Deindustrial Pasts and Present Inequalities: An Oral History of Deindustrialisation and Experiences of Ageing

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This project will examine the relationships between contemporary inequalities in later life and experiences of manufacturing decline in the later 20th century. The links between the decline of industry (deindustrialisation) and inequality are well recognised, both in the UK and internationally. In their latest report on English Indices of Deprivation, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (2019) stated that deprivation remains highly concentrated in 'areas that have historically had large heavy industry manufacturing and/or mining sectors'. A similar pattern is evident in other areas of the UK (Perchard, 2013; Strangleman, 2013), Western Europe (Clarke, 2013; Bracke, 2019) and North America (Linkon, 2018; High, 2018). In almost every locality where industrial production was once dominant and declined rapidly in the later 20th century, these patterns of inequality and deprivation are evident. Deindustrialisation is therefore a historic event, but remains a pervasive social force in shaping inequalities. Deprivation and its impacts across the lifecourse is also an urgent concern for scholars and policy-makers investigating inequalities and disadvantage in later life. Social gerontologists such as Fuller-Iglesias (2009) assert that multiple disadvantages have a 'cumulative effect on outcomes in later life', including in subjective wellbeing, physical and mental health, life expectancy, financial security, living environment, and social connectivityBy assessing the socio-economic legacies of deindustrialisation, and its ongoing influence, I hypothesise that deindustrialisation - as a historical event and a contemporary social force - contributes significantly to accumulative dis/advantage and later life experiences within former industrial communities. This project will utilise oral history interviewing to interrogate the relationships between deindustrialisation on ageing and inequalities in later life. It bridges academic and policy interests from across the social sciences, engaging with oral history, ageing studies, and deindustrialisation studies to adopt a methodologically novel approach to understanding the accumulation of inequality and disadvantage across the lifecourse.Geographically, this project focuses on Tyne and Wear in the North East of England, which suffered extensively following the decline of staple industries of ship building, coal mining and others (Mah, 2010). The research adopts an innovative approach by utilising the ongoing epidemiological Newcastle Thousand Families Study (NTFS), a birth cohort that has run since 1947. Interviewees will be recruited from the cohort based on their experiences of employment and deindustrialisation. Those not represented in that cohort (all members are White British) are recruited to examine the intersectional dynamics of inequalities in later life and the impact of socio-economic rupture on different social groups. Utilising Tyne and Wear as a representative case study, the research framework, methods, and outputs can fundamentally change the way that academics and legislators approach inequalities in ageing and later life experiences in deprived former industrial communities.