The Gentrification of Consumption: a View from Manchester

This article gives some insight into the processes underpinning the exclusion of small traders from of the redevelopment of Manchester after the IRA bombing in 1996. This is achieved by drawing upon interviews with former traders of the Corn Exchange. This is a small subsection of a broader set of qualitative data which was gathered (between 2001 and 2002) from past and present everyday users of the Millennium Quarter. I claim that through regeneration the Millennium Quarter has experienced intense gentrification in which it has been reconfigured as an exclusive site of consumption (Smith 1996, Zukin 1995) which caters for the needs of the affluent. This gentrification is not only influenced by the middle classes who it is designed to attract but by private developers (Hackworth 2002) and often state intervention (Hackworth and Smith 2001). I draw on literature reflecting the experience of American cities (Betancur 2002, Hackworth 2002, Hackworth and Smith 2001, Zukin 1995) and more recent work about the rebuilding of Manchester (Holden 2002, Mellor 2002, Williams 2000). Whilst a significant body of literature exists regarding British cities (Atkinson 2000, Butler and Robson 2001, Hamnett and Randolph 1984, Robson and Butler 2001, Rosenburg and Watkins 1999) much of this concentrates on housing and residential areas. This paper is about the Millennium Quarter which is primarily a retail site in the central urban core and it adds to a growing literature regarding city centre redevelopment (e.g.; Chatterton and Hollands (2003); Low (2000) Van der Land (this collection).Xx

Commodification, control and civic space: a Mancunian perspective

This paper will focus on the experience of the city of Manchester which has undergone intense regeneration as a result of the 1996 IRA bombing and hosting the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Whilst the rebuilding has led to the creation of new civic spaces which are more heavily used post-regeneration, certain groups (most notably youths) have been subject to increased control and surveillance (Massey 2007). As a consequence of this imaginative ways of legitimising (Mitchell 2003) the youth population’s presence in such spaces, led to the inception of a Peer Youth Work project. This paper tells the story of the struggles and contests (Smith 1996) around public space and the impact of tighter regulation and control on public space (Raco 2003). Drawing on interview data the notion that the peer youth workers have become agents of control themselves as they are ‘policing’ the area will be explored. An important question here is whose values and rules are the peer youth workers upholding and enforcing

Public consumption: a private enterprise?

This paper aims to trace the historical development of consumption activities in the city. The example of Manchester, England will be used to provide a retrospective view on the shift from industrial to post-industrial city. It will be argued that consumption has always played a role in the way that urban space is ordered, though this has not always been as significant as in the post-industrial era. This paper will also give evidence of the way in which consumption sites are increasingly “privatised” or “commercialised” in the sense that those using that space have to negotiate access (usually via economic capital). In this way they become exclusive areas, designed with a particular group in mind, usually young, affluent professionals. How such processes of exclusivity are shaped by and relate to local politics will also be explored, in order to establish who the powerful groups are and how they construct the city.Cet article vise à retracer le développement historique des activités de consommation dans la ville. Manchester nous servira d’exemple pour présenter une vue rétrospective du passage de l’état de ville industrielle à celui de ville post-industrielle, partant du fait que la consommation a toujours joué un rôle dans l’agencement de l’espace urbain, même si ce fut davantage le cas durant l’ère post-industrielle. Cet article démontrera également comment les lieux de consommation se “privatisent” ou se “commercialisent” de plus en plus, au sens où les utilisateurs de ces espaces doivent en négocier l’accès (le plus souvent par le biais d’un capital économique). C’est ainsi que ces espaces deviennent des lieux huppés, réservés à un groupe spécifique d’individus, jeunes privilégiés issus la plupart du temps de la bourgeoisie. Nous examinerons également la façon dont de tels processus d’exclusivité sont façonnés par les politiques municipales et comment ils s’y rattachent, afin d’établir quels sont les groupes influents et comment ils façonnent la ville

Police, Press and Politics: Institutional responses to riots in Bradford 2001 and Manchester 2011

This article considers the immediate responses of mainstream national and local newspapers to incidents of large-scale urban unrest in English cities, specifically news media representations of the 2001 Bradford riot and 2011 Manchester riot. With a decade between these two events, an examination of media discourses reveals little alteration in reports of riots. This is despite significant political and technological change in the UK. In 2001, the scapegoats were young Asian males and in 2011 ‘feral’ youth. One commonality is the ‘mindlessness’ of events, with the media presenting little justification for the actions of the rioters. Why is urban disorder presented as mindless and criminal by the media? Hegemonic values offer an explanation for this process. Comparative analysis reveals that whilst the two sets of offenders were treated differently by the criminal justice system, with punishment being harsher for those involved in the 2001 riot, little has changed in media narratives, indicating that who is in political power has little impact on media reports

City of bits: young people, cyberspace and the city

This paper aims to explore the relationship between young people, public space and cyberspace. There are arguably a group of people who have the ‘right’ to the city (Mitchell 2003) and young people rarely fall into this category. In the case of a group of young people congregating in the recently regenerated Millennium Quarter in Manchester (Massey 2007) they have had to legitimate their presence, by establishing a peer youth worker scheme. Mitchell (1995) states that civic legibility is eliminated in cyberspace. This indicates there is a distinct difference in terms of legitimacy in physical space and cyberspace. The specific question here is what are the differences between geographies of public space and cyberspace for the teenagers in question? It is anticipated that there is more freedom in cyberspace and that public urban spaces are more challenging and limiting for young people

