Valerie Karn Memorial Prize - submission deadline reminder

In 2013, the Valerie Karn prize will be awarded to an outstanding paper submitted to the early career stream of the Housing Studies Association's annual conference. All papers submitted to the stream in 2013 will be considered for the prize, although particular preference will be given to papers sharing Valerie's broad interests, including: race and housing; housing standards and conditions; homelessness; housing management and governance; and comparative housing research.
The prize will support the professional production and dissemination of the winning paper. It will be hosted on the HSA website as part of a new Valerie Karn paper series and disseminated through the HSA’s networks.
Submissions are welcomed from all early career researchers. Papers should be between 4,000 and 8,000 words in length and submitted in word format to David Robinson - d.robinson@shu.ac.uk

HSA Conference - Early Careers Stream - The Valerie Karn prize

The Housing Studies Association is pleased to announce the introduction of the annual Valerie Karn prize for best paper by an early career housing academic. In 2013, the prize will be awarded to an outstanding paper submitted to the early career stream of the Housing Studies Association's annual conference. All papers submitted to the stream will be considered for the prize, although particular preference will be given to papers sharing Valerie's broad interests, including race and housing, housing standards and conditions, homelessness, housing management and governance and comparative housing research. The prize money will support the professional production and dissemination of the winning paper. It will be hosted on the HSA website as part of a new Valerie Karn paper series and disseminated through the HSA’s networks.

HSA 2013 conference - Conference registration and abstract submission deadline reminder

Conference registration

Registrations are now open for this year’s Housing Studies Association conference at the University of York, 10-12 April 2013, titled ‘Changing political, socioeconomic and institutional landscapes: What are the consequences for housing?’Full details of the conference, including themes and confirmed speakers, can be found on the HSA conference website

Details of how to register for the 2013 conference are available from HSA 2013 conference registration Please note that the discounted early bird rate is valid until 28 February. Payment must be received by the date of the conference.

Abstract deadline

HSA members are reminded that the deadline for the submission of abstracts for the main conference and early careers stream is Friday,1st February 2013. Papers addressing the conference themes or dealing with any other aspect of housing policy, practice or theory are welcomed. Offers of papers (a title and 200 word abstract) should be emailed to Martin McNally and Sarah Johnsen

Abstracts for the Early Career stream (also 200 words max), should be sent to Gareth Young and Ben Pattison. Please note that the conference bursary application deadline is also 1 February. For details see the conference website


 

NEWS FROM CHR, ST ANDREWS

Housing in Hard Times 2011 Housing Studies Association Conference
The 2011 Housing Studies Association conference organised by Kim McKee (CHR, St Andrews) and Jenny Muir (QUB), provided a critical forum for discussing the impact of the economic downturn on housing policy and practice. The conference organised on the theme of Housing in Hard Times: class, poverty and social exclusion, attracted nearly 100 delegates and over 65 papers from across academia, policy and practice. Keynotes were delivered by Prof. Ian Cole (Sheffield Hallam), Prof. Chris Hamnett (KCL), Mr Andy Milne (SURF), Dr Gerry Mooney (Open University), Dr Kirsteen Paton (Glasgow), and Dr Jackie Smith (Shelter). Papers are now available on the conference website: http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/chp/hsa/spring11/index.htm

Kim McKee leads response to the Scottish Government's regeneration discussion document
Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations (GWSF) have launched their response to the Scottish Government's Regeneration Discussion Document: 'Building a Sustainable Future'. The response, led by Dr Kim McKee (CHR), emphasises the pivotal role Community-Controlled Housing Associations (CCHAs) play as community anchors, and the social and economic value they add through their regeneration activities. Moreover, it underlines the importance of area-based interventions in tackling concentrated poverty in Scotland's most deprived communities. To access the full report please see the GWSF website: http://www.gwsf.org.uk/uploads/GWSFregenmay2011webversion.pdf

The Social Dynamics of Neighbourhood, Early Career Symposium
Our recent early-career symposium organised by CHR PhD student Alice Oldfield on ‘The Social Dynamics of Neighbourhood’ was very successful, providing a lively and stimulating discussion for participants. The one-day event attracted around 20-early career researchers from across the UK and beyond. Drawing on national and international case studies, the presentations offered interesting insights into how neighbourhoods simultaneously influence and are influenced by a range of actors.
Prof. Ade Kearns (University of Glasgow) provided a thought-provoking plenary, which was then followed by early-career presentations from: Marie Gibert (Paris Sorbonne); Rob Craig (Aberdeen); Carol McKenzie (Heriot-Watt); Gerald Aiken (Durham); and Colleen Rowan (Glasgow).

POSTGRADUATE SMALL GRANTS SCHEME

The SPA is pleased to announce the introduction, from January 2010, of a Postgraduate Small Grants Scheme to run alongside the existing Standard Small Grants Scheme.

The Standard and Postgraduate Small Grants Schemes are designed to help fund seminars and workshops dealing with research and/or learning & teaching in a way that is of benefit to the social policy community and SPA members. The focus should be on activities that will benefit a group or network rather than individuals. In 2010, applications for awards to support events with an international focus and/or to facilitate attendance from overseas, are particularly encouraged.

Funds will be made available in two rounds of applications over the year. Round one runs from 1st January to 30th June and round two from 1st July to 31st December. Applications are welcomed at any point within each award period, and funds are allocated on a first-come first-served basis. Each award offers a maximum of £500.

Applications are now invited for Round One 2010.

Full details of the schemes' terms and conditions are available on the SPA website: http://www.social-policy.com/gracond.aspx

Queries and applications should be sent to the SPA Small Grants Officer, Majella Kilkey, by email at M.M.Kilkey@hull.ac.uk

EARLY CAREER FEATURE

Regeneration in Deprived Coastal Communities- an exploration beyond tourism

The British government currently has no direct policy targeted specifically at coastal towns which may be due in part to their considerable variability in size and characteristics. It has been noted over recent years that Britain’s seaside towns have become a ‘problem area’, yet little research into the depth, causes, and consequences of these ‘problems’ has taken place (for some discussion see Beatty and Fothergill 2004) . Despite this apparent lack of political direction and academic research, the indices of deprivation (2007) show that many coastal areas suffer from high levels of deprivation, in some cases, comparable to those found in our inner cities.

In 2006 the House of Commons Coastal Town Report concluded to central government that coastal towns in England do in fact share some common features. Such features include physical and social isolation of individuals and populations, seasonal employment/low wage /skilled jobs, dependence on a single industry and outward migration of young people compared to an in-ward migration of older people. Also highlighted in this report was the ‘high incidence of poor housing conditions and a high proportion of privately rented homes found in coastal town’s (House of Commons 2006 p9). Particular reference is made to Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs). A HMO is a building in which more than one household shares an amenity, a converted building which does not contain entirely self contained flats and is occupied by more than one household. The House of Commons report makes a connection between vulnerable transient populations and the high levels of HMOs in seaside towns. These vulnerable populations, i.e. people “who are unable to meet their own everyday needs owing to a physical or mental health condition or who are vulnerable because of their situation, such as homelessness”, may be looking for cheap, easily obtainable accommodation (House of Commons 2006, p18). In some coastal towns this has led to the marginalization of poor residents into the same houses, streets and neighbourhoods, creating, in some coastal towns across the country, what could be referred to as ‘seaside slums’. Although no policy has been developed or established by the government to combat the characteristic problems of some coastal towns, a number of more broad polices have been put into effect including the Housing Act 2004, which introduced a mandatory licensing scheme for HMOs in an attempt to raise housing conditions and New Labour’s commitment to Neighbourhood Renewal (NR) which aims to improve the quality of life of those living in the most deprived neighbourhoods. The rest of this paper shall give a brief evaluation of each policy at work in the coastal town of Ilfracombe.

