Mark Shucksmith
Biographic Data
| ID | 1003663 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mark Shucksmith |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mark |
| FAMILY NAME | Shucksmith |
| SIGNATURE | SHUCKSMITH M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Newcastle University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8546-9582 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 41 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 531 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 40 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 5 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1989 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 11 |
Reimagining rural policy through mission-led governance
Mission-led governance has emerged as a popular policy approach to address complex societal challenges through ambitious, cross-sectoral goals. However, concerns persist about its top-down nature, lack of spatial sensitivity and potential incompatibility with place-based approaches. A particular concern is that it might marginalise rural areas. This commentary examines whether mission-led governance can deliver for rural communities by fostering …
Rural lives during Covid-19
This paper explores the redistribution and rescaling of societal risk in rural Britain during the COVID-19 pandemic, as one episode of the permacrisis. Drawing on empirical work in three contrasting areas of Scotland and England, we analyse individuals’ experiences of risk and of the institutions which offer them support in times of crisis (markets, state, voluntary and community organisations, and family and friends). Our findings reveal the une…
The rural–urban poverty gap in England after the 2008 financial crisis
A rural–urban poverty gap exists in most countries around the world, and this paper employs a novel approach to explain this difference, using logistic regression to examine the effects of rural–urban residence type, individual socio-economic and demographic characteristics, and changes in government policies on the likelihood of being poor in England. Unusually, rural areas in England have lower poverty rates than urban areas, so the direction o…
The exclusive countryside post-pandemic
The processes through which the British countryside has become increasingly socially exclusive have been a theme of rural scholars' research since the 1970s, and these social changes are reflected in experiences of the pandemic. This paper begins by observing the central importance of power relations, and then discusses the pivotal role of housing as a motor of rural social change and exclusivity. Notwithstanding these processes, and indeed large…
The concept of spatial justice and the European Union’s territorial cohesion
Regional disparities and inequalities have been a key concern in the EU. This paper develops a concept of spatial justice to examine the European Union policy of territorial cohesion and its reforms. It identifies three key dimensions of spatial justice that distinguish it from social justice: spatiality, which draws attention to spatial aspects of justice; integration of distributive and procedural justice, which goes beyond this controversial d…
Hope Under Neoliberal Austerity
Hope under Neoliberal Austerity
This book explores the ways in which communities are responding to today's society as government policies are increasingly promoting privatisation, deregulation and individualisation of responsibilities, providing insights into the efficacy of these approaches through key policy issues including access to food, education and health.
Hope Under Neoliberal Austerity
Hope under Neoliberal Austerity
Hope under Neoliberal Austerity
At the intersection of urbanisation and counterurbanisation in rural space
Rurality and social innovation processes and outcomes
Although increasingly prominent in research, policy and practice, little is known about social innovation in a rural context. To address this knowledge gap, our paper explores how rurality might affect the social innovation process . Drawing on 68 interviews carried out with beneficiaries, service providers and external stakeholders of a rural social enterprise initiative in Scotland, the paper adopts a realist evaluation theory (Pawson and Tille…
Leader and Spatial Justice
Recent papers have argued that spatial justice should be pursued through a place-based approach, which enables local people to assert their own capacity to act and to pursue their own positive visions: an approach fundamental to LEADER. This paper considers the extent to which LEADER constitutes local action addressing spatial justice through a case study in England. Analysis of this case leads to questions about the extent to which apparent loca…
Comparative Rural Planning Cultures
It comes as no surprise that planning has an urban bias. Modern planning arose in the early twentieth century to address the problems of urbanization brought on by the Industrial Revolution. From s
Poverty dynamics in Rural Britain 1991–2008
Poverty and Social Exclusion in Diversified Rural Contexts
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors
Rural policy after Brexit
The impacts of Brexit on rural England will be far reaching, although only the impacts on agriculture tend to be considered by researchers and by government. This paper explores the challenges and opportunities which Brexit presents for renewal of rural policy in England. Rural policies remain rooted in the immediate post-war context but the rural economy is no longer synonymous with agriculture, and rural society and the institutions of governan…
Social inequalities in rural England
Reconsidering Territorial Governance to Account for Enhanced Rural-Urban Interdependence in America
The urban-rural interface is structured by intense social, economic, and environmental interdependencies among urban and rural places. Accordingly, we argue that the rural-urban interface should be governed in a new, hybrid manner-one that accounts for both place-based and relational exigencies. The United States lacks a coherent, coordinated approach to multijurisdictional planning and governance, but multijurisdictional governance can and often…
