Principal Investigators:
Prof Gill Valentine
Dr Sarah Holloway (Loughborough University)
Dates:
July 2004 - July 2006
Grant:
Joseph Rowntree Foundation (£121,782)
Summary:
This research project is exploring the impact of socio-economic process in shaping place-specific cultures of alcohol consumption in two contrasting geographical communities. It focuses on Stoke-on-Trent, one of the most deprived areas in the country with higher than national average levels of alcohol consumption which also has a growing ethnic minority population with religious prohibitions against drink; and Eden, Cumbria, the most sparsely populated district in the country where the centrality of the pub in village life has historically been linked with the development of a strong temperance movement. In this context, the project is examining inter-generational shifts in attitudes to, and use of, alcohol; recent increases in drinking amongst women and young people; and the wider benefits and problems associated with alcohol use in these communities.
The aims of the project are:
- To explore the impact of socio-economic processes in shaping place-specific cultures of alcohol consumption in two contrasting geographical communities
- To evaluate the benefits/problems associated with alcohol use in these communities
- To examine contemporary variations in attitudes to, and use, of alcohol across diverse social groupings (age, ethnicity, gender and social class) both within, and between, two contrasting communities.
- To locate changing intergenerational patterns and cultures of alcohol consumption within the historical geography of these communities
- To identify the implications of the local specificity of drinking for policy
Publications
-
Bell, D., Holloway, S., Jayne, M. and Valentine, G. (forthcoming) ‘Pleasure and leisure: food and drink in the city’ in Hubbard, P. and Short, J. R. (eds) The Compendium of Urban Studies Sage: London.
-
Jayne, M., Holloway, S, and Valentine, G. (forthcoming) ‘Drunk and disorderly: alcohol, urban life and public space’ Progress in Human Geography
[]
[]