In the Shadow of Grenfell: Residents, representations and social housing in London
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Social Sciences
Abstract
Background
The stigmatisation of residents living in council estates and social housing (Hastings, 2004; Kearns, Kearns and Lawson, 2013) has recently become racialized, with these spaces being recognised as 'ghettos' (Slater and Anderson, 2011). Negative media coverage of immigration and religion (particularly Islam), often with social problem framing, has resulted in harmful societal treatment of these groups (Cisneros, 2008; Poole, 2008). With more or less all Londoners experiencing the housing crisis with varying degrees of severity depending on class, race and to an extent, gender (Watt and Minton, 2016), this study addresses how the mass media constructed the Grenfell Tower tragedy in relation to these issues.
Aims
To investigate the interplay between dominant media and political representations of the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the attitudes and experiences of residents living in the area on nearby social housing estates. Firstly, to trace the shifting narratives of the tragedy within media and political discourses, exploring how contestations over the meaning of the events unfold; and secondly, to examine how social housing residents and activists living in close proximity to Grenfell Tower respond to the events themselves but also their symbolic meanings.
Research Questions
- What are the dominant narratives found in the mass media regarding the survivors? What prominence is given to class, religion and race?
- What weight is given to issues surrounding the housing crisis, social housing or entitlement in news media?
- What does this mean for Grenfell United and local residents?
Positioning of the Research
This study aims to uncover the impact of stigma in regards to class, race, religion and housing tenure and what this means for the fight for justice and for those who live in social housing. Butler (2009, xii) has shown how the mass media "selectively produces and enforces what will count as reality" and thus 'frame' events such that some lives appear less "grievable". The focus of this study is the framing of the tragedy and the people whose lives it affected, also making a sociological contribution to what such media constructions mean for social movements, namely, the work of Grenfell United.
Whilst Wacquant (2008) argues that territorial stigmatisation weakens the collective identity of marginalised groups, preventing them from overcoming such circumstances, I shall uncover how media narratives may or may not impact the collective identity of Grenfell United and residents of social housing. While there is extensive work around the relationship between stigma, advanced marginalisation and race, I shall engage with a broader intersectionality of oppression, including how religion and immigration status contributes to particular narratives.
Methodology
Discourse analysis of 4 newspapers across the political spectrum (Daily Mail, the Sun, the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian). These have the highest reach in both print and digital formats (National Readership Surveys, 2017). Through coding and counting the consistency of certain words, actors and themes, the articles' framings and discourses will be uncovered, as well as how they are used to persuade others (Philips and Hardy, 2011).
15 semi-structured interviews with local residents living in nearby social housing. Participants will be recruited through snowball sampling and advertising on the Community Support Facebook page. Interviews will be conducted in 2020 which may prevent the close proximity of events from influencing their immediate response (Cowles, 1988).
Photoelicitation of key articles with a focus group of 4-6 members of Grenfell United will draw out their interpretation of the representational differences across newspapers and how this has impacted them as individuals and as a group fighting for justice. Thematic analysis will be used, creating codes through Nvivo, and identifying key themes in the transcripts.
The stigmatisation of residents living in council estates and social housing (Hastings, 2004; Kearns, Kearns and Lawson, 2013) has recently become racialized, with these spaces being recognised as 'ghettos' (Slater and Anderson, 2011). Negative media coverage of immigration and religion (particularly Islam), often with social problem framing, has resulted in harmful societal treatment of these groups (Cisneros, 2008; Poole, 2008). With more or less all Londoners experiencing the housing crisis with varying degrees of severity depending on class, race and to an extent, gender (Watt and Minton, 2016), this study addresses how the mass media constructed the Grenfell Tower tragedy in relation to these issues.
Aims
To investigate the interplay between dominant media and political representations of the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the attitudes and experiences of residents living in the area on nearby social housing estates. Firstly, to trace the shifting narratives of the tragedy within media and political discourses, exploring how contestations over the meaning of the events unfold; and secondly, to examine how social housing residents and activists living in close proximity to Grenfell Tower respond to the events themselves but also their symbolic meanings.
Research Questions
- What are the dominant narratives found in the mass media regarding the survivors? What prominence is given to class, religion and race?
- What weight is given to issues surrounding the housing crisis, social housing or entitlement in news media?
- What does this mean for Grenfell United and local residents?
Positioning of the Research
This study aims to uncover the impact of stigma in regards to class, race, religion and housing tenure and what this means for the fight for justice and for those who live in social housing. Butler (2009, xii) has shown how the mass media "selectively produces and enforces what will count as reality" and thus 'frame' events such that some lives appear less "grievable". The focus of this study is the framing of the tragedy and the people whose lives it affected, also making a sociological contribution to what such media constructions mean for social movements, namely, the work of Grenfell United.
Whilst Wacquant (2008) argues that territorial stigmatisation weakens the collective identity of marginalised groups, preventing them from overcoming such circumstances, I shall uncover how media narratives may or may not impact the collective identity of Grenfell United and residents of social housing. While there is extensive work around the relationship between stigma, advanced marginalisation and race, I shall engage with a broader intersectionality of oppression, including how religion and immigration status contributes to particular narratives.
Methodology
Discourse analysis of 4 newspapers across the political spectrum (Daily Mail, the Sun, the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian). These have the highest reach in both print and digital formats (National Readership Surveys, 2017). Through coding and counting the consistency of certain words, actors and themes, the articles' framings and discourses will be uncovered, as well as how they are used to persuade others (Philips and Hardy, 2011).
15 semi-structured interviews with local residents living in nearby social housing. Participants will be recruited through snowball sampling and advertising on the Community Support Facebook page. Interviews will be conducted in 2020 which may prevent the close proximity of events from influencing their immediate response (Cowles, 1988).
Photoelicitation of key articles with a focus group of 4-6 members of Grenfell United will draw out their interpretation of the representational differences across newspapers and how this has impacted them as individuals and as a group fighting for justice. Thematic analysis will be used, creating codes through Nvivo, and identifying key themes in the transcripts.