05 December 2022
Why is it that some places thrive and others struggle to survive?, writes Ruth McAreavey, Professor of Sociology at Newcastle University. Why have we seen the emergence of so-called left behind places across Europe? Can resilience be created in marginalised places?
These are just some of the questions that I address in my new article Finding rural community resilience: Understanding the role of anchor institutions which has recently been published in the Journal of Rural Studies. I draw on research conducted for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) along with colleagues at the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) and Newcastle University’s Centre for Rural Economy (CRE).
It has been recognised that traditional economic models do not work – they fail to adequately address inequalities and they often cause significant ecological and environmental degradation. Community wealth building offers an alternative to the prevailing economic narrative and is based on place-based economics, democratic participation and ownership, and it aims to give power to the local community. One way to achieve this is through anchor institutions.
Anchors have typically been identified in an urban context, relating to ‘eds and meds’, that is universities and hospitals. These large institutions are spatially immobile and provide a backbone to support the economy through various activities including being a large employer, controlling large areas of land or assets.
In a rural context, a network of local institutions scaffold together to create an anchor network and may include employers, local press, agricultural support organisations, housing providers, social enterprises and local agricultural markets, such as Cutcombe Market in Minehead, Somerset, pictured. Co-existence is therefore a key component of rural anchors as together they provide a range of important resources meaning that there is not sole reliance on a single organisation.
Rural anchors can enhance community resilience, that is they can contribute to a community’s response to an external event such as a Covid, foot and mouth disease etc. As such, community resilience results in improvements to what was there before.
Community asset building, and thus community resilience, is potentially limited where there are fewer anchors, deep-seated challenges, structural lock-ins or multi-level limitations. For example, an active local partnership may be hindered by limited national budgets due to cuts in public expenditure. Without economic restructuring or major investment from a third party, be it government or a benefactor, there is a danger that left behind places are confined to marginalisation.
Photograph courtesy of Exmoor Farmers Livestock Auctions Ltd.
I am Co-investigator at NICRE and Professor of Sociology at Newcastle University. My research focuses on rural social change, rural governance, international migration and research ethics and methodologies. I have published extensively on rural development and I’m interested in the inequalities faced by migrants in the labour market, particularly the agri-food sector, and in other parts of everyday life. I’m an active member of various international research networks including the Trans-Atlantic Rural Research Network and the European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS). I am currently co-editor-in-chief of Sociologia Ruralis.
Prior to working in academia I held various positions in the voluntary and community sector and within local government. I continue to work with third sector organisations and with government departments to ensure that my research has social and economic impact. I’m a Trustee of the Plunkett Foundation.
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