Past Projects
Migrant mothers caring for the future: creative interventions in making new citizens, AHRC (with Umut Erel, Open University)
This AHRC funded project brings together a range of international, national, methodological and multidisciplinary perspectives, including contributions from the disciplines of sociology, migration studies, cultural studies, cultural geography and the creative arts, and will promote shared conversations and knowledge exchange between academic researchers, arts practitioners and policymakers. This network aims at stimulating critical thinking and knowledge exchange on the processes that shape migrant mothers' cultural and caring work in enabling their children to occupy a place as future citizens. This will be achieved through two sets of activities: seminar series and final conference and participatory theatre. The latter comprised 8 workshop sessions working with a group of 8 migrant mothers, where participants construct dramatic scenes on the topic of migration and mothering. http://www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/migrant-mothers/
Contact: Tracey Reynolds
'Telling a different story': The effect of parenting on the academic and professional achievement of 24 British-Ghanaian 'high flyers'
Policy makers, educationalists and researchers have often criticised Black parents for the way they socialise their children. There is often an assumption that Black parents use strict and authoritarian approaches in childrearing which is said to hinder the emotional development of children. It has also been suggested that this creates problems for the child's academic achievement. This research challenges these claims. In analysing the role of parenting in the academic and professional success of 24 high achieving British-Ghanaians, the research suggests that not all Black/Ghanaian parents use authoritarian socialisation methods. When parents did adopt this approach, the outcomes were not necessarily detrimental to children.
Contact: Louise Owusu-Kwarteng
We All Black Innit? – Analysing relations between Black African and African Caribbean communities in Britain
Blacks of African and Caribbean descent, living in Britain, often come together in the struggle against racism and discrimination. Movements, such the Union of Students of African Descent - later known as the West African Students Union - represent an example of this. Despite this, however, tensions have historically existed between the two groups. These became more evident towards the end of the Second World War. Televised debates, for example the Politics Show (BBC1) shown in July 2006, and documentaries such as Black Britain (aired on Channel 4 in October 2001) have also explored these issues. Both programmes concluded that the tensions continue, and in some cases have worsened. Academic research in this area is, however, limited, and focuses mainly on the experiences of older generations of migrants. This project examines the case for younger generations. It questions the extent to which tensions exist amongst younger British African and Caribbean people, and investigates the causes. It asks whether tensions have decreased and, if so, whether this results from the recognition of 'similarities' as opposed to 'fundamental differences' as described by Fanon (1952).
Contact: Louise Owusu-Kwateng
The Myth of the Urban Village Project
This project explores how new subjectivities emerge in the context of urban regeneration. It offers a discourse analysis comparing the marketing of an 'urban village' in London's Royal Docks with interview data from the pre-existing working class community. It explores questions about the changing landscape of the urban environment, shifting identities and ideas of place and space within this. It focuses on discourse as a site of power and resistance.
Contact: Sally Mann
Representations of medicinal cannabis use in British national newspapers between 1990 and 2010
This research examines representations of medicinal cannabis use in British national newspapers, over a twenty year period. It focuses on illicit drugs, media representations and language use. The project focuses on the language that was used to articulate the issue, how medicinal users were represented and what myths/misrepresentations media accounts feature. The research reveals that portrayals of medicinal cannabis users seem to be the exception to the usual tendency in the British press, which is often to adopt a negative moral attitude towards drug use.
Contact: Craig Morris
Emotions in the Social World Project
This research project examines how emotions are socially produced and especially at how they are used as a mechanism of coercion and subjectification. The riots in the UK in 2011 provide one site for this analysis enabling an evaluation of the social uses and effects of shaming. Shame arises when the subject believes that their actions have demeaned them in the eyes of others. Following the riots tabloid media continually accused the rioters of failing to feel shame and asserted that they should be ashamed. One of the trajectories of this project is to understand the motivations for, and effects of, shaming on identity and on social compliance and resistance.
Contact: Linnell Secomb
Making the Markets Work for the Poor (M4P)
While globalisation is creating wealth for many countries in the global south, the national governments of these countries are struggling to translate this growth into in to real development for its citizens. Social policy remains an important instrument to improve the well-being of the people. However, it is increasingly realised that an additional strategy is needed to directly help the poor. The M4P aims to diagnose and address the constraints and disadvantages the poor households and communities face in accessing goods and services. This is now an important policy approach used by several international donor agencies.
Contact: Nandini Dasgupta