Routledge International Handbook of Rural Studies
Re-imagining the rural
Exploring the Impact of Informal Practices on Social Exclusion and Age‐Friendliness for Older People in Rural Communities
This article explores the role of informal practices, across the state, private, voluntary, and family and friend systems, in addressing social exclusion in rural communities in Ireland and Northern Ireland. In doing so, we examine the relevance of the ‘age‐friendly’ concept to rural settings. Using focus group discussions, involving 62 community stakeholders from 10 communities across the two jurisdictions, we explore the four systems and their …
Class, Power and Inequality in Rural Areas
This article reviews approaches to the study of poverty, inequality and social exclusion in rural areas and seeks to relate these to new directions in class analysis and to ideas of place and hyper-mobility. The article is primarily conceptual, drawing on Bourdievian approaches to class analysis and suggesting a new research agenda on class and inequality in rural areas. Specifically, the article argues that there is a need to research not only t…
The Uplands after neoliberalism? – The role of the small farm in rural sustainability
Disintegrated Rural Development? Neo-endogenous Rural Development, Planning and Place-Shaping in Diffused Power Contexts
What is the role of the state in promoting sustainable rural communities? Only a few years ago any discussion of this question would have alluded to the concept of integrated rural development. Today the concept of governance is internationally used to address such questions, reflecting a recognition of the changing role of the state (at all levels) and the greater propensity for public, private and voluntary sectors to interact at multiple scale…
Re-imagining the rural
Networking
Based on empirical research in case study areas in six European countries, this paper examines the roles of social capital and identity in contemporary rural development. We argue that a focus on networks of social relationships can help us understand the dynamics of and relationships between social capital and identity. Comparing the case study areas, we draw attention to the position of identity in rural development and focus in particular on a…
Urban–Rural Differences in Quality of Life across the European Union
Shucksmith M., Cameron S., Merridew T. and Pichler F. Urban–rural differences in quality of life across the European Union, Regional Studies. This paper analyses the European Quality of Life Survey 2003 to explore urban–rural differences in income, deprivation, and other life domains. The main conclusion is that the richest countries in the European Union show little evidence of significant urban–rural differences, whereas in the poorer countries…
The Uplands after neoliberalism? – The role of the small farm in rural sustainability
Endogenous Development, Social Capital and Social Inclusion
There is a danger of subscribing too readily to the rhetoric of participative development. The communitarian assumptions of the endogenous approach privilege a 'territory' as potentially homogenous and gloss over internal socio-economic and cultural inequality. The insights of Bourdieu are particularly instructive here. This paper argues that leader-type programmes need to include pro-active action targeted at raising the social and cultural capi…
Disintegrated Rural Development? Neo-endogenous Rural Development, Planning and Place-Shaping in Diffused Power Contexts
What is the role of the state in promoting sustainable rural communities? Only a few years ago any discussion of this question would have alluded to the concept of integrated rural development. Today the concept of governance is internationally used to address such questions, reflecting a recognition of the changing role of the state (at all levels) and the greater propensity for public, private and voluntary sectors to interact at multiple scale…
Rural Scotland Today
Part 1 Introduction and contextual information: review of the literature methodology area profiles including contextual information rural advantage or rural disadvantage? Part 2 The Scottish rural experience: housing employment work and changing rural economies development income and rural poverty service provision community life in rural areas social change and migration belonging and integration in rural communtities rural culture and the rural…
Class, Power and Inequality in Rural Areas
This article reviews approaches to the study of poverty, inequality and social exclusion in rural areas and seeks to relate these to new directions in class analysis and to ideas of place and hyper-mobility. The article is primarily conceptual, drawing on Bourdievian approaches to class analysis and suggesting a new research agenda on class and inequality in rural areas. Specifically, the article argues that there is a need to research not only t…
Rural Development and Social Exclusion
The central purpose of this paper is to enquire into how rural societies, groups and individuals across Europe experience social change and social exclusion. Social exclusion is a multi-dimensional, dynamic concept which refers to a breakdown or malfunctioning of the major societal systems that should guarantee the social integration of the individual or household. These include the democratic and legal system, which promotes civic integration; t…
Leader and Innovation
Innovation is widely held to be a key driver of economic growth at the heart of the knowledge economy, although the social and cultural dimensions of innovation are often neglected. Thus, innovation policies are frequently regarded as central to improving a region's competitiveness, but what does this mean in rural contexts and how is this concept understood and negotiated by different actors? This article takes as a point of departure the litera…
Young People and Social Exclusion in Rural Areas