The author has been conducting research in the town of Ilfracombe, situated on the North Devon coast in the South West of England. Ilfracombe has suffered from economic decline since the 1970s, as more people went abroad for their yearly vacation; it has suffered a deepening sense of isolation, as railways and cruise lines closed; and it has witnessed a decline in investment which saw many of the grand Edwardian and Victorian houses and seaside hotels converted into cheap flats and bed sits as their upkeep became harder to afford. The central ward of the town is, according to the Indices of Deprivation 2004, among one of the 10% most deprived places in England and has one of the highest levels of non-decent housing in Devon. Since 2005 mandatory HMO licensing has been enforced by North Devon District Council (NDDC), and in conjunction with this, a Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder, a key programme of NR, has been established in Ilfracombe in a strategic effort to regenerate the town. From interviews with key strategic and ground level officers from NDDC during the fieldwork phase of doctoral research it became apparent that the implementation of HMO licensing- and consequentially raising the standards of accommodation in Ilfracombe- is challenging to enforce and the process of prosecuting unlicensed landlords can led to difficulties. Interviews with tenants of HMOs has also brought to the fore the difficulties with HMO licensing- which included the fear of being evicted and an increased rent during the process of improvement and repair. For many tenants, fear of eviction as improvement notices are issued, is fierce and far from paranoid. Of the landlords interviewed during the research most stated they would wait for tenants to leave the property or warrant eviction before carrying out repairs. This leaves some vulnerable tenants- who make-up a large proportion of the coastal HMO population- in a situation where they risk homelessness. However in a bid to improve services and deliver neighbourhood renewal the Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder ‘Transform’ was developed and deployed to work across Ilfracombe and surrounding villages. Transform initiatives include a Social Prescribing Service, Healthier Homes Advisors and number of other services, including a One-Stop-Shop with council, community and voluntary services under one roof. Each service has supported tenants of HMOs in varying ways, including giving advice, working closely with NDDCs Environmental Health Officers to improve housing conditions and, in some cases, mediating with landlords. Additionally, Transform has also sought to improve key aspects of life, highlighted by the House of Commons Coastal Town Report. Schemes include Young Advisors, Street Pastors, Neighbourhood Wardens, job and skills training as well as work with various charities which support the mental and physical needs of many vulnerable HMO tenants on a daily basis. On a practical level, NDDC has established a firm basis for improvement of HMOs, issuing more improvement notices and offering support through grant and loans schemes, than ever before. Furthermore the Transform Pathfinder and its partners are additionally supporting tenants using a number of schemes, some mentioned above. The partnership of the two policies is far from perfect but does offer one solution to improve housing conditions for vulnerable tenants whilst supporting the complex social, physical and economic needs of some individuals. So, whilst no policy has been employed by central government to target the deprivation found in some coastal towns, both the Housing Act 2004 and Neighbourhood Renewal could work together to combat the problems found in many coastal towns, and perhaps other disadvantaged communities across the country.

Kim Ward, PhD Student
Department of Geography, University of Exeter


References

Beatty C and Fothergill S (2004) Economic change and the Labour Market in Britain’s Seaside Towns. Regional Studies 38 (5) 461 – 480

House of Commons Report (2006) Communities and Local Government Committee: Coastal Towns. Second Report of Session 2006-2007.

2010 HOUSING STUDIES ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE: EARLY CAREER STREAM

Call for papers now open. We invite contributions covering any aspect of housing studies, including policy and practice. We invite Early Career Researchers to submit an abstract to present a poster, a short paper, or a long paper.

Poster
Posters will be displayed in areas where delegates congregate, with presenters available to discuss and answer questions.

Short paper
Presentation (5-10 mins) of research ideas, methods, analysis, literature, theory, where the aim is to discuss emerging issues related to their research in an informal, supportive arena.

Long paper
Presentation (20-25 mins) of substantive aspects of a research project, including findings.

Submission and Attendance Information
Please send a short abstract (200 words) outlining your proposed presentation or poster and giving full contact details for the corresponding author to:

Rachael Dobson,
Email: r.dobson00@leeds.ac.uk.

Closing date for acceptance of abstracts: 31 January 2010.

Early career scholars giving papers will be offered a discounted conference
rate. You can find more about the Housing Studies Association and the Conference by visiting the website at:
http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/chp/hsa/spring10/index.html

EARLY-CAREER ARTICLE

New Arrangements for Community Governance: The Community Land Trust Model

Community Land Trusts (CLTs), as non-profit community controlled organisations which are created to own and manage assets for the benefit of their local community, present themselves as a viable route through which issues of worsening housing affordability and community cohesion can be resolved. CLTs seek to provide affordable housing in perpetuity by building and selling housing at rates that are affordable as possible to their local community while imposing resale conditions to ensure the homes remain affordable for future generations (Clarke, 2005). Further to this, as community-led organisations, CLTs offer a vehicle through which the government's community empowerment agenda can be realised (Communities and Local Government, 2008). This paper briefly presents empirical findings of a recent survey conducted as a precursor to a forthcoming detailed qualitative study of the CLT model.

Conducted between March and May 2009, the research surveyed a number of CLTs across England and Wales with the intention of mapping the characteristics of the organisations, their organisational structures, wider aims and objectives, and factors which may have facilitated or hindered their development. In total 22 CLTs were surveyed via e-mail, garnering 10 responses. All respondents were based in rural areas, despite efforts to make contact with urban CLTs.

As expected, the desire to provide affordable housing in perpetuity was the main motivation for the formation of CLTs, with many seeing this as a route towards wider community regeneration and development and acting as a source of community empowerment. Other motivations vary from a wish to address socio-economic imbalances and hone greater economic sustainability in their local area to concerns over the loss of support networks and the inability of families to remain in their local area due to escalating house price/wage ratios. Many CLTs see their future as a possible community anchor organisation, governed by community representatives and providing an impetus to community development based on the principles of mutuality, local democracy, and an overarching philosophy of localising power.

The CLTs in this survey adopted legal structures to ensure recognition of their philanthropic status (for example, some are registered as Industrial & Provident Societies), and generally have governance boards composed of voluntary trustees and representatives of external stakeholders such as the wider local community, local authority officials, and professionals able to provide particular forms of expertise. Different organisational structures exist, ranging from small CLTs formed by a group of individuals in a local community, to larger 'umbrella' bodies over larger geographical areas which provide technical advice and support to smaller groups in the area. Examples of these bodies can be found in rural Wales and in Cornwall.

The CLTs featured in this survey have utilised an array of financial models; some have sought charitable investment, while others have benefited from supportive local authorities able to make grants and provide interest-free loans to support their development. Others have sought subsidy from the Homes & Communities Agency, with a trust in the Holy Island of Lindisfarne in Northumberland recently becoming the first trust to successfully obtain HCA funding. However, whilst CLTs such as the one based in St Minver in Cornwall have been able to take advantage of a local authority willing to support their objectives, others have faced difficulties in accessing affordable finance, due in part to a lack of knowledge on the operation and possible effectiveness of the CLT model, as well as lukewarm responses from possible partnering organisations. This links to a common thread through many of the survey responses which identified a lack of understanding and a misfit of cultures between CLTs and external stakeholding bodies which they are required to engage with. The scale and objectives of CLTs differ from the majority of mainstream housing provision and many CLTs attributed their drawn out pre-development processes to the inability of official bodies such as planning departments and financial providers to develop clear development processes appropriate to the scale of voluntary based community-led development. CLTs aim to complement rather than compete with other housing providers, creating an alternative sector of housing away from the mainstream market, though some have still been able to work within existing frameworks to meet their objectives.

