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Staff Profile

Professor Rachel Pain

Dean of Social Justice

  • Email: rachel.pain@ncl.ac.uk
  • Address: School of Geography, Politics and Sociology
    Â鶹´«Ã½
    Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne
    NE1 7RU
    UK
Background


Rachel Pain is Professor of Human Geography and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.


RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Disasters, violence and recovery
  • Gender-based violence and its impacts on women, men and children
  • Community and urban trauma and mental health
  • Transgender GBV survivors and access to abuse services 
  • The relationships between domestic and sexual abuse and terrorism/warfare
  • Geopolitics and intimacy
  • Theory, politics and practice of participatory/co-production approaches to research, learning and action


I was born in Northumberland and grew up in Â鶹´«Ã½-upon-Tyne. I began my career as a Lecturer at Northumbria University, before moving to Durham University in 2000 and then Â鶹´«Ã½ in 2017. Here I have served as a Director of Northern Ireland and North East Doctoral Training Partnership, Director of EDI for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and University Dean of Social Justice from January 2024. 


I am a social and political geographer whose research is founded in feminist and participatory praxis. Most of my research has focused on violence, community safety, trauma and fear, with gender-based violence an enduring interest. I have collaborated in the UK with national and local government, charities, community organisations, activists, artists and survivors, framed with a Participatory Action Research approach and using a range of qualitative, quantitative and arts-based methods. I also work in partnership with researchers in Bangladesh, Malaysia and Colombia. The conceptual thread running through these projects explores the social politics of what are commonly seen as personal and private experiences of violence, trauma and recovery. Equally, international and urban forms of violence, such as war, terrorism and housing dispossession, are recast as having intimate roots. Through survivor-centred research and the development of concepts such as ‘globalised fear’, ‘intimacy-geopolitics’, ‘intimate war’ and 'geotrauma', the research tackles common myths that persist about the places, scales and impacts of violence and harm.


PRIZES AND AWARDS

  • Urban Studies Best Paper Award 2024 (Shortlisted) for "Viviendo a Vivir (Coming Back to Life)"
  • Chair of Conference 2022, Royal Geographical Society / IBG Annual International Conference
  • International Geographical Union (IGU) - Award for Distinguished Geographical Practice 2022
  • Association of American Geographers Feminist Geographies Speciality Group - Jan Monk Service Award 2022 
  • Urban Studies Best Paper Award 2019 for "Chronic Urban Trauma" 
  • Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (from 2018)
  • Durham University Excellence in Research Impact Award 2014
  • Durham University Excellence in Learning and Teaching Award 2012
  • Julian Minghi Outstanding Research Award of the Political Speciality Group of the Association of American Geographers 2009. Awarded jointly with Susan J Smith for 'Fear: Critical Geopolitics and Everyday Life'
  • Royal Geographical Society Gill Memorial Award 2008, for contributions to social geography and participatory research
  • Philip Leverhulme Prize 2005


RECENT REPORTS, MUSIC AND FILM

  • Volviendo a Vivir (Back to Life) (2022) (PI Sonja Marzi) collaborative film at    
  • Safer Parks Standard (2022) - commissioned by Northumbria Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner
  • One of the Lasses: Trans Inclusion and Safety in Abuse Support Services (2021) - in collaboration with Cygnus Support, S. O'Neill, and Tyneside Womens Health. 
  • Chronic Trauma (2019) - by the Paper Dolls Research Group, in association with My Sisters Place, Middlesbrough
  • Paper Dolls (2018) - CD by Ribbon Road https://ribbonroad.bandcamp.com/album/paper-dolls-2 
  • (2017)
  • (2016) - a project funded by ESRC/N8
  • Our Streets are Numbered (2015) - CD/DVD by Ribbon Road and Carl Joyce https://ribbonroad.bandcamp.com/album/our-streets-are-numbered 
  • (2015) - a collaboration with Horden Colliery Residents Association  
  • Everyday Terrorism: How Fear Works in Domestic Abuse (2012) - a collaboration with Scottish Womens Aid
Publications

