The concept of resilience is now routinely put forward by both policymakers and social activists ... more The concept of resilience is now routinely put forward by both policymakers and social activists as a way for communities to use and develop their resources and respond positively to change, including decarbonization to address climate change. The extent to which a community is able to utilize all its resources depends on the extent to which it feels empowered to take action and is a major determinant of its resilience. A narrative of community empowerment has recently emerged from Scottish Government, driven in part by the situation in Scotland, in which a skewed pattern of landownership and distant structure of ‘local’ democracy combine to disempower communities by disconnecting them from local resources and local representative democracy. Recent Scottish legislation appears to provide new opportunities for community groups to gain control of local assets, become more financially sustainable, undertake climate-related mitigation actions and overcome some of the current local democ...
This research explores whether there is evidence of higher levels of subjective wellbeing in rura... more This research explores whether there is evidence of higher levels of subjective wellbeing in rural areas of Scotland after controlling for individual characteristics of residents and by distinguishing between residents in accessible and remote rural parts of the country. Two different measures of subjective wellbeing are considered, one focusing on life satisfaction, the other quality of life. There is a growing interest in supplementing economic, social and environmental measures of how economies are performing with measures of human wellbeing. Various measures of wellbeing exist, some of them based on physical, economic or social indicators (objective measures of wellbeing), others on people’s own perception and assessment of their lives under given circumstances (subjective or personal measures of wellbeing).
Intersections between religion and sexuality are coming onto social science agendas. However, thi... more Intersections between religion and sexuality are coming onto social science agendas. However, this has predominantly been in terms of its treatment by mainstream religions, particularly Christianity and Islam, and thus in contexts traditionally hostile to lesbian, gay and bi sexualities (LGB). This article extends this by exploring identities and contestations of sexuality within activities that have variously been described as ‘New Age’ or ‘spiritual’. Considering the experiences and interactions of spiritual seekers avoids a non-social conceptualisation of ‘New Age’ which views spirituality primarily as an individualistic experience. The specific focus here is the Findhorn Community, a spiritual community and demonstration eco-village in Scotland. We find that seekers’ attempt to resist labelling and categorisation through creating and using individualised sexual (as well as spiritual) expressions. However, tensions stemming from (heteronormative) interactions within the Findhorn ...
The Scottish model of national parks reflects wider changes in the management of special or prote... more The Scottish model of national parks reflects wider changes in the management of special or protected landscapes. This paper uses Ingold's dwelling conceptualisation of landscape to reflect on how material and cultural processes affect stakeholders' perceptions of the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland, UK. Important to understanding different views, is the separation, unique to the Cairngorms, of ‘the park’ from
ABSTRACT h i g h l i g h t s Meanings of greenspace are social, involving cultural understandings... more ABSTRACT h i g h l i g h t s Meanings of greenspace are social, involving cultural understandings and others. Different greenspace facilitate different kinds of interaction between people. Place connections are reworked materially and culturally into others' experience. Attachments to place can lead to tensions between different users about meaning. a b s t r a c t The positive benefits of urban greenspaces for human health and well-being are widely recognised. While much intellectual effort has gone into identifying and cataloguing the environmental characteristics of places, spaces and landscapes associated with particular health outcomes, less well understood are the social dimensions through which everyday engagements with such greenspaces are framed and put into practice, and interactions between these dimensions. This article reports on preliminary findings from ethnographic research in two areas of Dundee, UK. We used mobile and participatory visual methods with greenspace users in order to investigate their everyday experiences and engagements with local greenspaces, and to understand how meanings associated with use translate (or not) into well-being benefits. The research found that experiences of greenspace – and thus any well-being benefits produced through engagement – are inescapably social and mediated through people's positioning in relation to particular social groups. Moreover there is not one social context or social order, but many, and hence meanings are contested. This prompts for more attention to be paid to how well-being from greenspace can be delivered in ways meaningful to different people and groups. We conclude that social relations and social health (as well as individual mental and physical health) need to be more thoroughly explored in relation to greenspace and its management practices.
Community economies can be considered as examples of the diverse economies growing outside common... more Community economies can be considered as examples of the diverse economies growing outside common capitalist logics of private accumulation and profit, seeking to bypass or reconfigure dominant global trends of societal and economic organization. Yet, these communities seem to fit quite well under a neoliberal program in which responsibilities are shifting downwards, favoring multi-level governance over State intervention and accountability. This binary character makes imperative an open and critical discussion on the development of community initiatives, including on the motivations and visions of citizens practicing alternative ethical consumption. This article explores the neoliberal rationalities embraced by community members within the ima-ginaries of change they frame and examines how these rationalities contribute to (re)producing neoliberal conditions and forms of governance. Our analysis builds on semi-structured interviews conducted among the members of 11 initiatives in 5 EU countries and on participant observation. We argue here that communities articulate an " alternative imaginary " of change that appears imprinted by core neoliberal rationalities around questions of individual responsibility, the role of the State, and civic participation and equity. It is an imaginary related to the construction of CBEs to bypass existing socio-political and economic configurations. This imaginary more often than not responds to neoliberal promises of individual freedom and autonomy and seems to undermine CBEs' more radical possibilities at the same time obscuring more diverse voices of transformation.
