Tony Chapman

Ideal homes? : social change and domestic life

Ideal Homes? shows how both popular images and experiences of home life relate to the ability of societys members to produce and respond to social change. The book provides for the first time an analysis of the space of the home and the experiences of home life by writers from a wide range of disciplines, including sociology, architecture, geography and anthropology. It covers a range of subjects, including gender roles, different generations relationships to home, the changing nature of the family, transition and risk and alternative visions of home.

Entering a brave new world? An assessment of third sector readiness to tender for the delivery of public services in the United Kingdom

The British governments intention to marshal the significant resource of the third sector to meet its social objectives has recently become an issue of significant political salience. Political enthusiasm for the third sector is based on the assumption that third sector organisations will be prepared to tender for contracts to deliver public services for government from local to a national level. Until now, there has been no evidence available for systematic analysis of readiness to tender in the third sector. This article makes a starting point in filling the knowledge gap by reporting on a quantitative study of 400 third sector organisations in North East England. The evidence presented casts doubt on the willingness, capability and capacity of the third sector organisations to engage with the governments contracting agenda. A research agenda is outlined to help identify which organisations are most likely to build the capacity and capability to engage in contract work in the future.

“They have God on their side”: the impact of public sector attitudes on the development of social enterprise

Purpose – To study the reasons why UK social enterprises are not yet fulfilling their potential due to the lack of support and trust on the part of key decision makers.Design/methodology/approach – The study was based in Tees Valley, the southernmost sub‐region in northeast England, which has suffered from a decline in its traditional industries over the past 30 years. Reports the results of in‐depth qualitative interviews with 18 local authority economic regeneration officers and leading local strategic partnership managers across the five borough councils as key stakeholders across Tees Valley to explore potential barriers to the development of the social enterprises sector in this sub‐region. Explains that each interview focused on: perceived differences in the culture of the social enterprise sector compared with private business and the public sector; representation of the sector in key decision making in the sub‐region; the potential for developing entrepreneurship and foresight in the sector; and o...

Smoke and Mirrors: The Influence of Cultural Inertia on Social and Economic Development in a Polycentric Urban Region

This article explores the potential of employing the concept of ‘cultural inertia’ to explain why areas are slow fully to recover from a period of industrial restructuring in polycentric urban regions. Cultural inertia produces and reproduces tolerances and intolerances to change. It is shown that taken-for-granted assumptions about what constrains progress in achieving recovery (in comparison with other areas) may actually be false. This article draws on a study of social and economic change in Tees Valley, a sub-region of North East England. It reports on 28 two-hour interviews and three focus groups with key stakeholders. It is concluded that catalytic change could come about in industrial restructuring areas, but only if stakeholders build on strengths. The danger lies in polycentric areas’ attempts to emulate metropolitan areas because of a fundamental lack of belief in existing strengths which can be exploited.

Domestic energy conservation in a cold climate

Abstract In 1992 the British Government made a commitment at the Rio Conference to reduce CO2 emissions to the levels recorded for 1990 by the year 2000. This represents about a 6% cut of around 15 million tonnes a year. This objective is unlikely to be met. Currently, about 28% of CO2 emissions come from households and a very significant reduction in CO2 could be achieved if the energy efficiency of dwellings was improved. This article will show that the odds have been consistently set against the prospect of a planned deployment of energy saving measures under the current administration and considers the prospects of improvement under a Labour Government. This article reveals the resistance to change by the status driven consumer behaviour of Britains householder and the profit orientation that blinds industry to ecological crisis. The lack of governments action to promote energy saving measures, or provide funds to achieve its stated aims in the reduction of CO2 is predicated upon the inter‐relations...

Editorial Introduction to a Collection from the 2003 BSA Conference 'Social Futures: Desire, Excess and Waste' the Consumption and Waste Stream

Review of: Williams, Karel, Colin Haslam, Sukhdev Johal and John Williams (1994) Cars. New York: Bergbahn Books.

The propensity of third sector organisations to borrow money in the UK

ABSTRACT In recent years there has been much policy interest in the development of social investment initiatives. Many such proposals depend upon third sector organisations (TSOs) loaning working capital in order to bridge gaps in cash flow. Existing studies on the willingness of TSOs to borrow have tended to used selective samples, which may have led to an exaggeration of market demand. This article explores, with reference to robust evidence on the attitudes and behaviours of representative samples of TSOs from the Third Sector Trends Study in Northern England, the extent of interest in borrowing for a range of purposes including to buy or upgrade property, buy equipment or facilities, or borrow working capital. The article makes observations on current and future market demand for loans in light of the way that TSO leaders’ balance their dependence on given, earned and borrowed money.

Enhancing the Contribution of Sport to the Sustainable Development Goals

Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) recognises the potential contribution of sport to achieving important development objectives, including the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Enhancing the Contribution of Sport to the Sustainable Development Goals builds on the work of previous Commonwealth publications analysing sport’s role in progressing sustainable development. Aimed at governmental policy-makers and other stakeholders, it provides evidenced and balanced policy options to support the effective and cost-efficient contribution of sport towards six prioritised SDGs. The guide is underpinned by an emphasis towards strengthening the means of implementation and measuring and evaluating progress, which are emphasised by the SDGs and existing Commonwealth principles. Developed through extensive Commonwealth Secretariat-led consultation with relevant experts and organisations, it represents an important addition to the growing body of SDP publications, guides and research.

Social Futures?: the Sociology of Substance and Shadow - a Collection of Papers from the 2003 British Sociological Association Annual Conference

1.1 This is the second of two collections of papers from the British Sociological Association (BSA) Annual Conference 2003 to be published within Sociological Research On-Line. The conference was titled Social Futures: Desire, Excess and Waste. The call for papers invited delegates to interrogate currently dominant academic, political and media discourses within western societies which emphasise and celebrate the ‘progress’ and ‘freedoms’ associated with recent global ‘development’, technological change and contemporary cultural experience. Five conference streams were devised in order to pursue this overall aim: Belonging and Isolation; Consumption and Waste; Winners and Losers; Technological Dystopias; Escape Strategies. There was also an Open Stream. Over 120 papers were presented at the conference and there were two highly engaging plenary sessions, one presented by Beverley Skeggs (then at the University of Manchester) and one by George Ritzer (University of Maryland).