Professor Bernard Harris
Social Policy
Personal statement
Personal statement
My research is concerned with various aspects of the social history of health and welfare since circa 1700. I have worked on a wide range of topics within this field, including work on the history of height, morbidity and mortality; unemployment and poverty; the relationship between statutory and voluntary welfare provision; and the origins and development of the British welfare state.
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Prize And Awards
- International Conference on the History of Insurance in a Global Perspective Best Paper Award
- Recipient
- 22/7/2022
- Fellow of the Acdemy of Social Sciences
- Recipient
- 20/10/2016
- PROSE Award for Excellence in Economics (2011)
- Recipient
- 2011
Qualifications
I was awarded a BA (Hons) in History by the University of Cambridge in 1983 and obtained my PhD (also in History) from Birkbeck College, London, in 1989.
I held a Temporary Lectureship in the Department of Economic and Social History at the University of Bristol from 1987 to 1991, when I joined the Department of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Southampton. I joined the School of Applied Social Sciences (now the School of Social Work and Social Policy) at the University of Strathclyde in September 2013.
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Publications
- The decline of child stunting in 122 countries : a systematic review of child growth studies since the nineteenth cen
- Schneider Eric B, Jaramillo-Echeverri Juliana, Purcell Matthew, A’Hearn Brian, Arthi Vellore, Blum Matthias, Brainerd Elizabeth, Capuno Joseph, Cermeño Alexandra L, Challú Amílcar, Cho Young-Jun, Cole Tim J, Corpuz Jose, Depauw Ewout, Droller Federico, von Fintel Dieter, Floris Joël, Galofré-Vilà Gregori, Harris Bernard, Hatton Tim, Heyberger Laurent, Hurme Tuuli, Inwood Kris, Jaadla Hannaliis, Kok Jan, Kopczyński Michał, Lordemus Samuel, Marein Brian, Meisel-Roca Adolfo, Morgan Stephen, Öberg Stefan, Ogasawara Kota, Ortega José Antonio, Palma Nuno, Papadimitriou Anastasios, Pistola Renato, Quanjer Björn, Rother Helena, Saaritsa Sakari, Salvatore Ricardo, Staub Kaspar, van der Eng Pierre, Roberts Evan
- BMJ Global Health (2026)
- Rural penalty in morbidity : cause-specific morbidity among working-class men and women in early twentieth century Sweden
- Eriksson Liselotte, Andersson Lars-Fredrik, Harris Bernard
- European Review of Economic History (2026)
- Mutualism and social welfare
- Harris Bernard
- Research Handbook on Historical Sociology (2024) (2024)
- The legacy of voluntarism : charitable funding in the early NHS
- Harris Bernard, Cresswell Rosemary
- Economic History Review Vol 77, pp. 554-583 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1111/ehr.13280
- Sickness experience in England, 1870-1949
- Hinde Andrew, Gorsky Martin, Guntupalli Aravinda, Harris Bernard
- Standard of Living Studies in Economic History (2022) (2022)
- https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06477-7_4
- Did statutory insurance improve the welfare of Swedish workers? The statutory workplace accident insurance act of 1916
- Andersson Lars-Fredrik, Eriksson Liselotte, Harris Bernard
- Labor History Vol 63, pp. 210-233 (2022)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/0023656X.2022.2070734
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Research Interests
I am currently working on a number of different topics, including the following:
- Various issues associated with the use of anthropometric indicators to study the health and wellbeing of past populations
- The history of sickness and morbidity
- The impact of sanitary intervention on mortality decline (with Andrew Hinde, University of Southampton)
- The comparative history of social policy in the different parts of the UK and the English-speaking world
Professional Activities
- RI&C Wk - Supporting Openness & Transparency in Qualitative Research
- Participant
- 12/3/2025
- Health and Care Futures: thematic areas workshop
- Participant
- 30/5/2024
- University of Strathclyde Research Integrity and Culture Week
- Participant
- 21/3/2024
- University of Strathcluyde Research Integrity and Culture Week
- Participant
- 18/3/2024
- History of the NHS
- Recipient
- 23/8/2023
- Charity, Voluntarism and the NHS - Ask the Historians
- Speaker
- 20/2/2020
Projects
- Water, sanitation and health in the first industrial society: Britain, 1780-1930
- Harris, Bernard (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2026
- Border Crossings: Charity and voluntarism in Britain's mixed economy of health care since 1948
- Harris, Bernard (Principal Investigator) Harris, Bernard (Principal Investigator) Stewart, Ellen (Principal Investigator) Stewart, Ellen (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2020 - 31-Jan-2026
- Border Crossings: Charity and voluntarism in Britain's mixed economy of health care since 1948
- Harris, Bernard (Principal Investigator) Harris, Bernard (Principal Investigator) Stewart, Ellen (Principal Investigator) Stewart, Ellen (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2020 - 31-Jan-2026
- Gender and morbidity: Individual sickness trajectories of women and men in Sweden during the first half of the 20th century (supported by the Swedish Research Council)
- Harris, Bernard (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2018 - 30-Jan-2022
- Equally Safe in Higher and Further Education
- Harris, Bernard (Principal Investigator) McCarry, Melanie (Co-investigator) McGoldrick, Roisin (Co-investigator) Pilkington, Kevin (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2016 - 30-Jan-2019
- Scottish ESRC Doctoral Training Centre DTG 2011 | Robbin, Melvina Rachael Valrete
- MacIntyre, Gillian (Principal Investigator) Harris, Bernard (Co-investigator) Robbin, Melvina Rachael Valrete (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2013 - 16-Jan-2020