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Landscape and Work: ‘Placing’ the Experiences of Male Manual Workers in a UK Seaside Town

Simpson, Ruth, Morgan, Rachel, Lewis, Patricia, Rumens, Nick (2022) Landscape and Work: ‘Placing’ the Experiences of Male Manual Workers in a UK Seaside Town. Sociology, 56 (5). pp. 1-21. ISSN 0038-0385. (doi:10.1177/00380385221081342) (KAR id:92401)

Abstract

This article explores the experiences of white, male manual workers in Hastings, East Sussex – a midsized UK seaside town that has undergone long-term decline in employment opportunities. Informed by the theoretical insights from Bourdieu, it focuses on the role of place in shaping the employment paths of a group that has arguably been ‘left behind’ by local and global forces. Drawing on broader notions of place as landscape and highlighting the significance of ‘immobility and dependence’, ‘competitive localism and belonging’ and ‘bounded potential’, it examines how landscape conditions are implicated in the meanings given to work experiences, perceived employment opportunities and future aspirations. We argue that incorporating landscape into Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice extends our understanding of landscape’s influence on employment experience and its unique capacities as both a physical and a socially constructed entity.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1177/00380385221081342
Uncontrolled keywords: Bourdieu, class, Hastings, landscape, manual work
Subjects: H Social Sciences
Divisions: Divisions > Kent Business School - Division > Department of Leadership and Management
Funders: Leverhulme Trust (https://ror.org/012mzw131)
Depositing User: Patricia Lewis
Date Deposited: 20 Dec 2021 14:57 UTC
Last Modified: 12 Dec 2023 12:57 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/92401 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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