Biography
Melissa Fielding is a critical human geographer working at the intersection of social inequality, political economy, and care. She completed her PhD in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge in 2023, where she explored the transformation of care under austerity, focusing on the lived experiences of care within social housing in the East Midlands. Her research interests include social and spatial inequalities, the political economy of post-austerity policies, social reproduction and care, the governance of health, illness, death, and dying, and the shifting landscapes of welfare provision. Melissa is a Research Associate in the PeliCam research group within the Department of Public Health and Primary Care. Her current project investigates the changing landscape of palliative care within the context of institutional restructuring, examining how general practitioners adapt to their evolving roles, navigate shifting responsibilities, and engage with broader changes in healthcare policy and practice. Melissa’s methodological approach is deeply informed by social justice frameworks. Drawing on feminist and critical geographical approaches, she uses qualitative methods including ethnography, creative visual methods and participatory action research to investigate the lived experiences of individuals and communities navigating issues of care, inequality, and social change.
