Publications

In this article, we consider how the Barthian model of ethnicity, with its emphasis on boundary transactions, can be usefully applied to understanding non-elite views of the nation. Drawing on qualitative interview material, we show that the boundary concept has significance for people’s views of English and British identity and for how they view relations…

Offering a geographical political economy analysis, this book explores the mechanisms, institutions, and spaces of subnational economic development. Martin Jones innovatively examines how policy-makers frame problems and offer intervention solutions in different cities and regions. Drawing on different approaches to state intervention, neoliberalism, crisis and contradiction theories, and notions of depoliticisation, this book explains policy…

The Research Service has established a Brexit Academic Framework agreement. Under the Framework, experts provide research and advice services to the National Assembly for Wales Commission in relation to Brexit, to supplement the work of the Research Service. Professor Mike Woods and Dr Rachel Rahman at the Centre for Excellence in Rural Health Research, Aberystwyth…

Euroscepticism is increasingly important to the shaping and understanding of contemporary European public opinion and politics. The origins of the trait, however, particularly the values that predispose individuals to view the European Union (EU) as a legitimate (or otherwise) political institution, remain poorly understood. Literature on political socialization identifies the family as a vital influence…

This paper addresses the emergence of microvolunteering as a conceptual and practical phenomenon, as well as one which policy makers must engage with in a careful and critical fashion. Taking a lead from Smith et al. [2010. “Enlivened Geographies of Volunteering: Situated, Embodied and Emotional Practices of Voluntary Action.” Scottish Geographical Journal 126: 258–274] who specify…

This article examines how religious affiliation shapes support for European Union membership. While previous research has shown that Protestants are typically more eurosceptic than Catholics, little is known about the nature of this relationship: specifically, whether religion affects one’s utilitarian assessments of the costs and benefits of membership, or one’s affective attachment to the EU….

During the late nineteenth century, Italian immigrant settlement in Wales took the form of chain and clustered migration, based on origin-centred networks of extended family members. The original migrants’ reliance on transnational family support networks endured and evolved through descendant generations. Family formation and the progression of lifecycle care exchanges served as key drivers of…

The Welsh rural economy is diverse but firmly grounded in Wales’s rich natural environment. Although agriculture is an important industry for Wales, and the dominant land use, it is one part of a complex picture. Rural areas are seen very much as a place of work, including in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural…

Big Local provides local areas with funding to support resident-led solutions to create lasting change. Starting in 2010, The National Lottery Community Fund (then called The Big Lottery Fund), identified areas that have since been described as ‘left-behind’ – areas that had been previously overlooked for funding and investment. In choosing the areas, consideration was…

This article proposes a framework for studying the territorial political capacity of regions in Europe. The proposed framework identifies three main dimensions of territorial political capacity. Mainly material indicators include institutions and institutional resources. Mixed material and constructed indicators centre on causal mechanisms of party and leadership capacity. Mainly constructed indicators are drawn from territorial…