The concept of social exclusion may be used to connect the experiences of individuals and social groups to broader social and economic processes (linking 'biography' to 'history'). This paper draws on recent empirical studies of young people in rural areas of Britain and other European countries to illustrate how social exclusion may operate in rural areas, particularly in the transition from education to employment
At the intersection of urbanisation and counterurbanisation in rural space
Rurality and social innovation processes and outcomes
Although increasingly prominent in research, policy and practice, little is known about social innovation in a rural context. To address this knowledge gap, our paper explores how rurality might affect the social innovation process . Drawing on 68 interviews carried out with beneficiaries, service providers and external stakeholders of a rural social enterprise initiative in Scotland, the paper adopts a realist evaluation theory (Pawson and Tille…
Social inequalities in rural England
A Theoretical Perspective on Rural Housing Housing Classes in Rural Britain
Exploring the Impact of Informal Practices on Social Exclusion and Age‐Friendliness for Older People in Rural Communities
This article explores the role of informal practices, across the state, private, voluntary, and family and friend systems, in addressing social exclusion in rural communities in Ireland and Northern Ireland. In doing so, we examine the relevance of the ‘age‐friendly’ concept to rural settings. Using focus group discussions, involving 62 community stakeholders from 10 communities across the two jurisdictions, we explore the four systems and their …
Reconsidering Territorial Governance to Account for Enhanced Rural-Urban Interdependence in America
The urban-rural interface is structured by intense social, economic, and environmental interdependencies among urban and rural places. Accordingly, we argue that the rural-urban interface should be governed in a new, hybrid manner-one that accounts for both place-based and relational exigencies. The United States lacks a coherent, coordinated approach to multijurisdictional planning and governance, but multijurisdictional governance can and often…
Leader and Spatial Justice
Recent papers have argued that spatial justice should be pursued through a place-based approach, which enables local people to assert their own capacity to act and to pursue their own positive visions: an approach fundamental to LEADER. This paper considers the extent to which LEADER constitutes local action addressing spatial justice through a case study in England. Analysis of this case leads to questions about the extent to which apparent loca…
Social welfare in rural Europe
The politics of pluriactivity in Britain
Poverty dynamics in Rural Britain 1991–2008
Poverty and Social Exclusion in Diversified Rural Contexts
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors
Rurality and Social Inclusion
This paper begins by reviewing several of the ways in which social inclusion has been conceptualized in the literature. The paper then explores these approaches in the context of the provision of preschool education in rural Scotland. Preschool education is viewed by government as a powerful weapon in the fight against social exclusion, but higher per capita costs in rural areas as well as the availability and cost of transport are major problems…
The rural–urban poverty gap in England after the 2008 financial crisis
A rural–urban poverty gap exists in most countries around the world, and this paper employs a novel approach to explain this difference, using logistic regression to examine the effects of rural–urban residence type, individual socio-economic and demographic characteristics, and changes in government policies on the likelihood of being poor in England. Unusually, rural areas in England have lower poverty rates than urban areas, so the direction o…
The exclusive countryside post-pandemic
The processes through which the British countryside has become increasingly socially exclusive have been a theme of rural scholars' research since the 1970s, and these social changes are reflected in experiences of the pandemic. This paper begins by observing the central importance of power relations, and then discusses the pivotal role of housing as a motor of rural social change and exclusivity. Notwithstanding these processes, and indeed large…
The lake district special planning board 1974–1986
The politics of pluriactivity in Britain
Planning for low cost rural housing
Rural housing in the UK
A Theoretical Perspective on Rural Housing Housing Classes in Rural Britain
Housebuilding on farmland
The effects of European agricultural policies on the communities of upland Scotland
Zusammenfasung : Konsequenzen der europäischen Agrarpolitik for die Bevölkerung eines schottischen Berggebietes : die Grampians. Nach einer geographischen und wirtschaft- lichen Presentation der Region der Grampians, analysiert der Autor die Entwicklung der Arbeitsmarktes und seine Auswirkung auf die Landschaft. Dann ordnet er den besonderen Zu- sammenhang des Eintritts Grofibi- tanniens in die E.G. im Jahre 1973 ein : die Bedingungen der Verhand…
Farm Household Behaviour and the Transition to Post‐productivism
This paper proposes a theoretical framework for examining how farm households will respond to the reversal of productivist farm policies and applies this to a longitudinal study of farm households in upland Scotland over the period 1987‐91. The paper argues that the actions of farm households may be understood not only in terms of their structural situation but also as an expression of the values and motivations which underlie behaviour (their di…
Attitudes and policies towards residential development in the Scottish countryside
The role of policy in influencing farm household behaviour in european mountain areas
Bel F., Dax Thomas, Herrmann Vera, Knickel K., Seiber O., Shucksmith Mark, Veuthey F. The role of policy in influencing farm household behaviour in european mountain areas. In: Revue de géographie alpine, tome 81, n°2, 1993. pp. 101-127
