{"id":283,"date":"2014-01-10T15:17:33","date_gmt":"2014-01-10T15:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/alisonstenning\/?p=283"},"modified":"2014-01-10T15:17:33","modified_gmt":"2014-01-10T15:17:33","slug":"the-social-geographies-of-recession-and-austerity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/alisonstenning\/the-social-geographies-of-recession-and-austerity\/","title":{"rendered":"The Social Geographies of Recession and Austerity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In preparing for some undergraduate teaching, I&#8217;ve pulled together a preliminary bibliography of academic and other material on the social geographies of austerity and recession. It&#8217;s a fairly mixed bag of published journal articles, blogs and reports from charities, think tanks and other organisations. It&#8217;s far from comprehensive but it offers a starting point. Any suggestions, updates or other comments would be very welcome.<\/p>\n<p>Some <strong>basic summaries<\/strong> of the key reforms introduced by the coalition government can be found here:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Welfare_Reform_Act_2012\">Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/policies\/simplifying-the-welfare-system-and-making-sure-work-pays\">The government<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cpag.org.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/CPAG_factsheet_the%20cuts_May13.pdf\">Child Poverty Action Group<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lgiu.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Welfare-Reform-Act-20121.pdf\">Local Government Information Unit<\/a><\/p>\n<p>My\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/alisonstenning\/the-costs-of-austerity\/\">Costs of Austerity<\/a>\u00a0blog post<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Some really great <strong>blogs<\/strong> have emerged over the past few years as people have tried to document their own, and others&#8217;, struggles with austerity. \u00a0There\u2019s an article about some of these blogs <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/media\/shortcuts\/2013\/jul\/07\/rise-and-rise-of-austerity-blog\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>These are some of the most interesting and\/or prolific:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/agirlcalledjack.com\">http:\/\/agirlcalledjack.com<\/a> &#8211; Blog by Jack Monroe who has published particularly about food and food poverty; her Guardian columns (and recipes) are available here: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/profile\/jack-monroe\">http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/profile\/jack-monroe<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/katebelgrave.com\">http:\/\/katebelgrave.com<\/a> &#8211; \u201cTalking with people dealing with public sector cuts\u201d. Kate Belgrave\u2019s Guardian columns are here: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/profile\/kate-belgrave\">http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/profile\/kate-belgrave<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mumvausterity.blogspot.co.uk\">http:\/\/mumvausterity.blogspot.co.uk<\/a> &#8211; Bernadette Horton, \u201ca mum of 4 fighting everyday battles against austerity &#8211; and hoping to win!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Most of these bloggers also tweet; you can find them and follow them for more updates and links to other bloggers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Many of the <strong>major newspapers<\/strong> have developed sub-sections on their websites in which they document the effects of austerity from a number of perspectives.<\/p>\n<p>On\u00a0<em>Guardian Witness,<\/em>\u00a0you can find personal accounts of families living in poverty; you follow the link to Guardian Witness from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2013\/nov\/25\/cost-of-living-britain-family-poverty\">this page<\/a>. <em>The Guardian<\/em> is also home to\u00a0Patrick Butler\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/patrick-butler-cuts-blog\">Cuts Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In 2008,\u00a0<em>The Telegraph<\/em>\u2019s went on a \u2018<a href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/finance\/recession\/uk-recession-telegraph-tour\/\">Recession Tour<\/a>&#8216; of a variety of UK localities.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Much of the material that ends up on the (web)pages of our national newspapers comes from a range of different projects launched by a variety of <strong>think tanks, lobby groups, charities and so on<\/strong>. The projects I&#8217;m highlighting here are ones which focus on the everyday experiences of recession and austerity in communities.