Karen Foster, PhD
Dr. Foster is a sociologist whose research and writing spans the sociology of work, rural sociology, political economy and historical sociology. She has drawn on both qualitative and quantitative methods to study economic issues from a sociological perspective: occupational succession in rural family businesses, farm labour, housing desires among rural and urban young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder, local economic development, the history of productivity as a statistic and a concept, generational divisions at work, young peoples’ experiences on social assistance, and youth outmigration from rural communities.
Karen Foster Karen.Foster@Dal.Ca
Rural Futures Research Centre: www.rfrc.ca
Selected publications:
2018. Habitat Maintenance and Local Economic Ethics in Rural Atlantic Canada Canadian Journal of Sociology 55(1):67-85.
2018. Bridging Import Replacement Theory and Practice: A sociological examination of the potential for import replacement in Atlantic Canada. Annapolis Royal, NS: Centre for Local Prosperity.
2017. Finding a Place in the World: Understanding Youth Outmigration from Shrinking Rural Communities. SSHRC Knowledge Synthesis Report.
2017. Productivity and Prosperity: A Historical Sociology of Productivist Thought. Toronto: University of Toronto Press
2013. “Disaffection Rising? Generations and the Personal Consequences of Work in Contemporary Canada.”Current Sociology 61(7):931-948.
2013. “Generation and Discourse in Working Life Stories.” British Journal of Sociology 64(2):195-215.
Foster, K. and Spencer, D. 2013. “It’s Just a Social Thing: Drug use, friendship and borderwork among marginalized young people.” International Journal of Drug Policy.