1. Connecting excluded
communities?
Paper presented to “Role of the creative economy in developing and
sustaining vibrant and prosperous communities in the UK”,
Birmingham, 6th-8th December 2010
Dr. Paul Benneworth, Center for Higher Education Policy Studies,
University of Twente, the Netherlands

2. Acknowledgements
Economic and Social Research Council
Ursula, Peter & Laura (Programme)
Funders‟ Group: hefce, SFC, DELNI, hefcw
Co-researchers (David, Lynne, Catherine)
CHEPS

3. Grand challenges & the Lund
Declaration
“European research must focus on the Grand
Challenges of our time moving beyond current rigid
thematic approaches”
“Identifying and responding to Grand Challenges
should involve stakeholders from both public and
private sectors in transparent processes taking into
account the global dimension.”
Lund Declaration, July 2009

4. Social exclusion as „grand challenge‟

5. Related to wider societal shift
Division of state: welfare vs policing
From carrot-and-stick to carrots or sticks
Problem at deep level for states
Efficiency: waste of talent, policing costs
Equity: no longer „democratic‟ societies
Increasing threats of societal disturbance
Riots in Paris, Lancs, Utrecht …
Localised famines in developed countries?

6. A „sea change‟ in community
involvement in research?
CURAs in Canada as a „science shop‟ for
community partners
Idea evolved to put community on parity with
universities in terms of governance, funding
Community access to resources for proposal
writing, research, dissemination, wind-up
Helping to have research interests of minority
communities placed onto the agenda.

7. The connected communities
programme
“to mobilise the potential for increasingly inter-
connected communities to enhance self-reliance,
regeneration, sustainability, health & well-being by
better connecting research, stakeholders and
communities.”
“Engagement with communities at all stages of the
research will be a key feature. “
“Connect research expertise and data relevant to
communities from across the research base … to
develop a more holistic understanding of community
life rather than tackling issues in isolation. “

8. The challenge…
Success of connected communities depends
on success of engaging with excluded
communities
BUT not easy communities for researchers
and universities to deal with
How can universities/ researchers engage
with communities and embed their research in
interests of socially excluded communities?

9. Social exclusion
Substantial challenge for national socio-
economic cohesion (ASE, 2007)
Individuals in a variety of segmented markets
(Gordon et al, 1982)
Overlapping segmentation drivers (Stoeger,
2009)
Geographical self-selection (plus geographical
markets)  socially excluded communities

11. Social exclusion processes (I)
Allocation mechanism Exclusionary process
Labour market Short-term, flexible, vulnerable contracts with limited benefits and opportunities to save.
Workfare contracts enforcing long hours in return for welfare payment, no capital formation
Housing market Restriction to remote, undesirable parts of city with limited service provision, poor accessibility,
hidden costs of transport, caring responsibilities.
High rents for poor quality housing limiting saving and housing market progression; ‘red lining’,
negative equity.
Education provision Discriminatory access requirements based on existing pupils or residence base – inner city
schools.
Limited progression and participation through education system, access only to part-time, low-
cost higher ed.
Access to transport Transport network goes through, not into, area, bringing all costs and no benefits.
Poor public transport raises commuting times and reduces opportunities to networks with people
in other suburbs.
Health services Restriction/ rationing of service provision even where theoretical entitlement exists.
Shift from public health to emergency health measures, limited preventative/ elective activities

12. Social exclusion (II)
Mechanism Exclusionary process
Kinship ties Fragmentation of coherent family units across urban area reducing opportunities for interaction
and informal provision
Emphasis on household survival strategies reduces opportunities for capital formation and
pooling at family level.
Governance networks Political representatives excluded from decision-making venues because no interest in
constituency.
Community voice excluded from governance networks because seen as being pathological or
unreasonable.
State violence monopoly Retreat of police from problem areas, increased costs and pressures of criminality
Territorial profiling and emphasis on enforcement rather than welfare functions of law services.
Production networks Failure to benefit from employment created through local investments in infrastructure and
inward investment
Limited workforce progression from informal-local sector to formal-external sector.
Private services Low levels of services for high costs through de facto monopoly situations (e.g. water provision)
Reliance on informal services
Financial services Failure to benefit from cost reductions for secure payments –(e.g. direct debit discounts); time
and monetary costs of up-front payments.
Reliance on doorstep lending and exclusion from formal credit markets, reducing opportunities
for capital formation.

13. Cutting the Gordian knot?
How to improve the structural situation of
excluded communities?
Addressing multiple dimensions of exclusion
simultaneously
Self-reinforcement expressed in political
systems
Building up „social capital‟ in these
communities

14. The double bind of exclusion
Stakeholders ‘do’ to
community
Key
governance
‘Community’
and multi-
national
Internal fragmentation production
networks
External distantiation

15. Universities fitting the
communities into their networks

16. Engagement in university context
Universities have a wider societal mission …
… but no general duty to everyone.
Universities are institutions in the world…
…who have specific spatial footprints.
Universities are places of general access…
…who are increasingly regulating access.
Universities are communities of scholars …
…dependent on corporate structures.

17. Engagement as benefit
Easy to attack straw man of engagement
Many versions of engagement are not
university core tasks
From engagement as duty to engagement as
an opportunity
Problem-framing: seeing behind the wall
Theoretical: challenging assumptions
Empirical: new perspectives on old situations
Analytic: challenging findings
Impact: defined, existing user groups

18. Challenges for engaged research with
excluded communities
1. False dichotomy with relevance
2. Related to (dying) idea of academic freedom
3. Excluded community as quiet stakeholder
4. Limited pressure from principals for „real‟
engagement
5. Focus on service delivery not research
programme
6. Divergence of interests in applications stage

19. Newcastle: engagement in
environment and sustainability
Work on mine-water
remediation &
groundwater energy
Drawing on knowledge
of former miners/ mining
communities
£10ms research council
funding
SRIF, RDA, DECC…

20. World class research on Teesside

21. Community Financial
Solutions (Salford)

22. From „big narratives‟ to „little projects‟
Fallacious to claim all researchers should only do engaged
research
It is difficult to imagine, for example, how particle physics
could submit to [engaged research methodologies] when, in
order to succeed, it had to cut itself off from the public and
work in the secrecy of its laboratories, behind huge esoteric
equipment. On the other hand, the organisation and
production of knowledge on problems concerning the
environment, health or food safety could easily fit into
[democratic oversight or co-production models] and the
hybrid forums they organise”. (Callon, 2002, p. 93-94)

23. Projects as pieces of a „jigsaw‟
Building a new society
with fewer barriers
and problems than
hitherto, including
for socially excluded
groups

24. How does „your‟ jigsaw piece fit?
With personal intellectual
trajectory?
With university‟s corporate
interests?
With the interests of
funders (e.g. AHRC)?
With partners‟ needs
(excluded communities)?
With creating solutions to
exclusion problems?