Dr. Natalie Morningstar

Biography

I am a social anthropologist with interests in activism, politics, subjectivity, housing, art, and inequality. My work focuses on the effects of the 2008 recession and the housing crisis on young people's employment and housing opportunities in the Republic of Ireland, exploring relationships between democratic disenchantment and a range of social movements, particularly campaigns such as the Repeal the 8th Amendment to legalize abortion and the ongoing struggle for social affordable housing. I examine the intersection of the housing crisis with anti-austerity activism and the rising popularity of pro-unification nationalist party Sinn Féin along the north-south Irish border. Currently, I am a Fellow and College Lecturer, serving as the Director of Studies in Human, Social & Political Sciences at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. I have previously held positions as a Teaching Associate and ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at Fitzwilliam College, and I was a Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Kent from 2021 to 2024. I earned my PhD and MPhil from the University of Cambridge and my BA in Anthropology from Yale University, specializing in biological and genetic anthropology. My research centers on activism and political subjectivity, drawing on ethnographic methods to understand freedom and power in relation to the state. My doctoral work examined artists and activists in Dublin, focusing on critical gentrification, urban renewal, and the impact of American Foreign Direct Investment in the Irish state post-recession. I also explore how the term 'neoliberalism' is mobilized in contemporary political discourse and its implications for trust in liberal democratic governance.

Research Interests

Experience