Dr Joanna Kostka
Lecturer in Social WorkResearch Interests
I am a critical public policy and social work scholar based in the Social Work discipline at Lancaster University. My research investigates how race, power, and institutional practice intersect to shape structural inequalities, particularly within the systems of child protection, education, and welfare. I focus on the lived experiences of racialised communities, with sustained work on the impact of state policies on Roma families across Europe.
A central feature of my research is participatory action research, through which I collaborate with communities to co-produce knowledge that informs equitable policy reform and challenges institutional racism. My work moves beyond inclusion frameworks to engage more deeply with the mechanisms of marginalisation, resistance, and social transformation.
My most recent project, Improving Experiences of Roma Families with Children’s Services in England, was delivered in collaboration with AdviceNow (formerly Law for Life), Anglia Ruskin University, and the Centre for Child and Family Justice Research. The study explored racialised dynamics within child protection systems and contributed to the development of anti-discriminatory practice in social work.
I have worked with a range of academic, policy, and advocacy organisations across Europe, including the Center for Policy Studies at Central European University (Budapest), the Centre for European Studies at Sciences Po (Paris), the Budapest Institute for Policy Analysis, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the Roma Education Fund, and the Open Society Institute. In the UK, I collaborate with organisations such as the Roma Support Group and AdviceNow to link community perspectives with policy impact.
At Lancaster, I teach Contemporary Social Problems (SWK.116) and Contemporary Social Work (SWK.277). My teaching is grounded in critical theory and social justice, encouraging students to interrogate systems of power and to imagine how social work can actively contribute to more just and equitable futures.
My work is driven by a commitment to anti-racism, structural change, and the transformative potential of community-engaged social work.
PhD Supervision Interests
minority rights, Roma, Gypsy, Travellers, European public policy, refugee and asylum seekers, community development, social exclusion and poverty, social movements, children's services, participatory action research
01/01/2023 → 31/07/2024
Research
02/11/2020 → 25/01/2021
Consultancy
01/01/2019 → 30/06/2019
Research
01/10/2015 → 31/10/2016
Research
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Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Participation in conference - Academic
Participation in conference - Academic
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Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Oral presentation
Publication peer-review
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Invited talk
Oral presentation
Invited talk
Oral presentation
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Publication peer-review
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Editorial activity
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
