Mothers of Modernity: Women's Experiences of New Towns in North West England, 1961 - 1989

现代性之母：英格兰西北部新城镇的女性经历，1961 年至 1989 年

• 批准号: 2669199
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Manchester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2669199
• 关键词: Mothers; Modernity; Women; Experiences; New

'Full of ideas [and] geared to the life and challenge of our times' was how a 1965 Anglia Televisionfeature described Britain's first new town, designated in 1946. Originally intended as publiclyfunded solutions to urban overcrowding, the twenty two newtowns illuminate the changing social,political, and cultural preoccupations of modern Britain. Recent research by Sam Wetherell (2020)and Guy Ortolano (2019) explores the planning and management of new towns to assess thenational shift from social democracy to neoliberalism. However, they neglect gendered approachesand privilege towns in South England, obscuring lived experience and regional variations. This PhDaims to address this scholarly gap through an oral history of women's construction of space, self,and memory in Skelmersdale, Runcorn, Warrington, and Central Lancashire New Town, 1961-1989.A spatial interpretation of gendered subjectivities is essential, since women were crucial to thedesign, function, and meaning of these towns as mothers,consumers, workers, and citizens. Aregional perspective complicates the story of the national and global new towns movement bydeconstructing the social and cultural aspects of modernity, social democracy, and marketisation.Today, Britain's towns face ahousing crisis, the 'death of the high-street', and increasingprivatisation. The proposed research historicises these contemporary issues, so the findings willappeal to both public, official, and academic audiences. It is essential to undertake this researchnow, since many new towns are undergoing 'regeneration' projects tackling poor town centres andhousing provision, and the opportunity to explore residents' historical subjectivities may be lost.Research QuestionsWhat meanings did women attach totheir built environment?How did women construct selfhoods in relation or opposition to their towns?Were the towns sites of control or opportunity?How did class, race, marital status, life cycle, and motherhood alter experiences, and howdid this varyover time?

1965年安格利亚电视台的一部专题片描述了1946年指定的英国第一个新城镇，“充满创意，适应我们这个时代的生活和挑战”。最初的目的是作为公共资助的解决方案，以城市过度拥挤，22个新城照亮了不断变化的社会，政治和文化的当务之急，现代英国。Sam Wetherell（2020）和Guy Ortolano（2019）最近的研究探讨了新城镇的规划和管理，以评估从社会民主主义到新自由主义的国家转变。然而，他们忽视了性别的方法和特权城镇在英格兰南部，掩盖了生活经验和地区差异。本文旨在通过对1961 - 1989年在兰默斯代尔、朗科恩、沃灵顿和中央兰开夏新城的妇女的空间、自我和记忆的口述历史来解决这一学术空白。区域视角通过解构现代性、社会民主和市场化的社会和文化方面，使国家和全球新城镇运动的故事复杂化。今天，英国的城镇面临着住房危机、“商业街的死亡”和日益增加的私有化。拟议中的研究将这些当代问题历史化，因此调查结果将吸引公众，官方和学术界的观众。现在进行这项研究是必要的，因为许多新的城镇正在进行“再生”项目，解决贫困的城镇中心和住房供应，并有机会探索居民的历史主体性可能会失去。女性如何构建与自己的城市相关或对立的自我？这些城镇是控制点还是机遇点？阶级、种族、婚姻状况、生命周期和母亲身份是如何改变人们的经历的？这些经历又是如何随时间而变化的？