Research

I have wide-ranging research interests in twentieth century social and cultural history. With colleagues at the University of York I am working on a project which explores urban inequality and socio-spatial change in York using rich longitudinal data from Rowntree's poverty surveys, slum clearance data and other social surveys. With colleagues at Sussex and the Open University I am working on a project which explores activism and the development of political identities in British universities since the 1960s.

I am still particularly interested in class identities and relationships and in the spatialisation of inequality. We will be holding two further 'New Class Studies' workshops this year (2012). For more information about the network please email me or follow us on twitter: @ClassRes

Publications:

Ben Jones, The working class in mid-twentieth century England: community, identity and social memory, (Manchester: 2012). ISBN: 978-0-7190-8473-7.

Ben Jones, ‘Slum clearance, privatization and residualization: the practices and politics of council housing in mid-twentieth century England’, Twentieth Century British History, Vol. 21, No. 4, (2010), pp. 510-539.

Ben Jones, ‘The uses of nostalgia: autobiography, community publishing and working class neighbourhoods in post-war England’,Cultural and Social History, Vol. 7, No. 3, (2010), pp. 355-374.

Forthcoming papers:

Invited paper at the conference 'The Working Class in Western Europe since 1945', Universite Libre de Bruxelles, March 9, 2012.


Invited paper (New Class Studies Panel) at the conference 'Community, Cohesion and Social Stability: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives,' University of Bangor, September 13-14, 2012