Hilary Burrage
is a freelance sociologist, consultant, writer and teacher with wide experience in regeneration, knowledge ecology and economy, sustainability and the delivery of social policy. This is her professional website and blog, where she shares her areas of expertise and her thoughts on issues concerning her professional practice. Previously a college Senior Lecturer, Hilary is now also a board director, researcher, coach and speaker. A community activist with national experience of business, culture, environmental issues, health, politics and regeneration, Hilary has worked in many contexts, from Liverpool via London to Prague. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Call The Midwife… Then, Now And In The Future
We might think that a book about midwifery in London in the 1950s is of little practical relevance today; but how wrong could we be? The true tales which Jennifer Worth (1935- 2011) relates in her Call the Midwife trilogy, now being televised by the BBC, are not as some suppose stories removed from the realities of the present time. They connect very directly with our current lives for at least two critically important reasons.
NB Further discussion of ‘Call The Midwife’ as a really successful BBC1 drama series can be found on Hilary’s other website, DreamingRealist ~ Call The Midwife: A BBC1 Triumph For Real People. The blog on this website considers professional public service issues. You are most welcome to add Comment on either post.
Sociology In Your Career
I visited Kingston University yesterday, to talk about the many occupational routes open to Sociology graduates. The list of possibilities is in reality almost infinite. Alongside academic learning, Sociology courses instil a great many skills and a lot of knowledge which can be applied generically, so this was an excellent opportunity to exchange views and understandings of available opportunities with a new generation of Sociology degree finalists and their teachers.
Green Hubs As Social Inclusion And Community Engagement
This paper proposes a possible framework to examine concepts of public space in relation to culture, knowledge, community engagement and inclusion. It is not a challenge to current ideas about the sustainable development of public space, but offers additional, interlinked perspectives arising from wider debates on the importance of culture and knowledge in resilience, engagement, community cohesion and sense of place.
Let me start by saying in this Review that I’d urge absolutely everyone who has a professional concern for ageing to read this book. It offers fresh perspectives on and a very significant contribution to our understanding of difficult matters. Not only researchers (whether social or, e.g., medical) but also policy makers, practitioners, clinicians, journalists and many others will find their insights into this complex issue enriched by what Bill Bytheway, a social gerontologist and policy commentator of many years’ standing, has to tell us.
Our Community Bus Is Our Badge
Matters budgetary are pretty tight for most social enterprises right now. So is there still a case for capital spending by individual organisations on purchases such as, say, a minibus, even when a taxi account would do?
Rationally, most of us would probably say No. With their hearts however perhaps many would even now want to say Yes, there are still good reasons for acquiring and maintaining expensive capital items. But why? What does ownership offer which functional access does not?
Ageing Is A National Issue
Perhaps it’s superfluous to say this, but ageing is an issue which affects us all quite fundamentally; but you wouldn’t always know that, to judge from the general invisibility of the topic. And that invisibility is a big element of the difficult challenges which policy makers in this field face. Unless we’re very unlucky we shall all experience it, but how many of us want to think about old age? We don’t want to consider the often lonely lives, reduced mobility and other unrelenting afflictions which many older people encounter at some point in their senior years.
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Is ‘Ruin Porn’ A Good Approach To Regeneration?
The Centre for Cities 2011 report published in January makes for interesting reading, especially in its focus on the challenges ahead for places like my home town of Liverpool. The debate earlier this year at the launch – which, sadly, I had to miss – will have been compelling. The Centre’s 2011 projections are fairly upbeat for locations such as Bristol and Edinburgh (both, of course, renown for their knowledge-based economies), but the news for cities such as Liverpool (and Birkenhead), Newport and Swansea is measured and dire.
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David Cameron Stands By Big Society; Others Stand Askance
The debate about ‘Big Society’ continues vigorously this weekend (13 February 2011), not least because Prime Minister David Cameron has himself chosen to write about it in The Observer (‘Have no doubt, the big society is on its way‘). Cameron’s optimism is not however shared by all other commentators, as many respondents to his piece have very clearly demonstrated.
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Speaking Out On Population
The Global Population Speak Out is a programme of fundamental importance promoted by the Population Institute in Washington DC. It is, they say:
… designed to bring new voices into the realm of population activism and public education. By demonstrating that population is an approachable issue, especially in the context of international sustainability initiatives and discussions, the capacity of the human community to achieve long-term sustainable living scenarios with our planet is strengthened.
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Big Society Voluntarism Harms The Knowledge Base
I’m finding the Big Society so far no fun at all. It seems to be on-line-style tea and sympathy all round. Almost on a daily basis emails are arriving from hard-working and committed contacts, saying that their job, role and whatever else is coming to an end, and they as yet have no clear idea what, if anything, will happen next. And, incredibly short-sighted though this may be, in general it appears that no provision is being made by these people’s organisations to retain core knowledge or maintain legacy.
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