Biography
I research socioeconomic inequalities, industrial change, the welfare state, time, and ideas about history in rural Britain. This comes together to give an idea of the ways in which people experience social change – whether that be of community decline or ‘death’, gentrification, or ‘timelessness’.
My current field site is in Cornwall, in the far south-west of Britain. Here, I am examining dynamics of time and class within the industries of tourism and fishing, as well as the utilisation and production of national/local histories and projects of heritage. The UK’s cost-of-living crisis is affecting many of those I work with, exacerbating existing problems of poverty, inequality, and social exclusion.
My areas of interest include: social policy; housing; heritage; nostalgia; bureaucracy; industrial change; coastal communities; inequality; rural British history; critical realism; and class.
I am very grateful to be funded by the ESRC.