Suchergebnisse

The book explores the complex and shifting geographies of rural Wales in the twenty first century. Written by experts in their fields and drawing on a broad range of academic work, the book focuses on social, cultural, economic, welfare and environmental themes. Particular attention is given to the changing relations between people, place and environment in rural Wales. The book uses these accounts of the social, economic and environmental geographies of rural Wales to provide a broader critique of rural geography and rural studies in the UK and other developed countries

Research on welfare has tended to focus on the national scale with relatively little attention given to the differential impacts of welfare restructuring in rural places and the difficulties faced by disadvantaged groups with limited provision of welfare services in many rural areas. This book seeks to significantly extend previous research work on the rural impacts of national welfare reform and position it in a broader context. "International Perspectives on Rural Welfare" provides a critical, comprehensive and comparative account of the rural dimensions of welfare in a number of developed countries. The book brings together recent research from Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand to provide the seminal international book on rural welfare. As well as being international in its outlook, it provides an inter-disciplinary focus on rural welfare by including contributors from sociology, human geography, social policy and social anthropology. The definition of welfare used within the book is broad, encompassing overarching welfare and workfare agendas, as well as more specific welfare policy areas such as anti-poverty, health, housing, social security, social work and education.

Recent academic critiques of poverty have pointed to the need to pay more attention to the relations between the material, social, and cultural dimensions of poverty as well as to the lived worlds of those on low income. This paper addresses these themes by exploring the ways in which people living in situations of material poverty discuss their everyday lives. Drawing on survey and interview materials from a recent study of poverty in rural Wales, the paper illustrates how people on low income construct their lives more in relation to their social and cultural worlds than to issues of low income and material deprivation. Key findings from the study reveal important disconnections between material and sociocultural aspects of rural poverty, with community belonging and attachment to landscape appearing more significant than material hardship and social exclusion within poor people's narratives of their everyday lives. Community belonging is also bound up with particular moral discourses of welfare and rurality that act to perpetuate situations of material poverty within rural places.

Recent years have witnessed increased interest in the geographies of poverty and welfare. This article provides a critical review of three important themes emerging from this growing body of literature. First, it explores the spatial unevenness of poverty and the persistence of poverty in particular regions and places. Second, attention is given to the complex relationship between poverty and place, and the ways in which poverty is shaped by the local contexts of place. Third, the shifting relations between central and local welfare systems are examined within the context of recent welfare reform. The article ends by outlining new geographical agendas for research on these themes. Adapted from the source document.

Recent years have witnessed increased interest in the geographies of poverty and welfare. This article provides a critical review of three important themes emerging from this growing body of literature. First, it explores the spatial unevenness of poverty and the persistence of poverty in particular regions and places. Second, attention is given to the complex relationship between poverty and place, and the ways in which poverty is shaped by the local contexts of place. Third, the shifting relations between central and local welfare systems are examined within the context of recent welfare reform. The article ends by outlining new geographical agendas for research on these themes.

AbstractThe recent 'Liberty and Livelihood' March in London highlights how the issue of hunting with dogs, which directly involves only a small minority of people in the British countryside and, opinion polls indicate, is opposed by the majority of the British population, can still dominate national political and media agendas. A key tactic of the March organisers, the Countryside Alliance, was to present hunting as an embedded part of rural life, emphasising important connections between natural discourses of rurality, hunting and broader rural social issues.It is these claimed embedded natures of hunting in rural areas that form the focus of this paper. Drawing on recent research in four case‐study hunting areas in the English and Welsh countryside, the paper positions hunting within a broader rural socio‐cultural context. It explores community understandings of and interactions with hunting, and considers the broader sociocultural role of hunting in these rural spaces. The case‐studies indicate that while hunting may be described as a socially and culturally embedded practice in these areas, its place within the rural community is bound up with a great deal of social and spatial complexity.

Introduction : the hidden faces of rural homelessness / Paul Milbourne and Paul Cloke -- Rural homelessness in the United States / Laudan Y. Aron -- Homeless in the heartland : American dreams and nightmares in Indian country / Charles Geisler and Lance George -- Quasi-homelessness among rural trailer-park households in the United States / Sonya Salamon and Katherine MacTavish -- Homelessness in rural and small town Canada / David Bruce -- Rural homelessness in the UK : a national overview / Paul Milbourne and Paul Cloke -- The hidden and neglected experiences of homelessness in rural England / David Robinson -- Knowing homelessness in rural England / Paul Cloke and Paul Milbourne -- International perspectives on rural homelessness : a sociological perspective on homelessness in rural Spain / José Antonio López Ruiz and Pedro Cabrera Cabrera -- Are there any homeless people in rural Finland? / Sakari Hänninen -- Homelessness in rural Ireland / Eoin O'Sullivan -- Inhabiting the margins : a geography of rural homelessness in Australia / Neil Argent and Fran Rolley -- Homelessness amongst young people in rural regions of Austrialia / Andrew Beer, Paul Delfabbro, Kristin Natalier, Susan Oakley, Jasmin Packer and Fiona Verity -- Places to stand but not necessarily to dwell : the paradox of rural homelessness in New Zealand / Robin Kearns -- Writing/righting homelessness / Paul Cloke and Paul Milbourne

This article examines the role of migrant workers in meat-processing factories in the UK. Drawing on materials from mixed methods research in a number of case study towns across Wales, we explore the structural and spatial processes that position migrant workers as outsiders. While state policy and immigration controls are often presented as a way of protecting migrant workers from work-based exploitation and ensuring jobs for British workers, our research highlights that the situation 'on the ground' is more complex. We argue that 'self-exploitation' among the migrant workforce is linked to the strategies of employers and the organisation of work, and that hyper-flexible work patterns have reinforced the spatial and social invisibilities of migrant workers in this sector. While this creates problems for migrant workers, we conclude that it is beneficial to supermarkets looking to supply consumers with the regular supply of cheap food to which they have become accustomed.