What can be done to resolve these conflicts? Support for CLTs has been expressed across the political spectrum. Communities and Local Government have held a Community Land Trust Consultation on how best to develop a thriving sector of CLT housing, while the Conservatives have formed a Community Land Trust Taskforce orientated to a similar objective of identifying obstacles to the sector's development and how best to resolve them. Clearly, there needs to be a 'bridge' formed between the support at a central level of the political system and the communities hindered by the lack of clear lines of communication, transforming the support for CLTs into practice and developing a supportive framework in which they can operate and mutual benefits can be derived. A common theme in the empirical findings reported here was the call for a revolving loan fund available to communities to fund developments, provided at affordable rates of interest which CLTs could access and pay back to allow the subsidy to be recycled for other communities.

Community Land Trusts appear to represent a burgeoning example of community empowerment in practice. The concept is not new; the longstanding work of trusts such as Letchworth Garden City and Stonesfield Community Trust highlight how the model can operate as a vehicle for community regeneration, but interest in the model has significantly reawakened in recent years in light of the affordability crisis in the mainstream housing market. However, as this brief discussion has intended to demonstrate, there remain obstacles to the sector's development which, from the perspective of local communities, may question the government's true commitment to the community empowerment agenda. Indeed, the recent Audit Commission report of local authority asset management revealed that over half of the eighty local authorities surveyed doubt the asset management ability of the voluntary and community sector, suggesting a clear reluctance to engage with community ownership agendas (Audit Commission, 2009).

Research by Satsangi (2007; 2009) has shown how the economic, social and political relationships of housing provision have been positively altered by land tenure reform in rural Scotland. While the legislative framework in Scotland differs from the English context in that Scottish policies provide clear support and opportunities for organisations like CLTs to prosper, Satsangi’s research provides an introduction to the way in which community-led development and community ownership can provoke localised democratic and pluralistic power structures and bring benefits to a locality. Further research is needed to contribute to the development of knowledge on CLTs, and to offer a better understanding of the extent to which CLTs can empower local communities with greater control and influence of their own destinies based on the principles of mutuality and local democracy.

Thomas Moore (tom.moore@student.shu.ac.uk)
CRESR, Sheffield Hallam University

References
Audit Commission (2009). Room for Improvement: Strategic asset management in local government. Available online from http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/AuditCommissionReports/NationalStudies/roomforimprovement17jun2009REP.pdf

Clarke, R et al (2005) Redefining the Commons: Locking in Value through Community Land Trusts. Coalville: Building and Social Housing Foundation.

Communities and Local Government (2008) Communities in Control: Real People, Real Power. London: Department of Communities and Local Government.

Satsangi, M (2007). Land tenure change and rural housing in Scotland. Scottish Geographical Journal, Volume 123 (1), pp33 - 47.

Satsangi, M (2009). Community Land Ownership, Housing and Sustainable Rural Communities. Planning, Practice and Research, Volume 24 (2), pp251 - 262.

EARLY CAREER FEATURE

No One Left Out? The Antinomies of Community

Introduction
The recently published fifteen point action plan – No One Left Out: Communities Ending Rough Sleeping (CLG 2008) – outlines the government’s new strategy to eradicate the phenomenon by the symbolic date of the London Olympics of 2012. This renewed policy focus aims to build on the successful post-1998 prevention and reduction programmes (Pawson, 2007) as exemplified by figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government that suggest 483 people sleep rough across England on any given night, a sustained reduction of two thirds from 1,850 in 1997.

Underpinning this new strategic vision is a funding stream totalling £200 million together with the declaration that ‘‘charities, businesses and government will work more closely in new and innovative ways to help rough sleepers off the street and into employment’’ (CLG 2008:18). Here, then, we see how the idea of ‘community’ (refracted through a mixed economy of welfare) has been given a determining role in the drive to prevent and alleviate visible rough sleeping. However, notwithstanding some positive developments, I would argue that the eulogisation of ‘community’ proffered by No One Left Out: Communities Ending Rough Sleeping is profoundly narrow and distorting. In talking about empowering people and communities there is a serious neglect of the catastrophic consequences of the current economic crisis and, in a similar light, the chronic shortage of decent, affordable, secure and accountable council housing.

A close reading of No One Left Out: Communities Ending Rough Sleeping requires us to draw attention to a new politics of community and responsible citizenship. Here again the emphasis on community is indicative of the New Labour government’s efforts to facilitate community cohesion and foster – and in some instances coerce – individuals and their communities to become active in their own governance. It is also important to acknowledge that the responsibility for planning and purchasing homelessness services has increasingly been devolved from national to local government. Not only does this necessitate a recognition that homelessness organisations now compete for increased (but short-term funds) but that this development has also transformed the culture of the homelessness sector and its ability to be a genuinely independent and critical voice within civil society. In this regard, homelessness charities, traditionally viewed as a sphere outside of the state, now find themselves engaged in various types of ‘compacts’ with both the state and the business community. This has had the effect of redrawing the boundaries between the charitable voluntary sector and the state.

While opening up to scrutiny the valorisation of community and faith based groups, we need also to be alert to the ‘punitive community’ (Moore, 2008). One reading of this is reflected in the more authoritarian elements of New Labour as illustrated by its preoccupation with worklessness and its aggressive approach to curbing anti-social behaviour. Under these circumstances it is the specific responsibility of ‘active citizens’ to police themselves, monitor their neighbours and reinforce responsibility. In line with the demands and expectations of leading community actors, homelessness service providers are enjoined to place a stronger emphasis on group conduct and personal change. Yet at the same time ‘recalcitrant’ support services are subject to growing moral regulation and administrative oversight. In this way homelessness services that consciously and courageously question the contemporary governance of homelessness are deemed to be intractable as much as conservative.

To be clear, the argument posited here is not that charitable voluntary activity or burgeoning third sector involvement - often guided by a strong moral framework that advocates social justice – does not and cannot play a significant role in recognising and responding to the particular needs of rough sleepers within their communities. This is clearly not the case. Certainly, it is well known and routinely remarked upon that amateur community voluntarism has emerged in order to tackle shortages in welfare provision that (local and central) government is unable, or unwilling, to provide.

Background
In the brief discussion that follows I draw on a doctoral research project underpinned by extensive ethnographic fieldwork with rough sleepers and the precariously housed in a small market town in Dorset. It looks in particular at some of the ways in which the twin movements of conditionality and responsibilisation have gained a narrative force and institutional purchase in relation to the conduct of homeless people.

