Levelling Up the UK Economy: The Need for Transformative Change
About this ebook
The book outlines phases in capitalism’s development, particularly the shift from post-war capitalism to a post-industrial and neoliberal society and the implications for spatial inequalities. The 2022 Levelling Up White Paper is analysed alongside a focus on the role of local government relative to the agenda. The book offers an empirical case study of ‘left behind’ Redcar & Cleveland, exposing deindustrialisation, insecure employment, crime, anti-social behaviour and sentiments on a North South divide and Levelling Up. We suggest that only a transformative change in the political economy, including significant and sustained investment at different spatial levels, is likely to achieve the ambition to Level Up.
About the author
Luke Telford is a Lecturer in Criminal Justice & Social Policy at the University of York, UK. He is a multidisciplinary academic who has published on political economy, politics, working-class culture, labour markets and the COVID-19 pandemic. Luke is the author/co-author of three other books including English Nationalism and its Ghost Towns, as well as Lockdown: Social harm in the COVID-19 era.
Jonathan Wistow is an Associate Professor at Durham University, UK. Jonathan has a background in local government having previously worked in a local authority. He has published work on local government and governance systems, health inequalities, climate change adaptation, complexity theory, social policy and political economy. He is the author/co-author of two other books including Social Policy, Political Economy and the Social Contract.
