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Gabbidon et al (2004) understand that in spite of the moderate gains made to increase the inclusivity of black scholars in relation to criminology and criminal justice, more needs to be done to incorporate perspectives and theoretical ideas that deviate from so-called ‘mainstream criminology’. Fanon (1952: 3) begins to unpack and set a tone for further discussion when he writes:
The significance of Fanon’s position is in the envisioning of a critical race criminological imagination that requires a struggle to end any criminological hegemony that desires to subordinate the black voice within the discipline. Zinn (1959) has a word of caution for so-called mainstream criminology’s currently monopoly on the discipline and argues that the day-to-day discipline centring on issues of race and racialization should depend on the compliance of a vast number of people. When that compliance is withdrawn, en masse, even force is inadequate to hold back the impulse for justice. Zinn clearly understands that exclusion of a diverse range of criminological theories and perspectives can only lead to division and internal conflict among those who ultimately have one common aim, to ensure the understandings and insights around crime and criminal justice are strong, unified, and robust. Gilroy (1987) argues that ‘race’ must be retained as an analytic category, not because it corresponds to any biological or epistemological absolute, but because it refers investigation to the power that collective identities acquire by means of their roots in tradition.
The intergenerational transmission of education and social position is a widely studied topic, but measurement of the significance of gender in this subject has received less attention. We study gender differences in the effect of parental disadvantage on the probability of a child completing upper secondary education in Finland. We use high-quality register data, collected by Statistics Finland. The data are clustered according to families that includes information on both children and their parents. The data consist of a 25 per cent sample of persons born in Finland between 1980 and 1986 (n=157,135). The data are analysed using sibling methods using random-effects linear probability models. The analyses are run separately for daughters and sons. With the exception of parental unemployment, all the indicators measuring disadvantaged parental background are significantly more strongly connected to the probability of sons than the probability of daughters completing upper secondary education. Father’s unemployment is a stronger predictor of the child’s probability of completing upper secondary education than unemployment of the mother. The mother’s educational level predicts a child’s probability of completing upper secondary education more strongly than the educational level of the father. Both mothers’ and fathers’ educational levels have a significantly stronger correlation with sons’ than daughters’ completion of upper secondary education. Equality of opportunity seems to be achieved better among girls than among boys. It might be the case, that the educational system, as one of the most important paths for achieving superior social status to one’s parents, does not treat girls and boys equally. Were this so, it would be especially important to pay more attention to boys’ school readiness and school wellbeing, especially in socioeconomically disadvantageous areas.
Universal Credit is a fundamental reform of the UK’s social security system. It is also seen as embodying a traditional view of the family. Drawing on principles for gender analysis of ‘welfare reform’, this article critically examines how couples claiming Universal Credit are conceptualised by the UK government, in relation to equality impact assessments of the proposals; guidance for, and data and studies about, claimants; policy debates; and research by or for government. It demonstrates a failure to interrogate the concept of the unitary household or the two-way influence of gender roles, relationships and inequalities within couples and ‘welfare reform’.
The aim of this article is to understand the materialisation of social rights for citizens in need of incapacity benefits by analysing the institution of welfare inter-agency collaboration. We achieve this through an analysis of 12 observation sessions of inter-agency collaboration where incapacity benefits are being processed between several agencies. Social rights are materialised behind closed doors. The decisions are affected by suspicions of social explanations of incapacity while medical knowledge is prioritised. The laws and resources are used to suit the explanations from the officials. In such cases inter-agency collaboration risks disempowering the citizens.
Calcutta Rescue (CR) is a medium-sized NGO based in Kolkata, India that focuses on supporting the residents of the city’s slums. In 2019, CR launched its first multidimensional poverty survey seeking to understand the degree to which, and in what ways, the populations they work with were deprived. It was hoped that this would also contribute to the measurement of the impact of their interventions. This piece introduces and discusses the composition of the survey and the data collection method. It then presents some of the results, and discusses how they are informing, and will inform, CR’s work.
The term ‘period poverty’ describes a growing problem among women and girls from low-income households in the UK struggling to afford period products. Drawing on findings from a qualitative study, this article contributes to burgeoning debates with new insights into gendered poverty. Findings illustrate how an inability to afford sanitary wear is experienced as embarrassing, causing considerable distress and anxiety arising from the need to keep menstruation hidden to avoid social disclosure and attendant stigmatisation. The study highlights the need for longitudinal research to investigate wider implications for health inequalities and educational outcomes for girls who are already socio-economically disadvantaged.
This article reports on a participatory, mixed-methods study, of the causes and lived experiences of food insecurity in the context of an unequal city in England. Among families with young children, we find that income and housing tenure are strongly associated with food insecurity and food bank use, and these impacts extend to higher socioeconomic status groups. Higher costs of food, housing and transport associated with life in an unequal context, meant that food formed part of a series of competing pressures on household budgets. We urge future food insecurity research to focus further on these broader socioeconomic drivers of poverty.
Energy vulnerability is an area of interest to researchers and policymakers alike. In this article we analyse data from a qualitative longitudinal interview study of a deprived ex-mining community in South Wales to explore lived experiences of energy vulnerability in detail. While demonstrating the relevance of caring responsibilities in experiences of energy use and scarcity, we consider the importance of local relationships in helping people to navigate energy vulnerability. We highlight the value of qualitative longitudinal research for informing interventions that are more responsive to people’s experiences of energy vulnerability and changes in circumstances over time.
We analyse the association between poverty indicators and social relations using nationally representative data from Hungary. We focus on four poverty indicators (the three standard indicators of Eurostat and perceived financial problems) and a rich set of social relationship indicators (18 variables). Material deprivation is the most strongly linked to the measures of social ties and social integration, whereas income poverty is associated the least strongly with them. Although income poverty is probably the most widely used poverty indicator, our results suggest that material deprivation and even subjective poverty reflect better the multidimensional nature of poverty and social exclusion.
It seems that the current conflict in Syria is finishing, and a new phase of rebuilding is starting sooner. Setting a rebuilding strategy requires finding detailed and up-to-date figures, a challenging task to do in a time of conflict. We take the venture and compute poverty figures and profile during the conflict using nowcasting techniques based on a sample of households covered in the household income and expenditure survey (HIES) 2009. In addition to the practical importance of this article regarding the rebuilding process strategy of Syria, the article makes a methodological contribution to nowcast the poverty rates in countries plagued with civil conflicts.