The concept of resilience is now routinely put forward by both policymakers and social activists ... more The concept of resilience is now routinely put forward by both policymakers and social activists as a way for communities to use and develop their resources and respond positively to change, including decarbonization to address climate change. The extent to which a community is able to utilize all its resources depends on the extent to which it feels empowered to take action and is a major determinant of its resilience. A narrative of community empowerment has recently emerged from Scottish Government, driven in part by the situation in Scotland, in which a skewed pattern of landownership and distant structure of ‘local’ democracy combine to disempower communities by disconnecting them from local resources and local representative democracy. Recent Scottish legislation appears to provide new opportunities for community groups to gain control of local assets, become more financially sustainable, undertake climate-related mitigation actions and overcome some of the current local democ...
This research explores whether there is evidence of higher levels of subjective wellbeing in rura... more This research explores whether there is evidence of higher levels of subjective wellbeing in rural areas of Scotland after controlling for individual characteristics of residents and by distinguishing between residents in accessible and remote rural parts of the country. Two different measures of subjective wellbeing are considered, one focusing on life satisfaction, the other quality of life. There is a growing interest in supplementing economic, social and environmental measures of how economies are performing with measures of human wellbeing. Various measures of wellbeing exist, some of them based on physical, economic or social indicators (objective measures of wellbeing), others on people’s own perception and assessment of their lives under given circumstances (subjective or personal measures of wellbeing).
Intersections between religion and sexuality are coming onto social science agendas. However, thi... more Intersections between religion and sexuality are coming onto social science agendas. However, this has predominantly been in terms of its treatment by mainstream religions, particularly Christianity and Islam, and thus in contexts traditionally hostile to lesbian, gay and bi sexualities (LGB). This article extends this by exploring identities and contestations of sexuality within activities that have variously been described as ‘New Age’ or ‘spiritual’. Considering the experiences and interactions of spiritual seekers avoids a non-social conceptualisation of ‘New Age’ which views spirituality primarily as an individualistic experience. The specific focus here is the Findhorn Community, a spiritual community and demonstration eco-village in Scotland. We find that seekers’ attempt to resist labelling and categorisation through creating and using individualised sexual (as well as spiritual) expressions. However, tensions stemming from (heteronormative) interactions within the Findhorn ...
The Scottish model of national parks reflects wider changes in the management of special or prote... more The Scottish model of national parks reflects wider changes in the management of special or protected landscapes. This paper uses Ingold's dwelling conceptualisation of landscape to reflect on how material and cultural processes affect stakeholders' perceptions of the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland, UK. Important to understanding different views, is the separation, unique to the Cairngorms, of ‘the park’ from
ABSTRACT h i g h l i g h t s Meanings of greenspace are social, involving cultural understandings... more ABSTRACT h i g h l i g h t s Meanings of greenspace are social, involving cultural understandings and others. Different greenspace facilitate different kinds of interaction between people. Place connections are reworked materially and culturally into others' experience. Attachments to place can lead to tensions between different users about meaning. a b s t r a c t The positive benefits of urban greenspaces for human health and well-being are widely recognised. While much intellectual effort has gone into identifying and cataloguing the environmental characteristics of places, spaces and landscapes associated with particular health outcomes, less well understood are the social dimensions through which everyday engagements with such greenspaces are framed and put into practice, and interactions between these dimensions. This article reports on preliminary findings from ethnographic research in two areas of Dundee, UK. We used mobile and participatory visual methods with greenspace users in order to investigate their everyday experiences and engagements with local greenspaces, and to understand how meanings associated with use translate (or not) into well-being benefits. The research found that experiences of greenspace – and thus any well-being benefits produced through engagement – are inescapably social and mediated through people's positioning in relation to particular social groups. Moreover there is not one social context or social order, but many, and hence meanings are contested. This prompts for more attention to be paid to how well-being from greenspace can be delivered in ways meaningful to different people and groups. We conclude that social relations and social health (as well as individual mental and physical health) need to be more thoroughly explored in relation to greenspace and its management practices.
Community economies can be considered as examples of the diverse economies growing outside common... more Community economies can be considered as examples of the diverse economies growing outside common capitalist logics of private accumulation and profit, seeking to bypass or reconfigure dominant global trends of societal and economic organization. Yet, these communities seem to fit quite well under a neoliberal program in which responsibilities are shifting downwards, favoring multi-level governance over State intervention and accountability. This binary character makes imperative an open and critical discussion on the development of community initiatives, including on the motivations and visions of citizens practicing alternative ethical consumption. This article explores the neoliberal rationalities embraced by community members within the ima-ginaries of change they frame and examines how these rationalities contribute to (re)producing neoliberal conditions and forms of governance. Our analysis builds on semi-structured interviews conducted among the members of 11 initiatives in 5 EU countries and on participant observation. We argue here that communities articulate an " alternative imaginary " of change that appears imprinted by core neoliberal rationalities around questions of individual responsibility, the role of the State, and civic participation and equity. It is an imaginary related to the construction of CBEs to bypass existing socio-political and economic configurations. This imaginary more often than not responds to neoliberal promises of individual freedom and autonomy and seems to undermine CBEs' more radical possibilities at the same time obscuring more diverse voices of transformation.
Uploads
Papers by Liz Dinnie