An investigation of social influence: Explaining the effect of group discussion on consensus in auditors’ ethical reasoning

This study introduces Moscovici\u27s (1976, 1985) model of social influence to the accounting research domain, and uses an experiment to assess whether his theory explains how different types of discussion affects consensus in auditors\u27 ethical reasoning. Moscovici\u27s theory proposes three modalities of influence to describe how consensus is achieved following discussion: conformity, innovation, and normalization. Conformity describes the situation where individuals in the minority (e.g., auditors that do not accept the dominant view) accede to the majority (e.g., auditors that hold the dominant view) as a result of group discussion. Innovation describes the situation where individuals in the majority accede to the minority. Normalization describes the situation where there is reciprocal influence. We find that conformity occurs when auditors are asked to prescriptively discuss what ideally should be the resolution to an ethical dilemma. Normalization occurs when auditors are asked to deliberatively discuss what realistically would be the resolution to an ethical dilemma. The results of this study suggest that prescriptive discussion of an ethical dilemma encourages auditor groups to strive to find the best response to a moral dilemma if it is represented by the majority view. In contrast, deliberative discussion of an ethical dilemma may encourage the elimination of multiple viewpoints. The results of this study have important implications for understanding the social influence process that affects auditors\u27 ethical reasoning

Dangerous liaisons: child sex offending and underage sex in the media and the law

Since the mid 1990s, the sexual abuse of children has become a high-profile topic and concern in UK society. For the media the enemy is obvious: outrage focuses on the paedophile, an evil, cunning and highly dangerous stranger who attacks, sexually abuses and even kills children. In this scenario children are innocent and vulnerable victims in need of protection. The UK government has responded to these concerns through legislation, most notably the Sex Offenders Act 1997, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and the Criminal Justice Act 2003. These legal measures have shaped the entire field of children and sex in complex ways. On the one hand, legislation has increasingly brought young people into the reach of the law by criminalising and punishing much consensual underage sex. On the other hand, special premises are applied to young perpetrators of coercive sex, effectively treating them more leniently than adult offenders. This paper traces the dynamics shaping this complex and often contradictory legal approach to young people and sex. One important factor concerns the law dealing with a reality of child sexual abuse which is much more complex than the media image of evil adults forcing innocent children into sex. A quarter of all child sex offences are committed by minors (Cawson et al. 2000), but they do not conform to the stereotype of the paedophile. A second influence concerns media opposition to all underage sex, including consensual sex, grounded in moral concerns about teenage pregnancy or childhood innocence. In conjunction these factors create twin pressures for the government to legislate against all underage sex yet exempt young people from being treated as ‘proper’ child sex offenders by the law

A Medical Student Foray into the Depths of Public Health: An Exploratory Investigation Toward a Community Dashboard Characterizing the Experiences of Frailty in Order to Guide Improvement

While it is known that there are many shortcomings in the care of the elderly, their rate and impact on the community and the elderly themselves is not well understood. In exploring the possibilities for using existing data and available informants, a dashboard could be created that would enable a geographic community to understand the experience of living with disabilities in old age, to prioritize problems, and to test improvements. The methods included a literature review to understand what and how easily information could be accessed, gathered, and presented. In regards to literature on data collection, CMS claims data, MDS, OASIS, and death certificate follow back interviews were examined. In addition, other databases and dashboards were explored to better understand methods and aims. Interviews were then pilot-tested with caregivers of frail elders, both alive and deceased. It was ultimately concluded that by using existing data from utilization and other required data sets, a geographic community could construct a useful dashboard to prioritize and monitor improvements in elder care. The biases, which would be fairly stable across time for any one community, could be estimated. The costs could be mitigated with inexpensive access and off-the-shelf analytic packages. Most importantly, by marrying the breadth of information from large data sources with the depth of caregiver interviews, a platform could be created that motivates communities to undergo a very necessary elder care reform

Young people, mental health and COVID-19 infection: The canaries we put in the coal-mine

Background: The number of people testing positive for SARS-COV-2 in the UK, particularly among young adults, is increasing. We report here on the mental health of young adults and related psychological and behavioural responses to the pandemic, and consider the role of these factors in fuelling the increase in Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) in this group.Methods: An online survey was completed during the first six weeks of the first UK-wide lockdown by 3097 respondents, including data for 364 respondents between the ages of 18-24 years. The survey included measures of mental health and indices capturing related psychological and behavioural responses to the pandemic.Results: The mental health of 18-24 years olds in the first 6 weeks of lockdown was significantly poorer than that of older respondents and previously published norms: with 84% reporting symptoms of depression and 72% reporting symptoms of anxiety. Young adults also reported significantly greater loneliness and reduced positive mood, both of which were also associated with greater mental health difficulties.Conclusions: We contend that the combination of mental health, social and economic considerations may have contributed to the rise of COVID-19 infections in young adults and ascribing blame to this group will not aid our efforts to regain control of the disease