Helga Hallgrimsdottir

Ph.D. (Western Ontario, 2004)
Associate Professor

Dr. Hallgrimsdottir's research interests bridge historical-comparative sociology, the sociology of work, social movements, and the health of vulnerable populations. Recent research includes a SSHRC funded project comparing historical citizenship claims of women's movements in Canada and the Nordic countries (as principal investigator) and a study of historical and contemporary media portrayals of men and women who work in the sex industry. In addition, she has been involved with a team of researchers looking at the interplay of health and vulnerability, with particular attention to street-involved youth, men and women involved in the sex industry, and front-line service workers. Current and upcoming research includes a study of how social movement success shapes radicalism in the social movement sector, and a comparative study of citizenship constructions and articulations in state and government documents in Canada and selected European nations.

Areas of interest

Historical-comparative sociology
Welfare state and neoliberalization
Social movements and labour movements
Work and vulnerability

Publications

Refereed Articles

Benoit, Cecilia, Maria Zadoroznyj, Helga Kristin Hallgrimsdottir, Adrienne Treloar and Kara Taylor. 2010. “Medical dominance and neoliberalisation in maternal care provision: The evidence from Canada and Australia,” Social Science and Medicine 2010 71 3: 475-481.

Hallgrimsdottir, Helga Kristín and Þorgerður Einarsdóttir. 2009. “Women's activism and the welfare state: Social citizenship claims and the development of childcare policy in Canada and Iceland in comparative perspective” Þjóðarspegill 10: 293-306.

Benoit, Cecilia, Leah Shumka, Kate Vallance, Helga Kristin Hallgrimsdottir, Rachel Phillips, Karen Kobayashi, Olena Hankivsky, Colleen Reid, Elana Brief. 2009. “Explaining the Health Gap Experienced by Girls and Women in Canada: A Social Determinants of Health Perspective.” Sociological Research On-line 14

Hallgrimsdottir, Helga Kristín, Kathy Teghtsoonian and Debra Brown. 2008. “Public Policy, Caring Practices and Gender in Health Care Work. Canadian Journal of Public Health. 99, Supplement 2: S43-47.

Benoit, Cecilia and Helga Kristín Hallgrímsdóttir. (2008). “Engendering Research on Care and Care Work across Different Social Contexts.” Finding Dignity in Health Care and Health Care Work. Canadian Journal of Public Health. 99, Supplement 2: S-7-10.

Hallgrimsdottir, Helga Kristin, and Cecilia Benoit. 2007. ”From Wage-Slaves to Wage-Workers: Cultural Opportunity Structures and the Evolution of the Wage Demands of the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor, 1880-1890.” Social Forces 85:1393-1411.

Benoit, Cecilia, Mikael Jansson, Helga Kristin Hallgrimsdottir and Eric Roth. 2007. “Street Youth’s Life Course Transitions.” Comparative Social Research 25: 329–357.

Hallgrimsdottir, Helga Kristin, Rachel Phillips, Cecilia Benoit, and Kevin Walby. 2007. “Sporting Girls, Streetwalkers, and Inmates of Houses of Ill-Repute: Media Narratives and the Historical Mutability of Stigmas”. Sociological Perspectives 51: 119-138.

Hallgrimsdottir, Helga Kristin. 2006. “The Knights of Labour and the Failure of the Arbitration Platform, 1886-1887:Ideology, Hegemony, and Contextually Generated Opportunities for Frame Success.” The Sociological Quarterly 47:521-542.

Hallgrimsdottir, Helga Kristin, Rachel Phillips, and Cecilia Benoit. 2006. “Fallen Women and Rescued Girls: Social Stigma and Media Narratives of the Sex Industry in Victoria, B.C., from 1980 to 2005.” The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 43: 265-280.

Hallgrimsdottir, Helga Kristin, and Tracey Adams. 2004. “The 'Manly' Working Man: Nineteenth Century Manhood and the Challenge of the Knights of Labor." Men and Masculinities 6:272-290.

Special Issues of Refereed Journals

Cecilia Benoit and Helga Kristin Hallgrimsdottir (co-eds.). (2008) Finding Dignity in Health Care and Health Care Work. Special Supplement. Canadian Journal of Public Health 99, Supplement 2.

Books

Benoit, Cecilia and Helga Kristin Hallgrimsdottir. 2011, editors. Valuing Care Work: Comparative Perspectives. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Book Chapters

Hallgrimsdottir, Helga Kristin, Kathy Teghtsoonian, Debra Brown and Cecilia Benoit. 2011. “Neo-liberalism, Gender and Care-Work: Trends and Implications.” Pp. 197-213 in Valuing Care Work: Comparative Perspectives, edited by Cecilia Benoit and Helga Kristin Hallgrimsdottir. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Benoit, Cecilia and Helga Kristin Hallgrimsdottir. 2001. “Conceptualizing Care Work.” Pp. 7-21 in Valuing Care Work: Comparative Perspectives, edited by Cecilia Benoit and Helga Kristin Hallgrimsdottir. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.