The Punitive Community
Three issues have particular salience for the discussion here. The first is to suggest that the concept of ‘community’ has particular implications for how rough sleeping is both conceived and potentially resolved. In empirical terms, my study highlights how homelessness as an issue can be discursively transformed – from latency (something other than homelessness) to visibility (vilified and problematised) - within the context of a small rural environment (Cloke et al., 2003). Again this example highlights how efforts are made to ‘export’ homeless people on the spurious grounds that they have no ‘local connection’ or simply because there is no emergency accommodation in the immediate area. In the second case my stock of ethnographic fieldwork material would seem to suggest that the deployment of anti-social behaviour orders, specifically the use and threat of Dispersal Orders against rough sleepers has been made possible by the grammar of ‘community safety.’ The third and final issue here relates to some of the ways in which an engaged (moral) community can regulate or exercise control over services to homeless and destitute people. This point is reinforced by my own direct observations at a small, voluntary organisation that despite appearing to be a modal carrier for the type of ‘community involvement’ so lauded by New Labour (Law & Mooney, 2006) has been compelled to alter its (1) physical structure; (2) admission policy; (3) restrict the number of service users able to access the project; and (4) institute a payment system for a hot meal service in order to cultivate ‘personal responsibility’.

Conclusion
In this modest review, I have set to throw an arc of light of some of the tensions inherent in the way in which the idea of ‘community’ has been constructed as a panacea to deeply entrenched and preduring street homelessness. There can be no doubt, though, that the critical campaign to end rough sleeping must continue apace. If that progressive promise is to be realised it must be based on an authentic vision of social justice not political expediency or the inner contradictions of the 2012 Olympic project.

Martin Whiteford, PhD Student
School of Health & Social Care, Bournemouth University

References
Cloke, P., Milbourne, P. & Widdowfield, R. (2003) The complex mobilities of homeless people in rural England, Geoforum, Vol. 34 Issue (1) pp. 21 -35.

Communities and Local Government (2008) No One Left Out - Communities Ending Rough Sleeping, Wetherby: Department for Communities and Local Government Publications.

Law, A. & Mooney, G. (2006) Social Capital and Neo-Liberal Voluntarism, Variant 26 Summer, Available at http://www.variant.randomstate.org/26texts/LawMooney26.html

Moore, S. (2008) Neighbourhood Policing and the Punitive Community, Crime Prevention and Community Safety, Vol. 10 Issue (3) pp. 190 – 202.

Pawson, H. (2007) Local Authority Homelessness Prevention in England: Empowering Consumers or Denying Rights? Housing Studies, Vol. 22 No. (6) pp. 867 – 884.

EARLY CAREER STREAM, HSA CONFERENCE 2009

The abstract deadline for the early-career stream at the forthcoming HSA annual conference in Cardiff (15-17 April 2009) has now been extended to the 27th February.

Please forward all offers of paper before this date to Pauline Card: CardPD@cardiff.ac.uk

For more details about the conference and booking details, please see the HSA website
http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/chp/hsa/

EARLY CAREER SYMPOSIUM

‘Theorising Governance’
Postgraduate and Early Career Symposium
University of Glasgow, Friday 12th June 2009

Governance has gained increasing conceptual currency across the social sciences. At the level of ideas, it captures important changes in the way in which society is governed, especially how networks and hierarchies have been structured and restructured in recent decades. Yet it also reflects something more fundamental. Namely, the long standing theoretical interest of the academic community in issues relating to power and rule in contemporary society. Traditionally, this has manifested itself in concerns about ‘who’ has power and ‘what’ are its effects. More recently, this has also encompassed a consideration of ‘how’ power is exercised and its underpinning discursive strategies.

An inherently contested concept, at the most general level governance refers to the strategies, tactics, procedures and processes deployed in order to control, shape, regulate or exercise authority over others at a variety of scales ranging from the micro to the macro level. It involves actors both within and beyond the state, and most importantly perhaps, affords a key role to subjects in their own self-government, as recent UK policy initiatives such as the Respect Agenda, Community Empowerment and Welfare-to-Work have illuminated only too clearly.

Building on last year’s event in Sheffield, the focus of this symposium is the exploration of theories of governance, and their implicit and explicit links with the concept of power.

Key themes include:
• Different theoretical approaches to exploring and critiquing developments in governance
• The limits of theory in analysing empirical data and the challenges this poses for research
• Critical insights and implications for the policy process

Confirmed plenary speaker:
John Flint, Professor of Housing and Urban Governance
Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University

This event is being funded by the Urban Studies journal. Attendance is FREE and both lunch and tea/coffee will be provided. To register or offer a workshop paper, please contact:
Kim McKee (kim.mckee@ges.gla.ac.uk), Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, East Quadrangle, University Avenue, Glasgow, G12 8QQ


PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT IS NOW FULL AND ALL SPEAKERS CONFIRMED (24/3).

EARLY CAREER RESEARCHERS

ECHRN jiscmail launched
A new jiscmail has been launched for Early Career Housing Researchers, to enable them to share news and information, and engage in debates and discussions about key housing issues. To join the list visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/ECHRN or contact the list owners (kim.mckee@ges.gla.ac.uk; r.dobson00@leeds.ac.uk) for more information.

EARLY CAREER FEATURE

Capturing the Castle: Tenant Governance in Social Housing Companies

Tenants now occupy a third of the directorships on the boards of new social housing companies and arms-length management organisations. In this paper I argue that tenant directors have been seen as the square pegs in the round holes of housing governance; they have been criticised for acting as representatives of a constituency, instead of taking responsibility for business development, and have been seen as an obstacle to a continued drive towards the professionalisation of boards.

In order to assess the impact of tenant directors in social housing companies, I adopted a theoretical framework for this research based on the concept of hegemony articulated by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe (2001). In this framework, housing organisations are viewed as systems of discourse under constant construction, in which competing social groups contest meanings, and strive to create the common sense definitions that will order and limit how participants view the role of governance. This process of negotiated construction takes place through relations of power and groups with less power, such as social housing tenants, can be excluded from the consensus and become seen as problematic. While hegemonic formations aim to unify a range of subject positions, and create the opportunities for the construction of shared meanings and dialogue, the process of defining the identity of social housing governance also creates antagonism as rival meanings are excluded and exiled groups are spurred into the construction of alternative identities.

Applying this framework to interpret my research with tenant directors, I found evidence that tenants bring a set of distinct values and strategies to social housing governance but can sometimes find themselves marginalised and excluded. My research suggests that tenant directors are motivated to take places on the board of housing companies by their desire to challenge paternalist attitudes in the sector or by a desire to acquire the knowledge and contacts that will enable them to make operational improvements to housing management. Tenant ambitions for a more influential role in housing governance have been a feature of resident participation in Britain since the late 1960s and the acquisition of executive authority has been the goal for many tenants organisations, a desire that surfaced in the debacle over the Conservative’s Tenants Choice programme, emerged from the squatting and the co-operative movement, and drove forward the development of tenant management organisations. Acquiring a role on the governing board is still conflated in some resident participation literature with attaining a level of community control, as the pinnacle of aspirations for involvement in decision-making.

