Kristen Bass is a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto.
Kristen’s sociological research interests reside broadly at the intersection of labour and work, inequality, social movements, and political ecology.
Research:
Kristen has two current streams of research. First, using discourse analysis of student newspapers, Kristen analyzes movement organizing among Quebec students who went on strike against proposed tuition increases for over six months in 2012. This research examines the discourse student protesters developed to mobilize their collective strike action and assert its legitimacy, and the tangible leverage this discourse afforded students in their struggle. An early draft of this paper won the Best Student Paper Award from the Political Sociology and Social Movements Research Cluster at the 2021 Canadian Sociological Association annual conference. Kristen’s second stream of research analyzes discourses around oil and gas, climate change, and a potential transition to a low-carbon future to identify how fossil fuel workers–those who will be most affected by a transition–are represented (or neglected) in public discourse on this issue.
Bio:
Born and raised in rural Alberta, Kristen spent many years living in Edmonton, then Toronto, with a brief stint in Montreal.
In Fall 2021, Kristen started a direct-entry PhD in Sociology at the University of Toronto. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Women & Gender Studies, also at the University of Toronto, in Spring 2021. Before that, Kristen worked for six years as a commercial photographer. She continues to do freelance photography for contemporary art documentation and enjoys shooting 35mm film.
All photos by Kristen.
Kristen Bass 