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also attract unwelcome animals, such as snakes, and create unsafe places. Why focus on happiness? There is much research on the effect of urban green on various aspects of ‘well-being’, such as outdoor recreation ( Chapter 22 of this book). It is difficult to strike the balance of these effects; happiness captures the total effect. Notions of ‘well
Introduction This chapter describes an experiment in pragmatic social research that took place in east London, UK, lasting for 14 months from January 2015. The experiment, called the ‘E14 expedition’ after the postcode covering the area of Poplar and the Isle of Dogs, involved recruiting volunteers who were interested in joining a new community initiative to foster local relationships and identify shared interests and issues around which to campaign. Conducted in two phases, the first focused on thinking about the local community and its history, and the
This book makes the case for a pragmatist approach to the practice of social inquiry and knowledge production. Through diverse examples from multiple disciplines, contributors explore the power of pragmatism to inform a practice of inquiry that is democratic, community-centred, problem-oriented and experimental. Drawing from both classical and neo-pragmatist perspectives, the book advances a pragmatist sensibility in which truth and knowledge are contingent rather than universal, made rather than found, provisional rather than dogmatic, subject to continuous experimentation rather than ultimate proof and verified in their application in action rather than in the accuracy of their representation of an antecedent reality. The power of pragmatism offers a path forward for mobilizing the practice of inquiry in social research, exploring the implications of pragmatism for the process of knowledge production.
indicative of contemporary possibilities unfolding in a moment of globally interconnected dissident experiences. Usually case studies are treated as areas of research in which major theoretical constructions are being tested. I strongly believe that theory needs to be produced by carefully learning from what people actually do and from what reflections they produce while challenging established dogmas by their actions. Thus, basing an argument on the words and ideas of established thinkers necessarily needs to be complemented (or questioned) by attentive reappraisals of
Can contemporary developments in the life sciences help us understand the ways in which ‘adversity’ shapes mental health conditions in the heterogeneous conglomerations we call cities? Many have pointed to the evidence that those living in cities are more likely to be diagnosed with mild, moderate and severe mental disorders than those living in rural settings. But it has proved difficult to identify precisely what it is in the urban experience that leads to these elevated rates. The same is true of research that has addressed urban mental health in migrant and
a walk, buying a gift for a relative or accepting a lunch invitation make us vulnerable to unintended and unexpected consequences: one thing leads to another and unanticipated events can occur. Our greatest emotional triumphs and our most dismal failures come from putting our neck on the line. We navigate everyday life learning to expect and manage uncertainty. When it comes to our approach to social research, however, such insights and practices tend to be lodged in the back of the mind. We deploy theoretical frameworks and abstract concepts to help us reduce
From studying expatriates to studying the category expatriate Expatriates are primarily researched in international human resource management (IHRM) literature and migration studies, two well-established and diverse yet largely separate academic fields. IHRM literature has studied organisational migrants under the rubric of the expatriate since at least the 1960s. Given this historical depth and its volume of publications, IHRM can be seen as the main academic field producing knowledge on expatriates. The principal focus is
records that were destroyed during the riot – prisoner registers, full of physical descriptions and biographical details that are invaluable to researchers like me. The few that remain were found dumped in a skip. I’m shocked that anyone could treat what I would consider to be such important documents with so little regard. Then I’ll notice a syringe next to my boot, the nitrous bulbs on the ground, and remember where I am. Strangeways is not a museum or a relic of history. It’s not even called Strangeways anymore – it’s now HMP Manchester, an active maximum
Introduction This chapter explores how transformation in the spatial peripheries of three African city regions is shaped, governed and experienced, drawing on the findings of a three-year Economic and Social Research Council/National Research Foundation (ESRC/NRF) funded research project in South Africa and Ethiopia. We discuss both intellectual and methodological challenges, along with reflective insights of undertaking research on the dynamics and drivers of change and the ‘lived experiences’ of residents living on the
approaches to them. Adam highlights seven features of time: time frame; temporality; timing; tempo; duration; sequence and modalities (for an explanation of their significance see chapter 1 this volume). By examining each section of this collected volume in relation to its emerging internal consistency with Adam’s typology, we highlight how different authors foreground different aspects of temporality. In doing so, we suggest aspects that have perhaps been underanalysed and where future research might profitably focus. Ephemerality/mobility Against the grand scales of