The Dereliction Tourist:Reflections on research methods and ethicsin three case studies of industrial ruination

Dr Alice MahDepartment of Sociology, University of

Warwick2nd June 2015

Summary of presentation

• Introduction to research contexts & methods: – Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK– Ivanovo, Russia– Niagara Falls, New York and Ontario

• Ethical issues as an ‘outsider’– Feeling like a dereliction tourist/voyeur– Managing research participants’ expectations of help,

support, campaigning, et al– Dealing with traumatic emotional accounts

• Conclusions

Research focus

• Long term social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts of industrial decline on ‘communities, people and places

• Theoretical literature: industrial ruins, deindustrialisation, critical geography, community studies, collective memory, political economy, phenomenology of landscape and place

• ‘Industrial ruination as a lived process’: approach which emerged from qualitative research

Research methods

• ‘Paradigmatic’ or illustrative case studies (3)• Mixed methods

– 20 to 30 interviews with a range of people in each case (residents, workers, former workers, city officials, local activists)

– Secondary statistics (Census, indices of multiple deprivation, epidemiological studies)

– Ethnographic observations, unstructured interviews and mobile methods (walking and driving trips with informants)

– Spatial and visual methods (tours of areas, photographs)– Reflexive/adaptive research strategy, 1-2 months in field per

case

Case study design

• theoretically driven, multiple site (3), exemplary/paradigmatic (Flyvberg), combination of typical and unique (Yin), drew up criteria for selection.

• Iterative, mixed methods, spatial/social analysis, interviews & observations

Research example: rationale for selection of case studies

The rationale for selection of case studies was based on the criteria that each case study would be:

1) an old industrial area which had experienced significant deindustrialization and had visible industrial ruins within its physical landscape.

2) a different type of manufacturing-based industry, to show similarities and contrasts across industries, particularly different working cultures, gender dynamics, relationships with communities, and types of skill.

3) located in a different national context, to broaden the scope and potential for global comparisons of industrial capitalism.

4) at a different stage of deindustrialization, to reveal the complexities of deindustrialization as a temporal process.

5) located within a medium-sized conurbation, as these are more common than larger sized locations yet are more heterogeneous than small mono-industrial towns.

6) not as widely researched as other cities of industrial decline.

Negotiating access

• ‘Cold’, as an outsider in each context• At first, started with ‘experts’ (City Council officials,

academics)• But generally found that immersion in the context and

perseverance through ‘snowballing’ was the most effective strategy

• Relied on key gatekeepers in each context (especially for access within ‘community’)

• Most difficult to gain access and trust in Russian context (advice: official letter of introduction from university!)

Where are the factories? Where are the shipyards?

• ‘There are not many left…’• The East End, or the West End, not the city

centre…• Learned about Walker from drinking with

‘Geordies’ in a quayside pub on the edge of the city centre, and hearing stories of its stigma, decline, deprivation…

North East England: background

• Industrial history: coal mining, steel, shipbuilding and heavy industry along the River Tyne, Wear and Tees

• Technological and industrial height in early 20th century: relative decline for the past 70 years; waves of decline in the 1930s and the 1970s.

• 355 of the 10% most deprived SOAs (Super Output Areas) in England are located in the North East

• Newcastle is the regional capital of the North East• Newcastle’s overall rank is 20th worst out of 354 Local

Authorities in England

Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne

• Former shipbuilding and heavy engineering area in the East End of Newcastle upon Tyne in North East England

• Population loss: 15,000 to 13,000 between 1991-2001• Poor local shops, services and public transport• Council housing comprises over 70% of housing stock; low

demand for housing• Deprived area (in the lowest 20% of wards nationally)• High unemployment, poor health, low educational attainment,

drugs, crime, anti-social behaviour• Strong sense of community• Target of City Council-led regeneration 2005-2011

Ethical issues as an outsider

• Feeling like a dereliction tourist/voyeur: the ‘student’ confrontation in a local pub

• Managing research participants’ expectations of help, support, et al: community fight against regeneration

• Dealing with traumatic emotional accounts: mental health issues re: loss of housing, loss of jobs, reports of racism

Way to Russia guide to Ivanovo…

“Ivanovo is a grey and gloomy city, with relics of the Soviet times on every step. It'll be enough to pass it through by bus going between Vladimir and Kostroma, just keep your eyes wide open: the central noisy and dirty street with grey residential buildings and a big red church in the middle of all the mess; the faded impressive mosaics to glory [sic] the Soviet heroes, left here from the 70s; a dirty and noisy bus station with an old man playing accordion to cheer his fellow babushkas.” (www.waytorussia.net/GoldenRing/Ivanovo/Guide.html)

Ivanovo, Russia: background

• 300km Northeast of Moscow• ‘Russian Manchester’, ‘City of Brides’, and ‘Third Russian

Proletarian capital after Leningrad and Moscow’• 1905: first Soviet of Workers Deputies• 1910s: height of textile production• 1960s: crane and machine-building• 1970s-80s: textile workforce diminished• since 1991: textile factories closed, textile industries fared

poorly in global market• mid-1990s-2006: gradual re-opening of some textile

industries, piecemeal market reform

Ivanovo: socioeconomic context• a difficult transition from socialism to a market economy: near

collapse of industries and social infrastracture• poverty, unemployment, ‘no opportunities’ • crime, alcoholism, drugs, police corruption• erosion of social services (health care, care for the elderly)• depopulation, deskilling• traffic congestion, poor quality of roads, public transport and city

infrastructure• poor housing conditions, shortage of running water (& hot water)

in local housing• limited (or no) growth of service sector to accompany decline in

manufacturing

Ethical issues as an outsider

• Feeling like a dereliction tourist/voyeur: industrial ruins as everyday life: sadness, regret, shame; ‘distance’ of translation

• Managing research participants’ expectations of help, support, et al: city boosterism, western connections

• Dealing with traumatic emotional accounts: drug and alcohol deaths and illnesses amongst youth

Niagara Falls, New York and Ontario

• Initial inspiration for the study: driving across the North American Rust Belt

• Uneasy juxtaposition between boarded up downtowns and old industry; and sights of tourism (honeymoon destination)

• Twin cities on the US-Canada border: more visible decline on the US side

• Infamous history of Love Canal 1978 environmental disaster (chemical industry)

• Focused on abandoned chemical factories/brownfields on both sides of the border

• Environmental racism: African-American and poor working class residents in close proximity to contaminated former industrial sites

Niagara Falls, New York and Canada

Ethical issues

• Feeling like a dereliction tourist/voyeur: the least evident here; more of a ‘witness’ to injustice; both an insider and an outsider

• Managing research participants’ expectations of help, support, et al: friendship (lonely elderly informants)

• Dealing with traumatic emotional accounts: severity of cancer and illness suffering and pain of unemployment

Conclusions

• Can think ‘big’ and comparatively but you need to justify your methodological decision theoretically and empirically

• Negotiating access is context-specific• Similar ethical issues of researcher as

‘outsider’ in areas of industrial decline despite different national, political and cultural contexts

Thank you!

Further reading:

• Mah, A (2014) ‘The Dereliction Tourist? Ethical Issues of Conducting Research in Areas of Industrial Ruination’, Sociological Research Online 19(4), 13 <http://www.socresonline.org.uk/19/4/13.html>