Research interests

Dr Eva Katharina Sarter is a Political Scientist with significant expertise and research interests in public policy, political economy, the Welfare State, employment, digitalisation, and comparative political science. Particular topics of interest include policy-making and implementation, marketization and the political economy of the welfare state, the regulation of labour and governance of public services. Current research includes the investigation of sustainable public procurement as a regulatory policy tool and the study of digitalisation, particularly in relation to the welfare state and public services.

Academic profile

Katharina is an experienced researcher and a dedicated lecturer. Holding a Doctorate in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin in Germany, Katharina has worked in different universities in Germany, Belgium and the UK. Katharina is involved in a range of national and international networks and collaborations. In addition to research and teaching experiences gained at different universities in Germany and the UK, Katharina has extensive experiences in supervision at different levels. At IER, Katharina is involved in supervision of PhD students and Director of Graduate Studies.

Before joining IER in May 2022, Katharina was Senior Lecturer for Social Policy and Public Service Management at the University of South Wales and Course Leader for the interdisciplinary B.A. (Hons) Public Services. Katharina worked at the University of Bielefeld and the University of Münster, held Postdoctoral Fellowships at the Catholic University Louvain, Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of South Wales and was Visiting Fellow at different universities, including the University of Nottingham, the Centre for Globalisation and Governance at the University of Hamburg and the National University of Ireland Galway.

Current projects

• New challenges for occupational safety and health in times of the digital transformation in Europe: the role of digital labour platforms, with Trine Larsen, Chris Warhurst, Beate Baldauf, Jamelia Harris and Sangwoo Lee and Stef Poole, Funded by CHANSE; Project duration: 2022 - 2025
• BEYOND 4.0 - Inclusive Futures for Europe BEYOND the impacts of Industrie 4.0 and Digital Disruption, Link opens in a new windowith Prof Chris Warhurst, Dr Sally Wright and Prof Chris Mathieu (Lund University), led by Steven Dhondt (TNO). Funded by European Commission. Project Start Date: 01/01/2019 - Project End Date: 30/06/2023

All projects

Selected publications

Sarter, E.K. (2024): "Öffentliche Auftragsvergabe und Geschlechtergleichstellung in den deutschen Bundesländern." In: Europäisches Zentrum für Föderalismus-Forschung Tübingen (ed.): Jahrbuch des Föderalismus 2024. Föderalismus, Subsidiarität und Regionen in Europa. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 233- 245.

Sarter, E.K. (2024): "Marketization, Regulation, and Equality: Towards an Analytical Framework for Understanding the Equality Impact of Public Procurement." Social Politics, 31(1): 1-21.

Sarter, E.K. (2024): "Public procurement and labour market inequality: Conceptualising a multi-faceted relationship." Journal of Industrial Relations, 66(1): 130-152.

Sarter, E.K. and Cookingham Bailey, E. (eds.) (2023): Understanding Public Services. A Contemporary Introduction. Bristol: Policy Press.

Sarter, E.K. (2023): "The Challenge of Knowing: Public Procurement between Unilateral Knowledge Dissemination and Participatory Knowledge-Creation." In. Nyeck, S.N. (ed.): Gender, Vulnerability Theory and Public Procurement: Perspectives on Global Reform. Abingdon: Routledge, 12-28.

Wright, T., Conley, H., Mamode, J. and Sarter, E. K. (2023): "Buying social justice through procurement: report of project findings." London: Queen Mary University of London.

Cookingham Bailey, E., Sarter, E.K., Terry, V. (2022): "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Advocacy Work of Voluntary. Sector Organisations in Wales." In: Rees, J., Macmillan, R., Dayson, C., Damm, C. and Bynner, C. (eds.): COVID-19 and the Voluntary Sector in the UK. Responses, Impacts and Adaptation. Bristol: Policy Press, 118-129.

All publications

Selected presentations

Hidden Debates: Public Procurement as a Venue for Negotiation. Workshop The Regulatory Governance of Public
Procurement: Assessment of the Research Field and the Ways forward, Free University Berlin, 2024.

Wohlfahrtsstaatliche Dienstleistungen zwischen Staat und Markt: Zur politischen Dimension der Vergabe öffentlicher Aufträge. Conference of the Centre for European Gender Studies (ZEUGS), University of Münster, 2024.

Resilient in the face of crisis: The work of third sector organisations during the pandemic in Wales and Scotland. People Place and Policy Conference, Sheffield, 2023.

How can public services face a changing world?, Social Policy Association Conference, University of Nottingham, 2023.

Öffentliche Auftragsvergabe als funktionales Äquivalent zu subnationalen Gesetzgebungsbefugnissen?, Conference of the Working Group Welfare State Research in the German Association for Political Science (DVPW), 2023.

Public Procurement as a Policy Tool for Advancing Equality: Developments in Scotland and Wales., Social Policy Association Conference, University of Nottingham, 2023.

Improving Employment Conditions and Promoting Worker’s Rights in Global Supply Chains: Strategic Public Procurement as a Regulatory Tool. Cardiff Employment Research Unit Conference ‘Global Value Chains and their Employment Relations Consequences’, Cardiff, 2018.

All conference presentations

Teaching

Katharina is an experienced lecturer with broad experiences of and a passion for teaching in Higher Education. Katharina has successfully designed and delivered undergraduate and postgraduate modules at different universities in Germany and Great Britain, acted as a Course leader for an interdisciplinary social science program of study, and has successfully supervised undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations in Germany and the UK. Katharina has extensive experiences in supervising dissertations. The focus of Katharina's teaching and supervision activities lies in the field of public and social policies, political economy, welfare state research, comparative research, employment, and research methods.

External activities

• Member of Steering Committee of the Doctoral Education and Academia Research Centre (DEAR)
• Member of the Board, RN 32 Political Sociology, European Sociological Association.

Other information

Languages: German, English, French, Spanish, and courtesy level Welsh.