  • Articles

    • Trujillo-Cristoffanini M, Pain R, Carroza-Athens N, Koecker-Pérez K, Zagal-Ehrenfeld G. . Emotion, Space and Society 2025, 57, 101125.
    • Pain R, Bagelman J, Kowikchuk B, Kuptana C, Lugt E, Tedjuk D, Gauthier M. . Progress in Physical Geography 2026, 50(1), 127-137.
    • Marzi S, Pain R. . Urban Studies 2023, 61(9), 16868-1702.
    • Pain R, Wild J. . London: Royal Geographical Society, 2023. Available at: .
    • Pain R. . Political Geography 2022, 92, 102451.
    • Sahdan Z, Pain R, McEwan C. . Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 2022, 47(2), 286-301.
    • Pain R, Cahill C. . Environment And Planning C: Politics And Space 2022, 40(2), 359-372.
    • Pain R. . Gender Place and Culture 2022, 29(12), 1788-1809.
    • Pain R. . Progress in Human Geography 2021, 45(5), 972-989.
    • Rezwana R, Pain R. . Disasters 2021, 45(4), 741-761.
    • Pain R, Heslop B, Heslop G. . ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies 2019, 18(5), 1100-1111.
    • Cahill C, Pain R. . ACME: an International Journal for Critical Geographies 2019, 18(5), 1054-1065.
    • Pain R. . Urban Studies 2019, 56(2), 385-400.
    • Pain R. . Political Geography 2015, 44, 64-73.
    • Whitman GP, Pain R, Milledge DG. . Progress in Physical Geography 2015, 39(5), 622-639.
    • Pain R. . Political Geography 2015, 44, 82-83.
    • Pain R. . Social and Cultural Geography 2014, 15(2), 127-150.
    • Pain R, Staeheli L. . Area 2014, 46(4), 344-347.
    • Lave R, Wilson MW, Barron ES, Biermann C, Carey MA, Duvall CS, Johnson L, Lane KM, McClintock N, Munroe D, Pain R, Proctor J, Rhoads BL, Robertson MM, Rossi J, Sayre NF, Simon G, Tadaki M, Van Dyke C. . The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe Canadien 2014, 58, 1-10.
    • Pain R. . ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies 2014, 13(1), 19-23.
    • Pain R. . Area 2014, 46, 351-353.
    • Pain R. . Progress in Human Geography 2014, 38(4), 531-550.
    • Olson E, Hopkins P, Pain R, Vincett G. . Annals of the Association of American Geographers 2013, 103(6), 1421-1436.
    • Pain R, Finn M, Bouveng R, Ngobe G. . Journal of Geography in Higher Education 2013, 37(1), 28-43.
    • Curtis S, Pain R, Fuller SK, Khatib Y, Rothon C, Stansfeld SA, Daya S. Neighbourhood risk factors for Common Mental Disorders among young people aged 10-20 years: a structured review of quantitative research. Health & Place 2013, 20, 81-90.
    • Vincett G, Olson E, Hopkins P, Pain R. . Journal of Contemporary Religion 2012, 27(2), 275-290.
    • Pain R, Kesby M, Askins K. . Area 2012, 44(1), 120-123.
    • Olson E, Hopkins P, Pain R, Vincett G. Re-theorizing the postsecular present: embodiment, spatial transcendence, and challenges to authenticity amongst young Christians in Glasgow, Scotland. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 2012. Submitted.
    • Russell A, Cattermole A, Hudson R, Banks S, Armstrong A, Robinson F, Pain R, Gollan S, Brown G. Sustaining Community-University Collaborations: the Durham University Model. International Journal of Community Research and Engagement 2011, 4, 218-31.
    • Pain R, Phillips D, Nagel C, Mohammad R, McLean J, Dunn K, Hopkins P. . Political Geography 2011, 30(6), 339-348.
    • Hopkins P, Olson E, Pain R, Vincett G. . Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 2011, 36(2), 314-327.
    • Pain R, Kesby M, Askins K. . Area 2011, 43(2), 183-188.
    • Askins K, Pain R. . Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 2011, 29(5), 803-821.
    • Pain R. . Children's Geographies 2010, 8(2), 223-225.
    • Pain R. . Geography Compass 2010, 4(3), 226-240.
    • Pain R, Panelli R, Little J, Kindon S. Moments in everyday/distant geopolitics: Young people’s fears and hopes. Geoforum 2010, 41(6), 972-982.
    • Pain R, Panelli R, Little J, Kindon S. Moments in everyday/distant geopolitics: Young people’s fears and hopes. Geoforum 2010, 41(6), 972-82. In Preparation.
    • Pain R. . Journal of Geography in Higher Education 2009, 33(1), 81-87.
    • Pain R. . Progress in Human Geography 2009, 33(4), 466-486.
    • kinpaisby-hill mrs c. Taking stock of participatory geographies: envisioning the communiversity. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 2008, 33(3), 292-99.
    • Pain R. . Children's Geographies 2008, 6(1), 104-108.
    • Pain R, Kindon S. . Environment and Planning A 2007, 39(12), 2807-2812.
