Geography

Geographies of Labour, Cultures of Work and Economic Development

The group consists of Dr Carol Ekinsmyth, Dr Simon Leonard, Dr Alan Metcalfe, Dr Marina Prieto-Carrón, Dr Andrew Ryder and Dr Mark Riley. The group focuses on the geographies of economic development, labour and cultures of work in different locations and temporal contexts. The group seeks to advance both conceptual and empirical agendas in conducting and disseminating research internationally.

Our expertise is applied to a diverse range of societal issues in a variety of geographical contexts including East Africa, Europe and Latin America. The group’s members have undertaken research funded by the AHRC, ESRC, DFID, Leverhulme Trust, OECD, Eastern and Southern African Universities Research Programme and the Generalitat de Catalunya. Prieto-Carrón has undertaken several research consultancies for international organisations, NGOs and non-profit organisations, whilst Ryder has undertaken extensive work for the OECD on regional problems and policies in dozen countries, including central and Eastern Europe, Canada, and Korea, and has done work for the Eastern and Southern Universities Research Programme on taxation and the informal sector. Some of the group’s current projects include:

  • Micro-entrepreneurship carried out (and started up) within the context of family life, parenting and work-life balance (‘Mumpreneurship’) (Carol Ekinsmyth)
  • Corporate Social Responsibility, Global supply chains and women workers (Marina Prieto-Carron)
  • Women organisations, Migrants organisations and Labour Rights (Marina Prieto-Carron)
  • Agricultural change and the ‘family farm’ (Mark Riley)
  • Retirement from agriculture and intergenerational kinship ties (Mark Riley)
  • Lifestyle and life-course: recycling in social context (Mark Riley and Alan Metcalfe)
  • Transport in European cities (Andrew Ryder)
  • Helping the informal sector become formal in developing countries (Andrew Ryder)
  • Increasing tax revenue and broadening the tax base in developing countries (Andrew Ryder)
  • Governance and government and economic growth (Andrew Ryder)

Geographies of Work

This includes studies on ‘mumpreneurship’ and micro-entrepreneurship (Ekinsmyth), flexible working practices, project organisation, freelancing and the cultural industries (Leonard, Ekinsmyth); changing agricultural labour patterns and practices (Riley); labour market regulation and governance (Leonard).

Lifecourse Geographies

This includes studies on gender, young families and work-life balance (Ekinsmyth), agricultural change and the ‘family farm’ (Riley), retirement from agriculture and intergenerational kinship ties (Riley).

Sustainable Cities

Sustainable urban living, including creative clusters as agents of local economic development within urban areas (London: Barcelona comparison) (Leonard).

Environmental Management and Conservation

This includes studies conceptualisation of farm conservation behaviour (Riley); Agricultural change and environmental policy in Eastern Europe (Ryder); geographies of waste management (Riley and Metcalfe), environmental management and local knowledges (Riley). Changing environmental management paradigms: “laissez-faire ecology” and economic management paradigms (Ryder)

Staff

Postgraduates

  • Mr Mark Holton 

Research Projects