Publications

Sociologia Ruralis 51(3) pp 219-237 This article explores the significance of researchers positionality for the interpretation of local cultures of rurality. Drawing on personal experience of studying the apparent emergence of a new squirearchy in an English village, it argues that backyard ethnographies, in which researchers study worlds with which they are already familiar if…

This paper presents preliminary findings and a summary of the work undertaken as part of an AHRC funded review of the literature addressing community, connectivity and later life. Two key theme areas were addressed; ‘Social networks and later life’ and ‘The impact of Information and communication technologies (ICT) on community and older people’. In addition…

This report presents findings from Stakeholder Interview data relating to the position of Welsh speakers and Welsh Language provision within the public sector. The main aim of the report is to inform further investigations planned by WISERD researchers on Welsh speakers and the labour market in Wales1. There has been little previous research in this…

We study implications of persistence of shocks in total factor productivity (TFP) growth under Bayesian framework for a set of African countries over the period 1970-2003. Contrary to convention, we find that stochastic unit root is present for most of the African countries and that there is time-varying dependence structure in the underlying processes. The…

The team has produced a literature review report to conceptually frame and analytically ground the project. This report presents the findings of a preliminary review of the literature in the areas of digital divides, community connectivity and minority communities. It also introduces literature regarding digital divides in the context of Wales in order to contextualise…

Rapid industrialization and urbanization in China has produced a unique phenomenon of ‘village-hollowing’, shaped by the dual-track structure of socio-economic development. This paper analyzes the phenomenon of ‘village-hollowing’, identifying the processes and influences that have driven their evolution, and highlighting the challenge that the locking-up of unused rural housing land in ‘hollowed villages’ presents for…

The field of youth development, long given over to discussions of youth as a time of storm and stress, raging hormones and problem behavior, has increasingly turned to look at the ‘sunny side’ of youth – at their agency, insights, capabilities and contributions. Youth, we are now regularly told, are not problems but resources and…

Human Resource Management Journal 21(2) pp 171-189 This article examines the post-application employment consequences for individuals registering complaints to Employment Tribunals following dismissal or redundancy. We consider several pieces of evidence: (a) the probability of finding another job, (b) the time taken to get a new job and (c) the pay/status of the new job….

In this paper we present a multi-dimensional analysis of the closure of Woolworths in Wales and the way in which the loss of this familiar high-street brand can be accounted for at a number of levels and within different social arenas. Primarily, the paper demonstrates how Woolworths is positioned as a symbol of a previous…

In this chapter we examine orientations towards nation and country with sole reference to the ‘ethnic majority’ in England. Drawing on extensive qualitative interview data collected as part of the Leverhulme Programme, we examine the nuanced ways in which majority people orientate to concepts of nation, country and multiculturalism. We illustrate the linkages between these…