Publications

Who, or what, is English? Drawing on qualitative interviews with white majority interviewees in three locations in England, this article explores local interpretations of English and Englishness. The article investigates the way members view their local environment as being ‘English’, and examines the criteria underpinning such interpretations. While various meanings are identified, it is found…

A recent study of the educational attainment of British children found that boys who live in poverty are more educationally disadvantaged even than girls in similar circumstances (Mensah and Kiernan, 2010). The author’s recent work in the south Wales ex-mining valleys has brought her into contact with boys who are disaffected from school and who…

The aim of this contribution to the discussion of Anglo-German agricultural and rural themes is to analyze conceptually issues surrounding multifunctional agricultural pathways in the UK and Germany, and to propose a framework for closer investigation of multifunctional agriculture in the two countries. First, we will discuss recent debates on the conceptualization of what “multifunctional…

In part prompted by a recent spate of media reports this paper explores the emergence of a ‘new squirearchy’ in the English countryside. In doing so, it aims to both illuminate a particular facet of rural social life and help reignite interest in the cultures of rural class. Whilst relationships between rural class and culture…

This article examines trends in entrepreneurship among minority ethnic groups in Britain. It begins with an analysis of how self-employment rates for different ethnic groups have evolved since the early 1990s. We find that rates of self-employment have fallen for Indians and the Chinese and argue that this is due to increased opportunities in paid…

This chapter is concerned with exploring the lived experience of welfare-to-work policy in rural Wales through the lens of participant observation with young people undertaking the initial course that represents their first encounter with the New Deal for Young People (NDYP).1 I wish to respond to calls for qualitative explorations into marginalised rural life through discussing…

The book chapter Place and Belonging features in Understanding Contemporary Wales, a book edited by Hugh Mackay. This book introduces a social science-based analysis of Wales, providing a contemporary account of politics, culture, society and the economy of Wales. It will introduce and apply some key concepts, theories and debates regarding difference and identities in…

In their previous research, they applied spatial statistics and regression analysis to explore the relationships between the types of socio-economic factors that are associated with different fire incident types for an area of South Wales, UK. In this paper, this analysis is extended by using a comparative approach applying regression analysis to examine intra-urban trends…

Immigration has become one of the most discussed and controversial topics in recent public and political debates. This is true not just in the United Kingdom (UK), but also elsewhere in Europe, as well as in many other advanced economies, most notably the United States (US). For example, immigration became a major discussion point during…

This article is based on an empirical baseline study undertaken in 2005 which examined the experience of ‘the English’ who have moved and settled into north-west Wales. The movement of the British/white groups and their experiences have been less of a subject for examination and yet a dispersal of ‘the English’/British as both immigrants and…