    • Cahill C, Sultana F, Pain R. Participatory ethics: politics, practices, institutions. ACME: An International E-journal for Critical Geographies 2007, 6(3), 304-18.
    • Hopkins PE, Pain R. . Area 2007, 39(3), 287-294.
    • Pain R, MacFarlane R, Turner K. 'When, where, if, and but': qualifying GIS and the effect of streetlighting on crime and fear. Environment and Planning A 2006, 38(11), 2055-2074.
    • Pain R. Social geography: seven deadly myths in policy research. Progress in Human Geography 2006, 30(2), 250-259.
    • Pain R. . Social and Cultural Geography 2006, 7(2), 221-243.
    • Birnie J, Madge C, Pain R, Raghuram P, Rose G. Working a fraction and making a fraction work: a rough guide for geographers in the academy. Area 2005, 37(3), 251-259.
    • Pain R, Grundy S, Gill S, Towner E, Sparks G, Hughes K. . International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 2005, 29(4), 814-830.
    • Pain R. . Progress in Human Geography 2004, 28(5), 652-663.
    • Pain R, Francis P. . Children's Geographies 2004, 2(1), 95-110.
    • Pain R. . Children's Geographies 2004, 2(1), 65-67.
    • Pain R, Bailey C. . Social and Cultural Geography 2004, 5(2), 319-329.
    • Bailey C, Pain RH, Aarvold JE. A 'give it a go' breast-feeding culture and early cessation among low-income mothers. MIDWIFERY 2004, 20(3), 240-250.
    • Pain R. Youth, age and the representation of fear. Capital and Class 2003, 60, 151-171.
    • Shirlow P, Pain R. The geographies and politics of fear. Capital and Class 2003, 60, 15-26.
    • Pain R. . Progress in Human Geography 2003, 27(5), 649-657.
    • Pain R, Francis P. Reflections on participatory research. Area 2003, 35(1), 46-54.
    • Pain R, Gill S. Where can children turn?. Criminal Justice Matters 2002, 50, 16-17.
    • Pain R. Gender, race, age and fear in the city. Urban Studies 2002, 38(5-6), 899-913.
    • Pain R, Townshend T. . Geoforum 2002, 33(1), 105-119.
    • Pain R, Bailey C, Mowl G. Infant feeding in North East England: contested spaces of reproduction. AREA 2001, 33(3), 261-272.
    • Bailey C, Pain R. Geographies of infant feeding and access to primary health care. Health and Social Care in the Community 2001, 9(5), 309-317.
    • Mowl G, Pain R, Talbot C. The ageing body and the homespace. AREA 2000, 32(2), 189-197.
    • Koskela H, Pain R. Revisiting fear and place: women's fear of attack and the built environment. GEOFORUM 2000, 31(2), 269-280.
    • Pain R. Place, social relations and the fear of crime: a review. Progress in Human Geography 2000, 24(3), 365-387.
    • Pain R, Mowl G, Talbot C. Difference and the negotiation of 'old age'. ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING D-SOCIETY & SPACE 2000, 18(3), 377-393.
    • Townshend T, Pain R. Community safety in the city centre. Town and Country Planning 2000, 69(4), 120-1.
    • Bailey C, White C, Pain R. Evaluating qualitative research: dealing with the tension between 'science' and 'creativity'. AREA 1999, 31(2), 169-178.
    • Pain RH. Whither women’s fear? Perceptions of sexual violence in public and private space. International Review of Victimology 1997, 4(4).
    • Pain R. Social geographies of women’s fear of crime. Social Geographies of Women's Fear of Crime 1997, 22(2), 231-244.
    • Pain RH. Social geographies of women’s fear of crime. Social Geographies of Women's Fear of Crime 1997, 22(2), 231-244.
    • Pain R. ‘Old age’ and ageism in urban research: the case of fear of crime. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 1997, 21(1), 117-28.
    • Pain R, Mowl G. Improving geography essay writing using innovative assessment. JOURNAL OF GEOGRAPHY IN HIGHER EDUCATION 1996, 20(1), 19-31.
    • Mowl G, Pain R. Using self and peer assessment to improve students' essay writing: A case study from geography. INNOVATIONS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING INTERNATIONAL 1995, 32(4), 324-335.
    • Pain R. Local contexts and the fear of crime: elderly people in north east England. Northern Economic Review 1995, 24, 96-111.
    • Pain RH. Elderly women and fear of violent crime: the least likely victims?. British Journal of Crimonology 1995, 35(4), 584-598.
    • Pain R. Space, sexual violence and social control: integrating geographical and feminist analyses of women's fear of crime. Progress in Human Geography 1991, 15(4).

