Amber Gazso

Associate Professor of Sociology at York University

Amber Gazso, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Sociology at York University. Her main areas of research interest include: citizenship; family and gender relations; research methods; poverty; and the welfare state. Overall, she specializes in research that explores family members’ relationships with social policies of the neo-liberal welfare state. In the Journal of Poverty, Social Problems, and Critical Social Policy, she has recently published articles on how families manage low income through networks of social support (including family, community, and the state), the intergenerational transmission of social assistance receipt, and how women and men, including those with children, experience social assistance receipt while also living with and managing addiction. A side passion of her is the study and practice of qualitative research methods; with co-author Katherine Bischoping, she authored Analyzing Talk in the Social Sciences: Narrative, Conversation and Discourse Strategies (Sage).

Contact

Phone: 416-736-2100, ext 77987
Email: agazso@yorku.ca

Citizenship; sociology of the family and intimate relations; sociology of gender; poverty; social policy; and research methods.

  • Gazso, A., Borras, J., Phonepraseuth, J., Mandell, N., Lam, L., & Man, G. A Qualitative Exploration of the Relationship between Human and Social Capital in the Settlement of Chinese and South Asian Immigrants in Canada. Paper to be submitted to Canadian Ethnic Studies.
  • Gazso, A., Borras, J., Phonepraseuth, J., Mandell, N., Lam, L., and Man, G. (June 2021). “Life Course Capital and Income (In)Security among Recently Arrived Canadian Immigrants from South Asian and China”. Canadian Sociological Association, Edmonton, AB
  • Phonepraseuth, J., Borras, J., Mandell, N., & Lam, L. (June 2021). “Studying Abroad: Experiences and Challenges of South Asian and Chinese International Students”. Canadian Sociological Association,Edmonton, AB.
  • Phonepraseuth, J., Borras, J., Mandell, N., Lam, L., Gazso, A.,& Man, G. (June 2021). “Is Settlement a ‘Family Affair’? Families as Sources of Support and Stress during Settlement”. Canadian Sociological Association, Edmonton, AB.
  • Gazso, Amber. Managing More than Poverty When Living with Addiction: Parents’ Emotion and Identity Work. Journal of Family Issues (Accepted, forthcoming).
  • Gazso, Amber, Tracy Smith-Carrier, Stephanie Baker-Collins, and Carrie Smith. 2020. The Generationing of Social Assistance Receipt and “Welfare Dependency” in Toronto, Canada. Social Problems 67(3):585-601
  • Baker-Collins, Stephanie, Tracy Smith-Carrier, Amber Gazso, and Carrie Smith. 2020. Resisting the Culture of Poverty Narrative: Perspectives of Social Assistance Recipients. Journal of Poverty 24(1):72-93
  • Gazso, Amber. 2020.“Dueling Discourses, Power, and the Construction of the Recovering Addict: When Social Assistance Confronts Addiction in Toronto, Canada.” Critical Social Policy 40(1):130-150
  • Smith, Carrie, Tracy Smith-Carrier, Amber Gazso, Stephanie Baker Collins, and Christopher Saxby. 2019. “The Relationship Between Child Maltreatment and Social Assistance Use: A Chain of Adversities and Transitions from a Life Course Perspective” Journal of Public Child Welfare13(5):556-577.
  • Smith-Carrier, Tracy, Amber Gazso, Stephanie Baker Collins, and Carrie Smith. 2019. “Myth or Reality? Exploring Intergenerational Social Assistance Participation in Ontario, Canada.” Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare 46(1):113-137.
  • Gazso, Amber, and Katherine Bischoping. 2018. “Feminist Reflections on the Relation of Emotions to Ethics: A Case Study of Two Awkward Interviewing Moments.” Forum Qualitative Social Research 19(3).
  • Gazso, Amber and Karen Kobayashi, Editors. 2018. Continuity and Innovation: Canadian Families in the New Millennium. Toronto: Nelson.
  • Webb, Jason, and Amber Gazso. 2017. “Being Homeless and Becoming Housed: The Interplay of Fateful Moments and Social Support in Neo-liberal Context.” Studies in Social Justice 11(1): 65-85.
  • Bischoping, Katherine and Amber Gazso. 2016. Analyzing Talk in the Social Sciences: Conversation, Discourse, and Narrative Strategies. London: Sage.
  • Gazso, Amber. 2016. “Low Income Lone Mothers and “Home”: The Importance of Social Relations.” In Sociology of Home, edited by G. Anderson, L. Suski, and J. Moore. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press.
  • Gazso, Amber. 2016. “Mothers’ Maintenance of Families through Market and Family Care Relations. ” In Feminist Issues: Race, Class, and Sexuality, 6th edition, edited by Nancy Mandell and Jennifer Johnson. Toronto: Pearson/Prentice Hall. (significant revision of 2009 chapter)
  • Gazso, Amber. 2015. “Gendering Social Assistance Reform. In Welfare Reform in Canada: Provincial Social Assistance in Comparative Perspective, edited by Daniel Béland and Pierre-Marc Daigneault. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
  • Gazso, Amber. 2014. “Parenting Young Children: Decisions and Realities.” In Canadian Families Today: New Perspectives, 3rd edition, edited by Patrizia Albanese and David Cheal. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
  • Scobie, Olivia and Amber Gazso. 2013. “‘It was easier to say I didn’t have kids’: Mothering, Incarceration, and Relationships with Social and Criminal Justice Policies.” In Incarcerated Mothers: Oppression and Resistance. Toronto: Demeter Press.
  • Gazso, Amber. 2014. [Book review of Marjorie Griffin Cohen and Jane Pulkingham, editors, Public Policy for Women: The State, Income Security, and Labour Market Issues.] Basic Income Studies, 8(2), 5 pgs.

Presentations