work in progress essay: more than more than space
I’m working on a long-form piece, rethinking where I am in terms of theory, practice, praxis. Here’s part one. It’s still a work in progress, so will change. The interlude and Part II to come later. All feedback and comments and debate welcome.
3 responses to “work in progress essay: more than more than space”
-
“What are the new circumstances we are living in? Which scholars are we conversing with? Who are the new audiences we are talking with now, or should be talking with?”
Perhaps you will come on to this part 2, but one live debate that more UK historians should engaged more with, is the huge interest in the policy world about regional inequality and urban regeneration policy. With a few exceptions such as Alistair Kefford, very few historians have contributed to current thinking in this area. It is big missed opportunity, not least because it is frustrating to see economists and planners misunderstand key historical developments.
I had mixed feelings about Hazeldine’s ‘The Northern Question’ book, but I thought it was telling that a non-academic historian had written it because they felt there was nothing else out there.
And two recent articles by Lynn Hollen Lees and Tim Hitchcock really resonated with me: the retreat from engaging with social sciences and urban policy has weakened and isolated urban and social history.
-
Thanks William – really good points. Yes I’ll be grappling with this in part II.
I do think there’s some really good work on urban inequality and regeneration done in the intersection between environmental history and a slow (perhaps hidden) revival of labour history. I’m thinking of Ewan Gibbs’s work here in particular.
I’m going to write about going to the recent launch of the ‘Modern British City’ edited collection by Mandler, Saumarez Smith et al, the great and good of the SPUD group, and how although they’ve produced some useful work on housing and dereliction in the inner city, there’s no real engagement with economists. More anon…-
Look forward to it!
-
-
Leave a Reply