  • Authored Books

    • Marzi S, Pain R, Tarr J. . Oxon: Routledge, 2025.
    • Kindon S, Pain R, Kesby M. . Oxon: Routledge, 2025.
    • Rezwana N, Pain R. . London: Routledge, 2023.
    • Smith SJ, Pain R, Marston S, Jones JP. Handbook of Social Geographies. Sage, 2010.
    • Pain R, Smith SJ. Fear: Critical Geopolitics and Everyday Life. Ashgate, 2008.
    • Pain R, Barke M, Gough J, Fuller D, MacFarlane R, Mowl G. Introducing Social Geographies. London: Arnold, 2001.

  • Book Chapters

    • Pain R, Bloodgood E, Gilbert C. . In: Calkin, Sydney and Freeman, Cordelia, ed. De Gruyter Handbook of Feminist Political Geography. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, 2026, pp.103-114.
    • Pain R, Rezwana N, Sahdan Z. . In: Datta A; Hopkins P; Johnston L; Olson E; Silva JM, ed. Routledge Handbook of Gender and Feminist Geographies. London: Routledge, 2020, pp.287-296.
    • Pain R, Hopkins P. . In: Â鶹´«Ã½ Social Geographies Collective, ed. Social Geographies: An Introduction. London: Rowman and Littlefield, 2020.
    • Pande R. . In: The Â鶹´«Ã½ Social Geographies Collective; Pain, R; Hopkins, P, ed. Social Geographies An Introduction. London: Rowman and Littlefield International, 2020, pp.133-142.
    • Jones C, Richardson MJ. . In: The Â鶹´«Ã½ Social Geographies Collective, ed. Social Geographies: An Introduction. London: Rowman & Littlefield, 2020, pp.79-88.
    • Hopkins P, Pain R. . In: The Â鶹´«Ã½ Social Geographies Collective, ed. Social Geographies: An Introduction. London: Rowman and Littlefield, 2020, pp.192-199.
    • Alexander C, Pain R. Urban security: Whose Security? Everyday Responses to Urban Fears. In: Springer, ed. Ceccato V (ed) The Urban Fabric of Crime and Fear. Springer, Dordrecht, 2012.
    • kinpaisby-hill mrsc. Participatory praxis and social justice: towards more fully social geographies. In: Del Casino, V; Thomas, ME; Cloke, P; Panelli, R, ed. A Companion to Social Geography. Blackwell, 2011, pp.214-34.
    • Pain R, Askins K. Engaging communities in research. In: Gardner et al, ed. Communicating geographical research beyond the academy. London: RGS/IBG, 2010.
    • Pain R, Hopkins PE. . In: Smith SJ; Pain R; Marston S; Jones JP, ed. The SAGE handbook of social geography. London: Sage, 2009, pp.78-98.
    • Smith S, Pain R, Marston S, Jones JP. Introduction: situating social geographies. In: Smith et al, ed. Handbook of Social Geographies. Sage, 2009.
    • Pain R, Smith S. Introduction: geographies of well-being. In: Smith,S et al, ed. Handbook of Social Geographies Sage. Sage, 2009.
    • Pain R. Introduction: doing social geographies. In: Smith,S et al, ed. Handbook of Social Geographies. Sage, 2009.
    • Pain R, Smith S. Whose fear is it anyway? Resisting terror fear and fear for children. In: Pain,R; Smith,S, ed. Fear: Critical Geopolitics and Everyday Life. Ashgate, 2008.
    • kinpaisby-hill mrsc. Publishing from participatory research. In: Blunt, A; et al, ed. Publishing in Geography: a Guide for New Researcher. Wiley-Blackwell, 2008.
    • Pain R, Smith S. Fear/hope and reconnection. In: Pain,R; Smith,S, ed. Fear: Critical Geopolitics and Everyday Life. Ashgate, 2008.
    • Pain R, Smith SJ. Fear, critical geopolitics and everyday life. In: Pain,R; Smith,SJ, ed. Fear: Critical Geopolitics and Everyday Life. Ashgate, 2008.
    • Pain R, Smith SJ. Critical geopolitics and everyday fears. In: Lee,M; Farrell,S, ed. Fear of Crime: Critical Voices in an Age of Anxiety. London: Routledge, 2008.
    • Alexander C, Beale N, Kesby M, McMillan J, Pain R, Ziegler F. Participatory diagramming. In: Kesby,M; Kindon,S; Pain,R, ed. Connecting People, Participation and Place: Participatory Action Research Approaches and Methods. Routledge, 2007.
    • Kindon S, Pain R, Kesby M. Participatory action research: origins, approaches and methods. In: Kindon,S; Pain,R; Kesby,M, ed. Connecting People, Participation and Place: Participatory Action Research Approaches and Methods. Routledge, 2007.
    • Kesby M, Kindon S, Pain R. Participation as a form of power: retheorising empowerment and spatialising participatory action research. In: Kesby,M; Kindon,S; Pain,R, ed. Connecting People, Participation and Place: Participatory Action Research Approaches and Methods. Routledge, 2007.
    • Kindon S, Pain R, Kesby M. Introduction: connecting people, participation and place. In: Kindon,S; Pain,R; Kesby,M, ed. Connecting People, Participation and Place: Participatory Action Research Approaches and Methods. Routledge, 2007.
    • Kesby M, Kindon S, Pain R. Conclusion: the space(s) and scale(s) of participatory action research: constructing empowering geographies?. In: Kesby,M; Kindon,S; Pain,R, ed. Connecting People, Participation and Place: Participatory Action Research Approaches and Methods. Routledge, 2007.
    • Pain R, Bailey C. British social and cultural geography: beyond turns and dualisms?. In: Kitchin,R; (ed), ed. Mapping worlds: international perspectives on social and cultural geographies. 2007.
    • Pain R. Old age and Victimisation. In: Davies,P; Francis,P; Jupp,V; (eds), ed. Victimisation: Theory, Research and Politics. London: Macmillan, 2003.
    • Pain R. Writing essays and related assignments. In: Rogers,J et al, ed. he student's companion to geography. Oxford: Blackwell, 2002.
    • Pain R. Women’s experiences of violence over the lifecourse. In: Teather, E, ed. Embodied geographies. Routledge, 1999.
    • Pain R. Women's fear of sexual violence: explaining the spatial paradox. In: Jones,H, ed. Crime and the Environment: the Scottish Experience. Aldershot:Avebury, 1993.

