Professor Mary Sonia Evans

Honorary Graduate: Doctor of Letters

Professor Mary Evans was appointed to the University of Kent in 1971, and since 2007 has been an Emeritus Professor at the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research. She is the London School of Economics Centennial Professor at the Gender Institute, and was formerly co-editor of the European Journal of Women’s Studies.

Professor Mary Evans has worked in higher education for over 40 years, examining how gender informs and structures the social world. Her work took place in the context of teaching Sociology, but the porous boundaries of that subject allowed her to consider aspects of the world often ignored by sociologists, particularly works of fiction.

Her publications include Jane Austen and the State, which argues against the interpretation that Austen endorsed established conservative views. Rather, she claims that Austen advanced a radical critique of bourgeois capitalism and demonstrated a concern for the articulation of women’s rights while bringing out the vulnerability of women in the economic marketplace.

Other recent publications include Gender and Social Theory, Killing Thinking: The Death of the Universities and Handbook of Gender and Women’s Studies.