Ms Gabi Kent

Professional biography

I am Principal Investigator on Learning from Why Riot? an action research collaboration with youth and community partners in Northern Ireland, co-lead on The Open University Time to Think Initiative and Senior Lecturer in Knowledge Exchange in the School of Social Sciences and Global Studies. 

I joined The Open University as a Lecturer in Criminology and Social Policy in December 2015.  Prior to this I was a member of the ESRC funded Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK (PSE UK) project team www.poverty.ac.uk  where I devised and ran a three-year community action research and digital storytelling collaboration between the Open University, Queens University, CFNI and marginalised communities in Northern Ireland documenting the impact and harms of UK austerity policy. 

Before academia, my professional background is as a freelance multi-media producer and researcher working on projects in the field of human rights, social justice and social change.  Between 2010 and 2013 I worked as a freelance consultant with the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, on peacebuilding issues and long-term policy solutions for those who are forcibly displaced by conflict.  I was also a media producer/director for over 15 years and have made numerous broadcast documentaries for BBC, Channel 4 and Discovery as well as advocacy films for NGOs and human rights organization such as The Anti Trafficking Alliance and The Elders.  I continue to maintain my connections with media practice for example in producing short films as part of short course co-creation. Also, when I can, through advising for example on feature length documentaries such as:  In the Shadow of War which looks at the long term legacies of conflict in the Balkans and Lost in Lebanon which examines the plight of Syrians exiled and caught in limbo in Lebanon. Both are made by the talented film makers, Sophia and Georgia Scott. I am also working on a long term documentary project about the legacy of AIDS activism.

Research interests

My primary interest is in conflict transformation and change processes in contexts of polarisation and division. In addition to my research with Learning from Why Riot? I am currently completing my PhD (part time) 'Good Stories' for bad times' exploring what stories can tell us about past conflicts and their transformation. It draws on Loyalist and Republican perspectives on the role of education in social, political and conflict transformation. This research is linked to my work with colleagues from The Open University in Ireland on the Time to Think oral history archive documenting journeys in Open University education in Northern Ireland prisons during the conflict (1972-2000).

In terms of methods and methodology I employ collaborative and co-creation methods and approaches including participatory action research and equitable knowledge exchange processes. 

Teaching interests

My current work primarily focusses on widening participation and the co-creation of short courses for example on Open Learn or Open Learn Create including:

Why Riot? Community, Choices, Aspirations 

Influencing up: Foundations for Peace

Coping in Isolation: Time to Think

Previously as a module team member on the Masters in Crime and Global Justice (DD804), I authored chapters on state crimes and harms, the politics of truth and transitional and global justice in the aftermath of genocide and mass atrocities. I also taught on the Criminology Undergraduate module (DD105) and  was Deputy Chair of the level three module Personal Lives and Social Policy (DD305).

Impact and engagement

Throughout my career I have pushed the boundaries between research, impact and engagement and I see knowledge sharing as a core responsibility when undertaking academic research. My work currently impact work focusses on the WhyRiot? short course and related action research. I also work with colleagues from Open University Ireland (OUI) on the Time to Time oral history archive.  Our engagement work includes sharing knowledge from this Oral History Archive through teaching material, through public events and in future, via online platforms.

Previously for Poverty and Social Exclusion UK (PSEUK)  I produced a series of short films with families across the UK on the lived experience of poverty. Working with low income communities in Northern Ireland we shared community research findings on the impact of austerity with policy makers and the wider public. This included using online digital media, public screenings, briefings and presentations politicians and policy makers in Stormont.  

ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS

O’Sullivan P, and Kent, G (2019):  Pioneers and Politics: Open University Journeys in Long Kesh During the Years of Conflict 1972–75. In: Earle R, Mehigan J.(eds) Degrees of Freedom: Prison Education at The Open University. Bristol University Press; 2019:33-46 

Kent, G (2016) Shattering the silence: The power of ‘Purposeful storytelling’ in challenging social security discourses of blame and shame in Northern Ireland. Critical Social Policy,Vol 36: 124-141, Sage

Kent, G (2013) PSE Methods Working Paper (25): Community Engagement in Challenging times, Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK, Available at: http://www.poverty.ac.uk/pse-research/pse-uk/methods-development

BRIEFINGS, REPORTS AND POLICY DOCUMENTS

Kent, G  et al (2025) Learning from Why Riot? The whys beneath youth violence (forthcoming) 

Meegan, O'Sullivan and Kent (2019) Time to think exhibition; Available at: https://www.open.ac.uk/library/digital-archive/exhibition/152

Kent G (2014) UNHCR Reintegration Handbook (Online Solutions toolkit: Resources for practitioner working on solutions for displaced persons), UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Available at http://www.solutionstoolkit.org/

Kent G, (2014) The Hard Times Reports 1-3 (The High Cost of Living; Feeling the Strain; Youth Prespectives) . Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, Policy Briefing series presenting findings of the Communities in Action community research collaboration. Available at: http://www.poverty.ac.uk/community/northern-ireland/cia/hard-times

Kent G and Wilkins, G (2014) The Hard Times Reports (4) Action research as a community tool, Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, CFNI. 

Kent G, (2013) ‘We are sitting with the big people now” Final report on the PSE’s pilot community engagement project in Northern Ireland (March 2012 - August 2013), Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK (PSE UK)

Kent, G (2011), UNHCR: The Benefits of Belonging: local integration options and opportunities for host countries, host communities and refugees. UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Available at: http://www.unhcr.org/4e3276e26.html

Kent, G (2010), UNHCR Activities Through a Peacebuilding Lens (Internal document: Preliminary review), OSTS, UN High Commission for Refugees 

SELECTED CONFERENCES AND PRESENTATIONS

Books that Bend Bars: Panel discussion with former political prisoners and OU students on the books that inspired change for the Imagine Festival, Belfast, March 2018

Lessons from Maze/Long Kesh: Education as a strategy of resistance and a tool for conflict transformation amongst political prisoners in Northern Ireland (1972-2000) European Group, Lesvos, July 2017

Community Engagement in Challenging Times: How can poverty related research be made more meaningful for low income communities 3^rd Peter Townsend Memorial Conference: Poverty and Social exclusion in the UK: Presentation on Community engagement in challenging times http://www.poverty.ac.uk/take-part/events/final-conference  (July 2014)

Community Engagement for challenging times, Social Policy Association (SPA) Annual Conference (July, 2013)

Reconciliation through politics. European Commission (EC) Brussels, conference on transitional justice in the Western Balkans: Paper and presentation based on my MSc Thesis (Brussels, 2009)