Conor Judge

Sociology (2020 cohort)

My research is motivated by the effect and outcome of regional inequality in a rapidly urbanising and polarising world. I plan to investigate the effect of unequal distributions of collective social capital & cohesion and how this relates to development in rural areas. This will build on previous work undertaken in the Irish context which assessed the effect of Social Capital through census level data at village level, novel indicators and FE/EFA analysis. I will incorporate my economic and grassroots-level background to assess empirically the structural determinants and causal mechanisms behind regional inequality and urban hegemony.

I previously studied at Trinity College Dublin for a BA in Philosophy Politics, Economics and Sociology and interned at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in Macroeconomics. Prior to returning to academia, I worked as a Community Development Officer on the EU-funded LEADER program at one of Ireland’s leading local development NGOs, IRD Duhallow where I managed a wide range of projects in conjunction with local communities.