Social welfare in rural Europe
Rural Development and Social Exclusion
The central purpose of this paper is to enquire into how rural societies, groups and individuals across Europe experience social change and social exclusion. Social exclusion is a multi-dimensional, dynamic concept which refers to a breakdown or malfunctioning of the major societal systems that should guarantee the social integration of the individual or household. These include the democratic and legal system, which promotes civic integration; t…
Rural Scotland Today
Part 1 Introduction and contextual information: review of the literature methodology area profiles including contextual information rural advantage or rural disadvantage? Part 2 The Scottish rural experience: housing employment work and changing rural economies development income and rural poverty service provision community life in rural areas social change and migration belonging and integration in rural communtities rural culture and the rural…
Endogenous Development, Social Capital and Social Inclusion
There is a danger of subscribing too readily to the rhetoric of participative development. The communitarian assumptions of the endogenous approach privilege a 'territory' as potentially homogenous and gloss over internal socio-economic and cultural inequality. The insights of Bourdieu are particularly instructive here. This paper argues that leader-type programmes need to include pro-active action targeted at raising the social and cultural capi…
Young People and Social Exclusion in Rural Areas
The concept of social exclusion may be used to connect the experiences of individuals and social groups to broader social and economic processes (linking 'biography' to 'history'). This paper draws on recent empirical studies of young people in rural areas of Britain and other European countries to illustrate how social exclusion may operate in rural areas, particularly in the transition from education to employment
Current awareness, use and perceived priorities for rural databases in Scotland
Networking
Based on empirical research in case study areas in six European countries, this paper examines the roles of social capital and identity in contemporary rural development. We argue that a focus on networks of social relationships can help us understand the dynamics of and relationships between social capital and identity. Comparing the case study areas, we draw attention to the position of identity in rural development and focus in particular on a…
Rurality and Social Inclusion
This paper begins by reviewing several of the ways in which social inclusion has been conceptualized in the literature. The paper then explores these approaches in the context of the provision of preschool education in rural Scotland. Preschool education is viewed by government as a powerful weapon in the fight against social exclusion, but higher per capita costs in rural areas as well as the availability and cost of transport are major problems…
Leader and Innovation
Innovation is widely held to be a key driver of economic growth at the heart of the knowledge economy, although the social and cultural dimensions of innovation are often neglected. Thus, innovation policies are frequently regarded as central to improving a region's competitiveness, but what does this mean in rural contexts and how is this concept understood and negotiated by different actors? This article takes as a point of departure the litera…
Urban–Rural Differences in Quality of Life across the European Union
Shucksmith M., Cameron S., Merridew T. and Pichler F. Urban–rural differences in quality of life across the European Union, Regional Studies. This paper analyses the European Quality of Life Survey 2003 to explore urban–rural differences in income, deprivation, and other life domains. The main conclusion is that the richest countries in the European Union show little evidence of significant urban–rural differences, whereas in the poorer countries…
Disintegrated Rural Development? Neo-endogenous Rural Development, Planning and Place-Shaping in Diffused Power Contexts
What is the role of the state in promoting sustainable rural communities? Only a few years ago any discussion of this question would have alluded to the concept of integrated rural development. Today the concept of governance is internationally used to address such questions, reflecting a recognition of the changing role of the state (at all levels) and the greater propensity for public, private and voluntary sectors to interact at multiple scale…
The Uplands after neoliberalism? – The role of the small farm in rural sustainability
Class, Power and Inequality in Rural Areas
This article reviews approaches to the study of poverty, inequality and social exclusion in rural areas and seeks to relate these to new directions in class analysis and to ideas of place and hyper-mobility. The article is primarily conceptual, drawing on Bourdievian approaches to class analysis and suggesting a new research agenda on class and inequality in rural areas. Specifically, the article argues that there is a need to research not only t…
Exploring the Impact of Informal Practices on Social Exclusion and Age‐Friendliness for Older People in Rural Communities
This article explores the role of informal practices, across the state, private, voluntary, and family and friend systems, in addressing social exclusion in rural communities in Ireland and Northern Ireland. In doing so, we examine the relevance of the ‘age‐friendly’ concept to rural settings. Using focus group discussions, involving 62 community stakeholders from 10 communities across the two jurisdictions, we explore the four systems and their …
Routledge International Handbook of Rural Studies
Rural development and sustainability (34 works) · Political science (33 works) · Economics (31 works) · Economic growth (23 works) · Sociology (23 works) · Geography (20 works) · Rural area (14 works) · Economic geography (11 works) · Law (11 works) · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism (10 works)