The research indicates that tenant directors have brought impulses of democracy and accountability into the sphere of housing governance that have resulted in changes at an operational level in some housing organisations, leading to more participatory management styles and a clearer voice for tenants. These dynamics, however, have not meshed easily with the principles of the New Public Management and while some housing companies have been able to draw strength from the values tenant directors bring to the boardroom, there has also been outright conflict. The paper applies a methodology of critical discourse analysis to chart the development of a distinct tenant identity in the board room and to outline the elements of a strategic approach to housing governance that is specific to the tenant directors. Tenant directors appear to be keenly aware of the power imbalance they face, and to see themselves as the champions of a lived experience seen as undercutting the more technical and abstract discourse of senior housing executives and other governors. While many tenant directors have adapted their values to the dominant ethos of the board, making a contribution at an operational level without challenging the overall strategic direction, and while others are content to take a long view and to develop partnerships aimed at securing distant change, some tenant directors have found themselves isolated and outvoted in board decisions. This has given rise to perceptions that housing companies exemplify an order of discourse in which commercial interests and the values of social welfare and social control dominate, and has generated an antagonism that has allowed tenants to identify themselves as a united group whose interests are not reflected in the decision-making process. The paper concludes that board membership has enabled tenants to improve their status and influence in housing decision-making but at an operational, rather than a strategic level. Tenant aspirations for greater executive power, it seems, are not easily assimilated into the current values of social housing organisations.

References
Laclau, E. and Mouffe, C. (2001) “Hegemony and Socialist Strategy”. London, Verso.

Quintin Bradley
Associate Lecturer, Housing Studies
Leeds Metropolitan University

The full version of this paper has been published in Housing Studies 23 (6): 879-897.

A Geographical Fact or a Thing of the Mind? Rediscovering Ulster and the Northern Irish identity

The debate regarding the existence of a specific Ulster or Northern Irish 'identity' can be summed up in two statements made in the early stages of what later developed into the 'Troubles'. The first is a comment made by Edward Carson, one of the founding fathers of the Unionist movement in 1914 who argued that 'Ulster is a geographical fact'; the second was made by Eamonn De Valera, who later became Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, asserting that 'Ulster is a thing of the mind only, non-existent in the world of reality' (Graham 1994: 257). Although both of these statements were made some time ago, the two opposing views that they express are at the core of the 'Northern Ireland debate'. The recognition of Northern Ireland as a separate entity is a key component in each of the conflicting discourses. For Republican Nationalists, recognising Northern Ireland would almost be a sign of surrender, the acceptance of an eternally divided Ireland whereas for Unionists, Northern Ireland is the last bastion of the British Empire in Ireland, a protective zone without which they would be 'pushed into the sea' by the Nationalist majority in Ireland.

What is interesting about both of these points of view is that each views Northern Ireland's 'regional identity' so to speak as inherently tied to the identity politics of another area. The rhetoric of both sides, both Nationalist and Unionist, conflates the identity of Northern Ireland with the identity of the island of Ireland as a whole or the identity of the United Kingdom as a whole. Although this is not entirely surprising given the historical and cultural experiences of inhabitants of Northern Ireland, is does cause some problems for analyses of Northern Ireland within the present political context in Britain. Given the drive towards devolution and recognition of regional identities within Britain, the debate regarding the existence of Northern Ireland as a specific region raises some serious questions for the politics of the region not least the question of whether a Northern Irish identity exists at all.

Of course this is not to say that a region needs to have a homogeneous identity, but in light of the attempt to graft further decision-making power onto regions in the UK, the continuing confusion regarding the existence of Northern Ireland as a socio-political region onto itself appears at best anachronistic and at worst prohibitive to political development within the area. Fundamentally, the question of how political power can be devolved to Northern Ireland if a sizeable proportion of Northern Ireland's population still believe that the political entity of Northern Ireland does not exist still remains unasked.

However, this is not a blanket criticism of the worth of existing explorations into the politics of Northern Ireland or attempts to devolve political power to Northern Ireland. On the contrary, I applaud efforts to involve residents of Northern Ireland in the decision-making process and in light of the political debates particular to Northern Ireland a move towards some form of devolved 'self-rule' cannot be praised enough and it would be wrong to condemn the steps that have been taken to allow this 'self-rule'. Nevertheless it would be equally wrong to ignore the continuing gaps in research into the politics of Northern Ireland specifically with regard to regional identity in the area. Despite the proliferation of research into partnership working and cross-community initiatives since the conflict in Northern Ireland (or the 'Troubles') has lessened, it would appear that little attention has been paid to the nature of Northern Ireland as a whole by social scientists and few empirical investigations explore the views expressed by De Valera and Carson sufficiently.

For this reason, I wish to suggest two things. Firstly, that there is a dearth in investigations, both theoretical and empirical, into the identity of Northern Ireland as a whole. Admittedly the process of identification amongst differing groups in Northern Ireland - e.g. the Catholics in Northern Ireland, the Protestants in Northern Ireland, young people in Northern Ireland and so on - has long been the subject of in-depth empirical analyses but this does not negate the fact that the question of what Northern Ireland actually is remains largely unanswered.

Secondly, I seek to suggest that the very fact that existing investigations into identity politics in Northern Ireland are rooted in this conflict schematic could potentially skew these analyses. By this I mean that, by using the conflict in Northern Ireland as the base of all research, research into the identity of Northern Ireland as a whole could be, in some respects, impossible. Identity in Northern Ireland will always be contested, always an area of conflict and never over-arching. Although this could of course be due to the socio-political and cultural history of the area and in the absence of detailed empirical evidence it is difficult to draw any real conclusions other than theoretical observations, it is an issue which requires further attention by researchers.

Overall, although there has been quite a substantial amount of attention paid to identity politics in Northern Ireland, I would argue that there is an equally substantial gap in existing research specifically in relation to the existence of a Northern Irish identity. Certainly previous research has highlighted the distinct characteristics of different groups in Northern Ireland but I would argue that this is still not enough. Essentially, as social science research, how can we investigate, with any degree of certainty, the politics of Northern Ireland after the Troubles if we don't first investigate what Northern Ireland actually is?

Deirdre Duffy, Research Associate
CRESR, Sheffield Hallam University

References
Graham, B.J. (1994) “No Place of the Mind: Contested Protestant Representations of Ulster”, Cultural Geographies 1(3): 257-281.

Early Career Symposium – Restructuring governance

The Circle Rooms, Sheffield, 21st November 2008

Organised by the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University this symposium aims to explore the key themes of: multi-level governance, shifting trends in governing strategies and alternative approaches to governance. It places particular emphasis on empirical approaches to exploring and critiquing developments in governance including critical policy analysis. Confirmed plenary speaker is Peter Wells, Professor of Public Policy Analysis and Evaluation, Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research.

Attendance is FREE and lunch will be provided. Offers of workshop papers are invited (title plus an abstract of 200 words) and should be sent to: Sioned Pearce (s.pearce@shu.ac.uk) or Will Eadson (weadson@hera.shu.ac.uk) at CRESR. These should be submitted by October the 5th 2008. Delegates will be encouraged to submit to a potential special edition of People, Policy and Place Journal.

Empowering Communities and Double Devolution: the utilisation of language-based identity at the local level of governance

Introduction

This piece focuses on New Labour’s rhetoric for urban policy since 1997 which has consistently promoted the importance of community-level engagement and involvement in the decision-making process of neighbourhood renewal.

The reality of this rhetoric implementation is one that has come under close scrutiny from critics writing on partnerships and community involvement in a UK context (Davies 2002; Daly & Davis 2002; Taylor 2003). This piece starts from a critical standpoint taking Davies’ (2002) argument that states since 1997 New Labour has been practicing a strategy that brings key elements of partnership working under tighter central government control under the pretence of giving greater decision-making powers at a local level. The piece will apply this theory to the government rhetoric on ‘community empowerment’.

Community empowerment is high up on the current political agenda shown by the recent government publication a 'Community Empowerment Action Plan' (CLG 2007) and a commitment to Community Empowerment within the Local Government White Paper (CLG 2006).

