Approach to analysis

The analysis explored how narratives of social mobility are constructed and intertwined with place-based, classed and gendered identities. I applied what Taylor (2010) terms a ‘narrative- discursive’ approach. Critiquing the individualising nature of the ‘reflexive identity project’ (Beck 1992; Giddens 1998) which tends to ignore wider sociocultural contexts and constraints upon ‘identity work’, Taylor (2010, p.129) argues that identity projects should be considered in discursive terms, involving the negotiation of “multiple and conflicting versions, positions and projected possibilities”. Rose (1998) and Walkerdine et al (2001) have also critiqued the ‘reflexive identity project’ because of the psychological strain endured in the continual reinvention of the self, which can lead to the internalisation and individualisation of failure. Established narratives and discourses (for example around social mobility, gender roles, and home ownership) are normative and provide speakers with yardsticks with which to measure their own perceived success or failure. These narratives and discourses were explored in participants’ talk, particularly how they were drawn upon to shape and construct continuity in narratives. Importantly, the analysis of participants’ talk did not lead to ‘true’ information about the person behind the talk, but instead has highlighted the specific identity work that occurred in the interview context, and any established narratives and discourses that were drawn upon in relation to social mobility, place, class and gender.

This approach was suited to attending to the research questions and was also informed by the epistemological and ontological positioning of the research. Discursively analysing participants’ speech enabled an exploration of how notions of social mobility (in relation to place, class and gender) were interpreted and constructed in the social context of the interview, and whether established narratives were sought or rejected. Discursive approaches are often critiqued for their inability to account for consistency in identity work and formation. In response to this, Taylor (2006; 2010) argues that identity work is inevitably incomplete and always a work-in-progress as it occurs through talk, however, ‘local resources’ or previous tellings of narratives help us to construct the current telling of the narrative. This allows for some consistency across narratives, although context inevitably influences narrative construction. This approach emphasises the intersubjective nature of identity work, as opposed to the individualised thesis of the ‘reflexive identity project’. It highlights how dominant narratives and discourses are drawn upon, accepted, and rejected in the construction of narratives that help participants make sense of their lives (Skeggs 1997). The findings chapters draw out some of these narratives, demonstrating what they mean in relation to the dominant social mobility discourse, and highlighting the prevalence of place-based, classed, and gendered identities within them.

Throughout the findings chapters I discuss the common discursive resources drawn upon by participants and explore this in relation to previous literature that has been reviewed, relevant

theoretical concepts, and the research questions. If social mobility is deemed as “a matter of being the right kind of self” (Gillies 2005, p.839), the analysis demonstrates how this is negotiated by participants in their narratives.

4.11. Conclusion

This chapter has provided a comprehensive, reflexive insight into the research process undertaken and how this attunes to the research questions stated at the beginning of the chapter. It has introduced the reader to the key epistemological and ontological underpinnings of the research and has presented the rationale for the methodological decisions taken pertaining to data creation and analysis. It is hoped that the transparency and authenticity of this research has been strengthened by describing the research process in close detail. As an intersubjective, discursive approach has been taken to the analysis, it seemed only appropriate to draw upon the intersubjective nature of the fieldwork through the reflexive insights presented in this chapter. The three different strands of data creation - community fieldwork, community worker interviews, and family interviews - each provided different opportunities to learn more about Hiraeth and some of the community’s inhabitants. Through working rigorously with all of the different data created, both textual and visual, the findings chapters provide readings of the data, suggesting how the data can be understood in relation to social mobility and demonstrating the intersection of place-based, classed, and gendered identities within mobility narratives.

CHAPTER FIVE

Introducing Hiraeth - Class, Community, Place-Making and

(Im)mobilities

5.1. Introduction

This chapter explores the importance of place to Hiraeth’s residents, providing a detailed analysis of the importance of place-attachment. The chapter examines the dynamic relationship between place and class and their impacts on discursive identity formation. There is a focus on place fixity, and the ways in which it is contradictory to dominant social mobility narratives, where those in disadvantaged communities are encouraged to ‘get out and get away’ to improve their lives. The socioeconomic profile of Hiraeth is characterised by deprivation, whilst also being home to pockets of affluence. Section 5.2 provides a short history of the community and its development, drawing upon residents’ narratives. I also explore the construction of ‘place’ through the Welsh Government’s flagship ‘Communities First’ programme, and the frustrations from community development workers of the policy’s approach. The rest of the chapter explores how place-making and belonging were constructed by Hiraeth residents, applying the analytical concept of the ‘born and bred’ narrative to explore the variety of different ways that residents constructed their place- attachment. These include: the importance of keeping close to family and home; generational constructions of belonging; temporary mobilities and the road to home; and the construction of meanings-made-in-common.

In presenting a detailed exploration of the importance of place-based attachment, this chapter seeks to question dominant narratives of social mobility that encourage geographical mobility. The overall argument of this chapter is that the value attached to place in working-class communities needs to be recognised (McKenzie 2015; Littler 2018) by those who suggest that residents in such communities need to expand their spatial horizons (Green and White 2007). Investments should be made in communities such as Hiraeth to further strengthen the communal bonds and to recognise local value systems that matter to the community (Skeggs 2011; Lang and Marsden 2017). As the dominant social mobility discourse focuses on movement, this chapter demonstrates the value attached to anchorage, suggesting that the concept of social mobility needs re-imagining to allow for relational selfhood tied to locality to flourish.