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The other side of coastal towns: Young men’s precarious lives on the margins of England

Author

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  • Linda McDowell

    (School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, UK)

  • Carl Bonner-Thompson

    (School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, UK)

Abstract

English coastal resorts are among the most deprived towns in the country, with levels of economic and social deprivation often exceeding those of the inner areas of large cities and former industrial settlements. Their dominant image in the media and other forms of representation, however, is of places of innocent fun and leisure, often associated with their history as holiday destinations for working-class families, although the darker side of these towns is not completely ignored. The lives of white working-class, year-round residents in these towns, however, seldom feature in representations or in policy and academic research. Here, we focus on the everyday lives of one group: young white working-class men whose employment opportunities have been adversely affected by economic decline, austerity and rising inequality. In places where employment is largely restricted to customer-facing jobs in the holiday trade, the dominant construction of youthful masculinity and the associated rhetorical view of these men as troublesome not only excludes them from the labour market but exacerbates their marginality. Through interviews in four English resorts, we explore the causes and consequences of their precarity.

Suggested Citation

  • Linda McDowell & Carl Bonner-Thompson, 2020. "The other side of coastal towns: Young men’s precarious lives on the margins of England," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(5), pages 916-932, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:52:y:2020:i:5:p:916-932
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X19887968
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Christina Beatty & Stephen Fothergill, 2004. "Economic Change and the Labour Market in Britain's Seaside Towns," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(5), pages 459-478.
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