<\/p>\n<p><em>Real Life Reform<\/em>\u00a0is \u201can important and unique study that tracks over a period of 18 months how people are living and coping with welfare reforms across the North of England\u201d. It has been developed by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.northern-consortium.org.uk\/reallifereform\">Northern Housing Consortium<\/a> with seven northern housing associations. There are two reports, one from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.northern-consortium.org.uk\/assets\/Policy%20Documents\/RLR%20report%201_September%202013.pdf\">September 2013<\/a> and another from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.northern-consortium.org.uk\/assets\/Policy%20Documents\/RLR%20Second%20Report.pdf\">December<\/a>. A third report is due in the spring of 2014. You can follow Real Life Reform on Twitter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RealLifeReform\">@RealLifeReform<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The<em> IPPR <\/em>have\u00a0developed a\u00a0<em>Voices of Britain<\/em> website (<a href=\"http:\/\/voicesofbritain.com\">http:\/\/voicesofbritain.com<\/a>), as a\u00a0&#8220;snapshot of the condition of Britain in 2013\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Family and Parenting Institute\u2019s work on <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.familyandparenting.org\/our_work\/Families-in-the-Age-of-Austerity\/Family+Matters.htm\">Families in the Age of Austerity<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>is another exploration of the effects of austerity on families.<\/p>\n<p>The Campaign for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Working Group for the North East produced this report on <a href=\"http:\/\/wbg.org.uk\/pdfs\/NEWN-impact-of-austerity-measures-case-study-(June-2013)-.pdf\">the impact of austerity measures on women in the North East<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For an Irish perspective, have a look at <a href=\"http:\/\/irelandafternama.wordpress.com\">http:\/\/irelandafternama.wordpress.com<\/a> &#8211; a blog written mostly by geographers on Ireland\u2019s experience of financial crisis and austerity.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Some of the emerging academic work\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Atkinson, W., Roberts, S. &amp; Savage, M. (eds.) (2012) <em>Class Inequality in Austerity Britain<\/em>, Palgrave MacMillan: Basingstoke. (The first chapter is available to download <a href=\"http:\/\/www.palgrave.com\/PDFs\/9781137016379.pdf\">here<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Beatty, C. and Fothergill, S. (2013) <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.shu.ac.uk\/research\/cresr\/sites\/shu.ac.uk\/files\/hitting-poorest-places-hardest_0.pdf\">Hitting the Poorest Places Hardest: The Local and Regional Impact of Welfare Reform<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Brown, G. (2013) The revolt of aspirations: contesting neoliberal social hope, <em>ACME<\/em> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.acme-journal.org\/vol12\/Brown2013.pdf\">http:\/\/www.acme-journal.org\/vol12\/Brown2013.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Flaherty, J. and Banks, S. (2013) <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ingentaconnect.com\/content\/tpp\/jpsj\/2013\/00000021\/00000003\/art00003\">In whose interest? The dynamics of debt in poor households<\/a>, <em>Journal of Poverty &amp; Social Justice<\/em>, 21\/3, 219-232.<\/p>\n<p>Fraser, A., Murphy, E. and Kelly, S. (2013) <a href=\"http:\/\/eprints.nuim.ie\/4398\/\">Deepening neoliberalism via austerity and \u2018reform\u2019: The case of Ireland<\/a>, <em>Human Geography<\/em>, 6, 38-53.<\/p>\n<p>Hamnett, C. (2011) <a href=\"http:\/\/phg.sagepub.com\/content\/early\/2010\/12\/30\/0309132510394121.extract\">The reshaping of the British welfare system and its implications for geography and geographers<\/a>, <em>Progress in Human Geography<\/em>, 35\/2, 147-152.<\/p>\n<p>Hamnett, C. (2013) <a href=\"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/tran.12049\/full\">Shrinking the welfare state: the structure, geography and impact of British government benefit cuts<\/a>, <em>Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers<\/em>, Early View Online.<\/p>\n<p>Hamnett, C. (2010) <a href=\"http:\/\/www.envplan.com\/abstract.cgi?id=a43511\">Moving the poor out of central London? The implications of the coalition government 2010 cuts to Housing Benefits<\/a>,\u00a0<em>Environment and Planning A<\/em>, 42\/12, 2809-2819.<\/p>\n<p>Hancock, L. and Mooney, G. (2013) <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1080\/14036096.2012.683294#.UtALkhaCiQI\">\u201cWelfare ghettos\u201d and the \u201cBroken Society\u201d: Territorial stigmatization in the contemporary UK<\/a>,\u00a0<em>Housing, Theory and Society<\/em>, 30\/1, 46-64.