Publications

In this paper I propose that identity is momentary, fluid, and multiple while simultaneously providing us with a sense of sameness and continuity. Building on Valsiners ideas about human sense-making I suggest that we can reasonably deal with the multiplicity/unity paradox if we conceive of this process as resulting in the construction of a fuzzy…

It is now nearly thirty years since Margaret Thatcher and her Conservative administration introduced the Assisted Places Scheme (their first education policy) and over ten years since New Labour abolished it. The Scheme, which was designed to provide a ladder of opportunity for academically able students from poor backgrounds to attend private schools, is of…

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…

During the course of this article we examine data gathered from two research meetings in which coding issues and data organization are being discussed in relation to the use of the software package Atlas.ti. The meetings were concerned with the organization and coding of semi-structured interviews carried out by three different groups as part of…

The authors consider the effectiveness of legislative mechanisms for devolving state powers on an incremental basis in the UK. There has been considerable critical debate about how these have worked but there have been few detailed studies. This article analyses the case of UK transport devolution to Wales in 2005–06 and finds mixed evidence. While…

In this commentary an alternative conceptual model of identity construction is proposed. In this model, identity construction is seen as part of a person’s ongoing sense-making. Identity is perceived as a subjective sense of continuity and sameness that renders one’s being in the world meaningful. Drawing on empirical examples provided in the target articles, it…

This paper studies persistence properties of total factor productivity (TFP) from Bayesian perspective. Emphasizing that classical unit root test for TFP cannot determine the probability whether a stochastic shock to the series is permanent, we design a Bayesian unit root test for TFP. Examination for a set of African economies’ TFP data show that the…

Recent research in rural geography has shown increasing interest in the ways in which rurality is performed and enacted by diverse actors. Rural geographers have also demonstrated increasing awareness of their own ‘performances’ as researchers, including their enactment of multiple roles in engaging with research subjects, funders and users. This progress report for rural geography…

The UK experienced has unprecedented levels of immigration in the last decade. These inflows were particularly pronounced following EU enlargement in May 2004, since when the UK has received a huge influx of migrants from Central and Eastern Europe. Although existing studies have suggested that the impact of these migration flows on the UK labour…

Most research and policy discussions of education in the global city have focused on the ways in which globalization and the emergence of global or globalizing cities can create social, economic and educational inequality locally, within the global city itself. Global cities, however, are, by definition, powerful places, where the core institutions, structures and processes…