  • Edited Books

    • Hopkins P, Â鶹´«Ã½ Social Geographies Collective, Pain R, Shaw R, Gao Q, Bonnett A, Jones C, Richardson M, Rzedzian S, Benwell MC, Lin W, McAreavey R, Stenning A, Blazek M, Pande R, Najib K, Finlay R, Nayak A, Ridley G, Mearns G, Bonner-Thompson C, McLaughlin J, Boussalem A, Iqbal N, Heslop J, Jarvis H, Burrows R, Bambra C, Copeland A, Tate S, Campbell E, Thompson M, James A, Raynor R, Cunningham N, Powells G, Herbert J, Hocknell S, ed. . London, UK: Rowman and Littlefield, 2021.
    • Kindon S, Pain R, Kesby M, ed. . London: Routledge, 2007.

  • Editorial

    • Jarvis H, Pain R, Poolley C. . Environment and Planning A 2011, 43(3), 519-524.

  • Reports

    • Pain R. . Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne: Â鶹´«Ã½, 2021.
    • Rezwana N, Pain R. . Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne: Â鶹´«Ã½, 2017.
    • Pain R, Hadjiyianni C, McLeod G. . Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne: School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, University of Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne, 2017.
    • Pain R, Heslop J, Ormerod E, Butler-Rees A, Crawshaw H, Davisson H, Dawson L, Fairhurst M, Galin M, Harman D, Holloway E, James T, Liu A, Chau C, Qing H, Read F, Smith M, Somerset C, Sporik E, Turner I. . Durham University: Centre for Social Justice and Community Action, 2016.