This piece looks at identity utilisation to encourage youth participation as a mode of community empowerment through capacity building. The argument within this piece states that the use of identity to promote youth involvement in community regeneration is predominantly rhetorical and inherent of a wider issue associated with Davies' (2002) argument outlined earlier.

Background

The Welsh language is spoken by 21% of people in Wales and is promoted and supported, in the context of community empowerment, by the National Assembly for Wales’(NAW) National Action Plan for a Bilingual Wales (2003). Since 2002 the Welsh language has been included as one of the four elements of the equality standards for Wales, along with disability, race and gender. It is therefore a prevalent issue in Wales and a good example of a politicised element of identity.

The issue of community empowerment in a Welsh context can be contextualised within the process of multi-level governance and specifically 'double devolution', coined by David Milliband (2006) this has been prominent in Wales since the establishment of the NAW in 1999. The purpose of double devolution is to strengthen direct communication between national bodies of power such as the NAW and local communities, instead of relying on local authorities as mediators between the two. In the process of transferring power and responsibility from UK central government to devolved bodies of governance, and from devolved bodies to local communities, this piece argues that there is an idealistic underpinning aimed at gaining support for this process, exemplified in the idea of appealing to young people's collective sense of 'Welsh identity'.

This piece will examine identity utilisation among young people in the context of Communities First, a Wales-based capacity building programme running since 2001 to tackle deprivation through partnership working. The rationale behind choosing Communities First as an example is predominantly because of its partnership structuring and its significant position as a pilot initiative in the process of double devolution. In addition it has been a programme with a strong emphasis on empowerment through capacity building.

Scoping Study

According to the findings of 'Community Empowerment in Practice: lessons from Communities First' (Adamson & Bromiley 2008) youth participation in the Communities First case studies are low. To further explore the issue of youth participation through bilingualism in deprived areas a scoping study was conducted. The study was limited in terms of solid empirical evidence to fully support the theoretical argument, however in terms of a scoping exercise to explore the empirical validation of the argument it was sufficient. The study asked 53 partnership co-ordinators for information on any youth participation programmes that involved using bilingualism to draw interest, or any bilingualism projects aimed at young people.

Responses were mixed with the majority stating that they had no bilingual projects involving young people, although most did have a strong focus on young people and youth participation. The partnerships that did have bilingual projects running in their area were doing so independently due to occurring requirement within the community One partnership has also included ‘bilingualism and youth participation’ into their future aims.

In summary the findings showed one example of a move towards utilising identity/bilingualism as a way of encouraging youth participation within the case studies. In the cases where it was a reality there was already a strong Welsh-speaking majority. The areas that had a Welsh speaking majority were all rural and relatively isolated.

Conclusions

The results of the scoping study has shown that little to no action is currently being taken within the case studies on the NAW rhetoric around encouraging young people to participate in community activity through appealing to their collective sense of national identity. The NAW rhetoric emphasises:

'Wales has a strong tradition of community identity and self-help' (NAW website March 2008)

In terms of theory this piece began with the aim of adding to Davies' (2002) argument that partnership working is one example of how the Labour government since 1997 has been tightening its grip on key elements of partnership working. In highlighting the contradiction between NAW rhetoric on Communities First, and empowerment through identity utilisation and delivery on the ground, this piece has added a strand to Davies’ policy theory on partnerships. This is shown by highlighting a 'rhetorical veneer' covering the fact that partnerships have little to no power in terms of acting on the wishes of local communities.

Sioned Pearce, PhD Student
CRESR, Sheffield Hallam University


References
Adamson D. & Bromiley R. (2008) Community Empowerment in Practice: lessons from Communities First, York, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Communities and Local Government (2007) An Action Plan for Community Empowerment: Building on Success, London, CLG Publications
Communities and Local Government (2006) Strong and Prosperous Communities: the local government white paper, London, CLG Publications
Daly, G. and Davis, H. (2002) Partnerships for Local Governance: citizens, communities and accountability in C. Glendinninging; M. Powell and K. Rummery (eds) Partnerships, New Labour and the Governance of Welfare, London, The Policy Press
Davies, J. S. (2002) Regeneration partnership under New Labour: a case of creeping centralisation in C. Glendinning; M. Powell and K. Rummery (eds) Partnerships, New Labour and the Governance of Welfare, London, The Policy Press
Milliband, D. (2006) The New Local Government Network, 18th of January 2006
National Assembly for Wales Website (March 2008) Community regeneration and development, Cardiff, NAW, http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/housingandcommunity/regeneration/?lang=en [Accessed 23rd of March 2008]
Welsh Assembly Government (2003) National Action Plan for a Bilingual Wales, Cardiff, WAG
Taylor, M. (2003) Public Policy in the Community, London, Palgrave Macmillan

International Comparisons: reflecting on research processes and problems

In the US, a new policy for addressing chronic homelessness among individuals with multiple needs – called housing first - has been gaining attention. Housing first programmes provide immediate access to permanent independent tenancies for deeply excluded, chronically homeless individuals. Support is offered but compliance with this support is not required. This approach has obtained remarkably high levels of success at stabilising those perceived to be least likely to maintain independent housing.

I was able to observe housing first policy in practice in April of this year, whilst spending three weeks in New York. The aim of the trip was to compare housing first with traditional ‘continuum’ approaches for addressing multiple needs homelessness – which had been the focus of my doctoral research. These continuum approaches advocate the need for someone to be stable and ‘housing ready’ before accessing their own tenancy.

I hope that this account of my trip provides an introduction to an innovative US policy and also provides insight for other early career researchers on the universality of research processes – and problems – that can be encountered.

The universality of the research life

I spent some time with a research team in New York, who are currently completing a qualitative longitudinal study comparing housing first agencies with those offering traditional continuum of care approaches. The researchers recounted typical stories of the challenges faced – participants to actually turning up; transcribing inaudible tapes; and the complexity of analysing detailed qualitative data - issues that may readers will sympathise with. Another issue that the research team faced was that funding for the project was coming to an end. Most of them were now moving onto doing further postgraduate studies or onto short term contracts on similar projects. Again this is a familiar challenge faced by early career researchers – the world over it seems!

Fieldwork

The agency that I spent most of my time with – Pathways to Housing – have become synonymous with the housing first approach (and its success). Based in New York and operating since 1992, Pathways was set up by Sam Tsemberis, a psychologist, as a response to the problem he saw of mentally ill patients in hostels and on the street, with no alternative accommodation options.

As part of my trip Pathways set up a series of observation days with their Assertive Community Treatment teams. I also interviewed the founder, Sam, and other senior staff members. Perhaps indicative of the rigour of the agency I was presented with a list of locations to visit, taxi numbers and addresses on my first day at head office. They had set up and planned each day for me, with little effort on my part – that was both most welcome and rather unusual in the research process.

Conducting observational fieldwork with agency teams often involves explaining who you are and why you are there, repeatedly – and sometimes a lot of standing about wondering who you are and why you are there too. It can also involve distrust from agency workers who are unsure why their work is being ‘investigated’ or may be worried that your presence will lead to more tasks on their already busy day. When doing actual interviews there is of course the consent process, with the usual list of caveats, possible outputs and other detailed information to outline, requiring signatures at every point, until the participants may feel they are signing their first born away rather than be about to have a relaxed chat. However each of the teams I visited were friendly, helpful and happy to have me sit in on meetings, at group work with tenants, attend visits with them (with the tenants permission I visited some in their homes) and had a good humoured understanding about my need to obtain written consent and chase them with a dictaphone. Perhaps that I was a researcher from outside the US also helped, as people had an interest in where I was from, why I was interested in their work, and of what I thought of New York.

