The UK has now joined a Europe-wide trend towards more devolved forms of government (e.g. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Assemblies). In the context of this general trend towards regionalizm as a focus for public policy and as a source of cultural and political identity, an interdisciplinary team from Newcastle University combine to analyze how this affects the North East of England. There has been comparatively little published on the contemporary development of English Regions and the North East is a particularly important case study, as throughout the 1990s it has experienced a range of social, economic and political changes. This book will contribute to key contemporary policy debates, which will affect all of the English regions and should be read by all social scientists interested in European regional development.
Contents: Locating the region: an introduction, John Tomaney and Neil Ward. The Economy in Transition: Situating the North East in the European space economy, David Charles and Paul Benneworth; Defence closure and job loss: the case of Swan Hunter on Tyneside, John Tomaney, Andy Pike and James Cornford; Working in the business family: micro-business livelihoods in the North East and South East of England, Susan Baines and Jane Wheelock. Politics and Culture in Transition: Region-building in the North East: regional identity and regionalist politics, Chris Lanigan; Pride and prejudice: two cultures and the North East's transition, Peter Fowler, MIke Robinson and Priscilla Boniface; The restructuring of young Geordies' employment, household and consumption identities, Robert Hollands. Environment and Countryside in Transition: A sociological perspective on air quality monitoring in Teeside, Peter Phillimore, Suzanne Moffatt and Tanja Pless-Mulloli; The rural in the region: towards an inclusive regional policy for the North East, Neil Ward and Philip Lowe; Local interests, regional needs or national imperative? the Otterburn question and military training in rural areas, Rachel Woodward.