<\/p>\n<p>Harrison, E. (2013) <a href=\"http:\/\/csp.sagepub.com\/content\/33\/1\/97.short\">Bouncing back? Recession, resilience and everyday lives<\/a>,\u00a0<em>Critical Social Policy<\/em>, 33\/1, 97-113.<\/p>\n<p>Hodkinson, S. and Robbins, G. (2013) <a href=\"http:\/\/csp.sagepub.com\/content\/33\/1\/57\">The return of class war conservatism? Housing under the UK coalition government<\/a>,\u00a0<em>Critical Social Policy<\/em>, 33\/1, 57-77.<\/p>\n<p>Jacobs, K. and Manzi, T. (2013) <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1080\/14036096.2012.683293\">New localism, old retrenchment: The \u201cBig Society\u201d, housing policy and the politics of welfare reform<\/a>,\u00a0<em>Housing, Theory and Society<\/em>, 30\/1, 29-45.<\/p>\n<p>Lambie-Mumford, H. (2013) <a href=\"http:\/\/journals.cambridge.org\/action\/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&amp;aid=8768596\">&#8216;Every town should have one\u2019: emergency food banking in the UK<\/a>,\u00a0<em>Journal of Social Policy<\/em>, 42\/1, 73-89.<\/p>\n<p>Jensen, T. and Tyler, I. (2013) <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mamsie.bbk.ac.uk\/back_issues\/4_2\/editorial.html\">Austerity parenting: New economies of parent citizenship<\/a>, <em>Studies in the Maternal<\/em>, 4\/2 \u00a0and a variety of other pieces on related themes: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mamsie.bbk.ac.uk\/back_issues\/4_2\/index.html\">http:\/\/www.mamsie.bbk.ac.uk\/back_issues\/4_2\/index.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Pearce, J. (2013) <a href=\"http:\/\/www.envplan.com\/abstract.cgi?id=a4663\">Commentary: Financial crisis, austerity policies, and geographical inequalities in health<\/a>, <em>Environment and Planning A<\/em>, 45\/9, 2030-2045.<\/p>\n<p>Slater, T. (2012) <a href=\"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/anti.12002\/abstract\">The myth of &#8216;Broken Britain&#8217;: welfare reform and the production of ignorance<\/a>, <em>Antipode<\/em> Early Online View.<\/p>\n<p>Stuckler, D. and Basu, S. (2013) <em><a href=\"http:\/\/thebodyeconomic.com\">The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Basic Books.<\/p>\n<p>Tyler, I. (2013) <a href=\"http:\/\/www.socresonline.org.uk\/18\/4\/6.html\">The riots of the underclass? Stigmatisation, mediation and the government of poverty and disadvantage in neoliberal Britain<\/a>, <em>Sociological Research Online<\/em>, 18(4) \u00a0(This is part of a special issue of <em>Sociological Research Online<\/em> on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.socresonline.org.uk\/18\/4\/contents.html\">Collisions, Coalitions and Riotous Subjects: Reflections, Repercussions and Reverberations<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>There is a themed issue of <em><a href=\"http:\/\/csp.sagepub.com\/content\/32\/3.toc\">Critical Social Policy<\/a><\/em> on \u201cSocial Policy in an Age of Austerity\u201d in August 2012 (32\/3).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In preparing for some undergraduate teaching, I&#8217;ve pulled together a preliminary bibliography of academic and other material on the social geographies of austerity and recession. It&#8217;s a fairly mixed bag of published journal articles, blogs and reports from charities, think &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/alisonstenning\/the-social-geographies-of-recession-and-austerity\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4974,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[12,21,29,24,25,20],"class_list":["post-283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ideas","tag-austerity","tag-cuts","tag-geography","tag-neoliberalism","tag-recession","tag-welfare-reform"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/alisonstenning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/alisonstenning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/alisonstenning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/alisonstenning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4974"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/alisonstenning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/alisonstenning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":296,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/alisonstenning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283\/revisions\/296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/alisonstenning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/alisonstenning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/alisonstenning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}