Seeing is believing

One of the challenges Pathways face – as I heard first hand at my visit to one of the Brooklyn support teams – is obtaining affordable rental properties for their tenants, as gentrification increasingly affects the previously low cost outer boroughs. In the good humoured and candid manner I encountered at all of the teams, the manager informed me that their approach was really called ‘housing maybe’ as opposed to ‘housing first’...but they were getting there and had only been operating for a short time. I felt that it was also testament to the agency that I had access to teams that were not as established as some others I visited.

Risk and ethics

Another day was spent in another Brooklyn location. There all the tenants (unlike most teams who work with the chronic homeless) have been referred from a nearby psychiatric hospital. This morning began with one of the tenants having to be admitted back to hospital, after attacking a visitor to the project (who was supervising student nurses). Ten police men (or should I say cops?) arrived to ‘escort’ him back to hospital – a reminder that despite the good humour and relaxed atmosphere, fieldwork and the lives of the professionals and individuals you are researching are not without challenges or risks. Precautions written about in the ethical procedure forms we all complete are there for a reason, and there always has to be respect for the potential risks (or upset) that research can bring to you and others.

On other days I spent time with ‘traditional’ teams based in Harlem (all of the teams are based locally in the more affordable areas, of which downtown Manhatten is not...). There I met staff and tenants, and visited apartments. Most of the tenants had stories of their past and current lives imbued with difficulties but also showed me round their houses with some pride – again a universal experience from researching previously homeless people in the UK. They had low incomes, felt isolated at times, weren’t always happy with their apartments. However these same people, often with high support needs, were living independently in their own homes, for the first time after many years of chaotic drug use, abuse, homelessness and institutionalisation. None of them wanted to return to that.

Reflections on the research process

I did not get the sense that I was shown only a positive side of housing first programmes. For this I felt it was an entirely positive research experience, because the reality of such programmes – in the UK or US - is that it is challenging and can be challenging to research. However these programmes, and research into them, are also important. That is why I feel the opportunity we have as researchers to investigate them is a privilege - and requires rigorous planning, ethical considerations, and effort, to ensure maximum data collection is achieved with minimum upset to the agencies being researched. Ok, so I admit it may be even more of a privilege to do it in New York and it was a memorable trip.....but wherever you are, I found the principles, challenges and value of research remain the same.

Carol McNaughton, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
CHHP, University of York

HSA Conference: The Early Career Stream – Reflections and Experiences

The Housing Studies Association conference took place at the University of York in April 2008. The conference was an especially exciting event for those embarking on their academic and research careers, with a presentation stream devoted to doctoral and post-doctoral researchers. The stream was developed to support the work and provide platform for early housing career researchers. Benefits included,

- Performing in a supportive environment.
- Entering the ‘professional’ world of academia on a more ‘formal’ platform.
- Being received by a ‘safe’ audience – a mixture of established scholars, contract researchers, - housing practitioners and postgraduates.
- Gaining feedback on your research studies and critical reflections.

My own experience of delivering a paper in the early careers stream was overwhelmingly positive. I was met by a friendly and encouraging atmosphere. The rooms allocated for the early careers stream enabled a ‘workshop’ feel. As a presenter you were close to your audience and could quickly gauge with how well your work was being received. The ‘informal’ atmosphere was complemented well by a very slick and well run event, where early career researchers were incorporated into the whole of the conference. For example, the early career stream programme and abstracts were included in the conference programme and facilities for the stream were the same as for the main conference streams. In addition, established academics were vocal in their support for the early career stream during the conference introduction. Therefore, despite being in a separate stream, the feel of the conference remained highly inclusive.

Another positive aspect was the decision to offer extended presentation times to all presenters. For qualitative researchers at doctoral stage, the work is often detailed, rich and nuanced. In addition, if you are still carrying out the research, it might prove difficult to draw out ‘key themes’ whilst still carrying out preliminary data analysis. I would suggest that the extra time was helpful in that it enabled postgraduates to talk about their ‘reflections’ and thoughts on their research. The extra time allocated to questions and discussion enabled more detailed discussion and analysis to take place.

My presentation was concerned with research methods and the role of ‘insider’ researcher. This involved discussion of what is it to complete social research into an organisation and sector where you are working as a practitioner. Given the presentation topic, it was interesting to have such a diverse audience: housing practitioners, postgraduate researchers, contract researchers and established academics. A number of people seemed to identify with methodological and ethical concerns associated with insiderness, as they themselves had worked as practitioners prior to, or alongside, their roles as housing researchers. Several people commented that this diversity amongst attendees gives the HSA conferences an interesting dimension, in contrast to other conferences that might be predominantly academic.

I ended up attending a number of the early career presentations. The reason for this was that there were so many researchers discussing ‘fresh’ empirical work. Whilst all the HSA presentations were incredibly insightful, stimulating and interesting, I personally valued the opportunity to listen to recent findings from smaller scale, detailed and (due to the nature of doctoral research) innovative studies. In this way, many of the early career presentations provided a great mix of key informant views alongside theoretical reflections and each researcher’s critical understandings.

The world of academia might be considered a ‘profession’ like any other. It has it’s own set of ‘rules’, language and career path. Accessing that world might be initially challenging. In the early stages you are working to gain confidence and ‘move forward’, in order to establish a role for yourself within the research community. Therefore, where organisations hold out a helping hand, and offer a ‘springboard’ into that world, it is gratefully received!

In addition, as an early career researcher, it is fantastic to gain feedback from a variety of sources. I certainly felt that all feedback and comments enabled me to review my work, which I believe will have a positive impact in terms of my intellectual development as a scholar. In addition, such feedback is useful for the more practical elements facing early career or doctoral researcher: further presentations, potential publications and the all important Viva.

All of the presentations in the early career stream were of a very high standard. The clarity with which presenters spoke, and the delivery of presentations hopefully offered a glimpse of the future for UK housing research. I for one, felt privileged to be part of the early careers stream, and look forward to future networking events and learning opportunities.

Rachael Dobson, University of Leeds

Getting Published, Getting Known - Some Advice On Writing For Publication

When looking for that first academic post, there’s nothing more impressive on your CV than having journal articles already published, or in press. Being able to publish early in your academic career not only proves that you have what it takes to disseminate your intellectual ideas to a wider audience and can stand up to the rigour of peer-review, but more importantly perhaps, highlights that someone other than your supervisor thought your thesis was worth reading and offered potential insights for your discipline…..even if it was only a journal editor and two anonymous referees! But this can be a daunting prospect. The way in which you go about getting your work published often seems shrouded in mystery, and of course no-one likes to be rejected. As recent PhD researchers who were successful in securing publication whilst still students, we thought it might be helpful if we shared our experiences of writing for publication and remove some of the terror the process might hold.

First, the key thing we would recommend is to disseminate your research findings and theoretical arguments widely. Present at conferences, departmental seminars and PhD gatherings. Doing this will not only force you to think about how you might summarise and organise your thoughts, but will also provide valuable feedback on your ideas from your peers and more experienced colleagues. This will help iron-out any fundamental flaws or gaps in your argument, and will also enable you to gauge how receptive audiences are to what you have to say. Indeed for us, all our journal publications have first been conference papers. Once you have taken the time and effort to prepare a written paper and presentation for a conference, it is worth spending that little extra time working it up into an article for journal submission.

