Key details
Dr Aura Lehtonen
Associate Professor in Sociology
Dr Aura Lehtonen is Associate Professor in Sociology and Academic Portfolio Lead for Sociology in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Her background is in interdisciplinary social sciences, with a PhD and MSc in Gender Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and a BA in Politics and Chinese from SOAS University of London.
Aura is also currently Programme Lead for BA Sociology, BSc Sociology and Criminology, and BSc Sociology and Psychology. She is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE (SFHEA).
Aura’s research spans cultural studies, gender and sexuality studies, and political sociology. It explores how difference, diversity and inequalities are understood and represented in contemporary culture and politics, with a key current strand investigating contemporary cultures of sex and sexuality - both on and off screen. Additionally, she is interested in critical pedagogies, and how they might be used to challenge inequalities in the context of Higher Education.
Aura is co-author of 'Bad Sex: Sexuality, Gender and Affect in Contemporary TV' (Bloomsbury, 2025), and author of ‘The Sexual Logics of Neoliberalism in Britain: Sexual Politics in Exceptional Times’ (Routledge, 2023). Her work has also been published in Sociology, Feminist Media Studies, Feminist Review, Sociological Research Online, Studies in Higher Education, and MAI: Feminism & Visual Culture, among others.
Before academia Aura worked in charities, and she has experience in organisations that support campaigners and activists, as well as refugees and people in immigration detention.
Responsibilities within the university
Academic Portfolio Lead for Sociology; Programme Lead for BA Sociology, BSc Sociology & Criminology, BSc Sociology & Psychology
Recognition
Recognised Practitioner in Advising, UK Advising and Tutoring Association (UKAT); External Examiner, Social Sciences, Centre for Open Learning, University of Edinburgh; External Examiner, BA Sociology and BA Criminology & Sociology, Leeds Trinity University; Member, British Sociological Association (BSA)
Research / Scholarly interests
1. One strand explores contemporary cultures of sex and sexuality, both on and off screen, combining insights from cultural studies and queer theory. This work has appeared in the co-written book ‘Bad Sex: Sexuality, Gender and Affect in Contemporary TV’ (Bloomsbury, 2025), as well as in journals such as Feminist Media Studies and Feminist Review.
2. Another strand focuses on how inequalities are understood, represented and justified in contemporary UK politics, and particularly how sexuality, intimacy and families feature in these understandings. This work has been published in the book ‘The Sexual Logics of Neoliberalism in Britain: Sexual Politics in Exceptional Times’ (Routledge, 2023) and in Sociological Research Online.
3. The final strand explores how critical pedagogies might be used to challenge inequalities in the context of Higher Education, including work on practice-based pedagogies, GEM awarding differences and inclusive small group pedagogies. This work has appeared in Teaching in Higher Education, MAI: Feminism & Visual Culture, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, and Research in Post-Compulsory Education, among others.
Key funded projects
Practice-Based Learning in Sociology’, Institute for Inclusive Communities and Environments (ICE) Pedagogic Research Development Fund (2023-24, with Dr Peter Jones); Beyond the “Usual Suspects”: Exploring the Adoption of Good Practice Recommendations for Closing the BAME/GEM Attainment and Continuation Gaps’, University of Northampton Learning Enhancement and Innovation Fund (2021-23, with Dr Siobhan Dytham)
Recent publications
Article
Lehtonen, Aura , Dytham, Siobhan, Mallett, Carl (2026), Creating cultural change in large organisations: why do HE staff enact equality ‘good practice’?. Taylor and Francis Group - Routledge. In: , , , . Taylor and Francis Group - Routledge, Research in Post-Compulsory Education . pp. 1-18 ISSN: 1359-6748 (Print), 1747-5112 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13596748.2026.2647624) NB Item availability restricted.
Lehtonen, Aura , Roeschert, Franca, Jones, Peter (2026), Practice-based education in sociology: what, why and how?. SAGE Publications. In: , , , . SAGE Publications, Sociology ISSN: 0038-0385 (Print), 1469-8684 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/00380385261422942).
Dytham, Siobhan , Lehtonen, Aura, Mallett, Carl (2025), Competing logics and organisational barriers to equality work at universities. Taylor and Francis Group - Routledge. In: , , , . Taylor and Francis Group - Routledge, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management ISSN: 1360-080X (Print), 1469-9508 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2025.2555631).
Lehtonen, Aura and , Pillay, Renginee (2025), Resistances to anti-racist and decolonial work in HE: reflections on discomfort. Educational Development Unit, University of Greenwich. In: , , , . Educational Development Unit, University of Greenwich, Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, 17 (2) ISSN: 2044-0081 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.21100/compass.v17i2.1529).
Holzberg, Billy and , Lehtonen, Aura (2022), The affective life of heterosexuality: heteropessimism and postfeminism in Fleabag. Taylor & Francis - Routledge. In: , , , . Taylor & Francis - Routledge, Feminist Media Studies, 22 (8) . pp. 1902-1917 ISSN: 1468-0777 (Print), 1471-5902 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2021.1922485).
Gibbs, Jacqueline and , Lehtonen, Aura (2021), Who can tell a working-class story? Examining the representational limits of class in I, Daniel Blake (2016) and beyond. In: , , , . , The Sociological Review Magazine, 2021 (04/16) ISSN: 2754-1371 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.51428/tsr.apvd8839).
Book
Holzberg, Billy , Gibbs, Jacqueline, Lehtonen, Aura (2025), Bad Sex: Sexuality, Gender and Affect in Contemporary TV. Bloomsbury Academic. In: , , , . Bloomsbury Academic, London (1st) . ISBN: 9781350418561 (doi: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/bad-sex-9781350418561/).
Lehtonen, Aura and , (2023), The sexual logics of neoliberalism in Britain: sexual politics in exceptional times. Routledge. In: , , , . Routledge, Abingdon (1st) . ISBN: 9781032029344 (doi: https://www.routledge.com/The-Sexual-Logics-of-Neoliberalism-in-Britain-Sexual-Politics-in-Exceptional/Lehtonen/p/book/9781032029344).
Book section
Lehtonen, Aura and , (2022), Queering the binary: the politics of the pre/post-1992 division in UK Higher Education. Routledge- Taylor & Francis Group. In: , , In: Churnjeet Mahn, Matt Brim, Yvette Taylor (eds.), Queer Sharing in the Marketized University. Routledge- Taylor & Francis Group, London (1st) . pp. 29-43 . ISBN: 9781032066578 ; 9781032066585 ; 9781003203254 (doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003203254).
Lehtonen, Aura and , Breslow, Jacob (2021), Infantilised parents and criminalised children the frame of childhood in UK poverty discourse. Policy Press. In: , , In: John Horton, Helena Pimlott-Wilson, Sarah Marie Hall (eds.), Growing up and getting by: International perspectives on childhood and youth in hard times. Policy Press, Bristol Growing up and getting by: International perspectives on childhood and youth in hard times . pp. 175-192 . ISBN: 9781447352891 (doi: https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/growing-up-and-getting-by).