Coal and community a comparative study of 3 mining communities after the strike

Completed

Fossil Fuels: Oil Gas and Coal(Coal, Other Coal)

Basic and strategic applied research

SOCIAL SCIENCES (Sociology)

Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Other sociological economical and environmental impact of energy)

Professor Critcher
Faculty of Arts Computing Eng and Sci
Sheffield Hallam University

Standard

ESRC

01 November 1986

31 December 1988

26 months

£28,780

No relevance to Underpinning Sectors

East Midlands

ESRC Coal

Professor Critcher, Faculty of Arts Computing Eng and Sci, Sheffield Hallam University

Objectives not supplied

This is a comparative study of three mining communities, selected for their comparability in terms of size, demographic structure and the importance of mining in the local economy, and for their contrasting involvement in the dispute (ie whether solidly pro-strike, anti-strike or "split"). Specific topics being addressed are those which have been suggested as a possible legacy of the dispute, such as irreconcilable bitterness between former working and former striking miners andtheir families in a "split" community; permanent disaffection from the police and from the institutions of legal and political authority as a whole as a result of experiences within striking communities; and changing family relationships as a result of the mobilization of women during the dispute. It is expected that any such changes to be manifested not only at the attitudinal and cognitive levels, but also in behavioural indices such as higher rates of criminal activity, marital problems and disputes at work. The theoretical framework of the research is interdisciplinary, drawing for example on sociological models of community, represented by such people as Bulmer, and the psychological notion of "social representations" proposed by academics like Moscovici and Farr. The principal methodologies being used are those of structured and unstructured interview with individuals and groups, and intended to carry out a questionnaire survey in each of our three communities.

27/10/11