Second, we would also recommend that you use all available networks to get feedback on your paper before your submit it to a journal. Don’t be afraid to email or telephone individuals involved in similar research to yourself, or to chap on the door of colleagues within your department, to ask them for some comments on what you have written. Whilst academic staff are busy people, they may also be flattered to be identified as an ‘authority’ in their field, as well as genuinely interested in current research and therefore happy to provide you with some comments. Other PhD students are also a valuable resource, by way of giving you feedback about how accessible your work is to a wider audience unfamiliar with your research topic. Your supervisor is also a good source of advice and support here, and will be pleased that you are being proactive and trying to publish your work.

Third, think about writing collaborations – either with your supervisors or indeed, other PhD students. Whilst writing with someone more experienced may help guide you through the pitfalls of the publication process, writing with PhD students can also be fun – as we can testify! To do this you need to identify those students in your department who are researching similar topics, or draw on similar theoretical frameworks to yourself. Writing collaboratively not only means you have to write less, but it also gives you someone that you can bounce ideas off.

Fourth, once you’ve written the paper choose your journal carefully. Here it is worth spending some time in the library or on-line researching the different journals in your field and their scope and readership. Thinking about the particular journals that you like to read, or that you often reference in your own work, may help you narrow down you search here. If you are unsure speak to your supervisor about it, or better still email the journal editor and ask them if they would be interested in your paper. Many editors are receptive to such queries from researchers at an early stage in their career. One other thing to note here, is that whilst aiming for the highly ranked publications may look very prestigious on your CV it may take longer to be published than if you submitted to a lower ranked journal which has a quicker turnaround.

Fifth, once you’ve had your comments back from the refereeing process try not to be too disheartened if you don’t get the response you were hoping for. Even the most experienced academic writers rarely get their papers accepted by journals without any revisions needed. Furthermore, although it might not feel like it at first reading, referees are usually adept at providing fresh insights on you paper, especially in terms of potential weaknesses and limitations. It is therefore important when revising to attend to each of the suggestions they make. It is also good practice to accompany your resubmitted paper with a letter to the editor outlining how you have done so. However, if you strongly disagree with the referee’s comments or feel making the suggested changes would fundamentally change the argument of your paper, you should stick to your guns and make your case to the editor.

Writing papers for publication is the culmination of the research process: it allows you to collect and organise your thoughts, and ultimately to share them with others. It may feel intimidating and time-consuming, especially when you may have many demands in your life, but it is an invaluable process in terms of gaining experience and improving your employability. On a more personal level, it also feels great to see your name and work printed in a journal.

Kim McKee & Zhan McIntyre
University of Glasgow

How to get a PhD and look after yourself

To kick start a regular series of contributions from Early Career Researchers, Rowland Atkinson offers a reflection on his own expereince of undertaking his PhD research and provides some advice for surviving the process.

I don’t remember the final months of my PhD with a great deal of fondness. Stuck in my bedroom because my campus had closed down (ok, so it was unusual as circumstances go) I cranked up from around seven hours of writing and analysis per day to a seven day week that ran into the evenings. Amazingly my wife is my then girlfriend and without her ministrations I probably would have become a bit of a wreck, but I do still find it hard to work at home and much prefer the relative sociability of the office. Of course it shouldn’t and doesn’t need to be this way, there is no reason why doing a PhD should be the hard task that it often is. In this brief piece I want to locate a number of anxieties and fundamentals about the PhD process that reflect on my own experience and that of some that I have supervised.

I remember picking up the book, How to Get A PhD, the message that still stays with me from that was the importance of recognising that isolation is a key feature of the doctoral student experience. People’s experience of this varies a great deal of course and much may depend on how well the student culture of your institution is orchestrated, often it may come down to a key member of staff or a student with a penchant for organising festivities in breweries. Even better than this is to take charge of the social scene, bearing in mind that contact with your peers is important for your own sanity and for checking and sharing your own learning. Don’t be fooled into thinking that someone specialising in housing finance cant talk to a Bourdieusian expert on domesticity. We have masses to learn from each other and cross-fertilisation is essential to the creative writing process, go and speak to the nerd down the corridor, you can bet that they think the same of you but they wont half appreciate a cup of tea and a chat to relieve their eye strain.

Other aspects of exchange and contact are open to PhD students, make sure that you take part in existing seminar series and if the chance isn’t offered make a point of offering to present your results to these forums or strike up a group of students and present to each other. These skills are not only critical but these kinds of supportive environments, even if they don’t seem it, diminish nerves, boost confidence and make these encounters more predictable. Generating the skills of an ad-libbing confident presenter is one of the great transferable skills and getting stuck in makes a massive difference. Feel the fear and do it anyway, a warning though, it really is scary – but we often need that pit in the stomach to make sure we do a good job, breath it in and go for it.

I often see post-grads burning out as a result of plugging away analysing data or writing for long periods of time without taking a break. Routines are the death of creativity and often knock confidence. It is important to see breaks as constructive ways of getting on track in the longer term. This doesn’t mean boozy lunches or extended coffee breaks. Remember that the PhD is essentially a job, but outside of doing this as a 9 to 5 (always a good mindset to be in) you need to vary your daily patterns. A key reason for this is that research tells us that varying routines and taking breaks spurs the creative process, brains straining at the seems with new information and stressing over deadlines tend to close down. If you can recognise when you are beginning to struggle and have the confidence to shift into a different mindset (take a walk, have lunch out of the office for once etc) you will find yourself making connections and generating ideas much more quickly. Even varying your route to work and ensuring you talk to your peers are simple strategies to get out of ruts.

At the back of your mind it is important to remember why you are doing this and what it is that you are doing. This may sound too obvious but at times when it is all too much you are going to need to be clear about why you are slaving away while everyone else appears to be having all the fun. For me I was committed to what I felt was a concealed social problem, for others there will be other conundrums, the lifestyle itself and, most likely, the prospect of a job in a related field. For all this it is essential that enjoyment is the core of the experience, obvious but central to ensuring completion and a less stressful experience. Remember that doing a PhD is supposed to be a training in research methodology and that your expertise will be much stronger if you are able to situate your research questions and approach in a broader universe of knowledge. I still cringe at the ten minute responses I gave to the casual conference dinner question, “so what is your PhD on?” It is important to get distance to the extent that an academic, and any other, career will invariably involve a much greater emphasis on broad areas of knowledge and expertise. Remember that not everyone speaks Deleuze and that not everyone may care about the latest developments in statistical techniques.

Is there life after a PhD? I’m not sure if I am evidence of that, but labouring to make the PhD part of a broader plan is essential to getting on to a place in which new challenges can be started. I still value the days of doing my PhD and what was initially an opportune choice has felt like the revelation of a vocation. My English teacher would often say, we now have the luxury of a full hour to discuss literature, it is important to remember that we have the privilege of spending three (ok, sometimes four) years concerning ourselves with the all of the minutiae of a particular topic, its important not to waste that feeling and to ensure that you are in charge of a process which is still likely to remain a core part of your identity, either as an academic or in any other career.

Rowland Atkinson
HACRU, UTAS

Contributions from Early Career Researchers are actively encouraged by the HSA Blog. Please contact Rob Rowlands or Kim McKee with offers of articles.