Gold Medal, included €1000 bursary, a parchment and enrolment in a talented student programme.
Quercus College Scholar (UCC). Awarded to the top performing student in a cohort. Most equivalent to TCD Gold Medal, included €1000 bursary, a parchment and enrolment in a talented student programme.
College Scholar (An outgoing award given to the top performing student in a cohort).
Nominated for a Sustainability Leadership Award.
Memberships
International Scholarly Journal: Discover Global Society (editorial board member).
Social Policy Association (UK)
Critical Social Policy (International Scholarly Journal): Editorial Collective Member.
Work, Markets and Welfare Study Group: A study group convened under the Sociological Association of Ireland (Chairperson).
All-Island Social Security Network: An expert group exploring the possibility of a shared island welfare state (founding member).
CORU (register of professional social workers).
Sociological Association of Ireland
Irish Social Policy Association
Irish Association of Social Workers