Council Estate Discourses: a critical discourse analysis of media and residents. Bernice Thomson A thesis submitted to the University of Gloucestershire in accordance with the requirements of the degree of PhD in the school of Narural and Social Sciences December 2018 ABSTRACT The history of council estates, in England, to date spans 100 years. Over this period the societal attitude relating to housing tenure has changed to one which regards home ownership as the norm. Council housing, or social housing as it is now known, once seen as for the respectable working class, has become the place where people with the most social need are housed. This in turn has altered opinions about the residents living on the estates. This thesis, using Critical Discourse Analysis as a methodology, traces the history of working class housing and the political policies that have informed the way it has developed. In addition, collection of discourses, through research and through interviews with people who now live on council estates, has enabled a representation of how people living on the council estates are viewed. Cheltenham in Gloucestershire has been used as a case study area for the purposes of the research and has been compared with the national situation. The harsh reality of the housing crisis existing at the time of completion of this thesis (2018) and the views of current politicians, both local and national, along with the results of this research has informed a summary of the future of how working class housing might progress. DECLARATION I Bernice Thomson hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors Pauline Dooley and Doctor Vicky Randall for the continuous support of my PhD programme of study and research, for their patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and knowledge. Their guidance has helped me through the time of the research and writing of this thesis. I could not have imagined having better advisors and mentors for my PhD study. I would also like to thank Professor Melanie Ilic who has stepped in when other supervisors have been temporarily out of action and has equally provided the support required. I would also like to acknowledge the help and support I received from the local history library, part of Gloucestershire County Council in accessing archive materials. Equally the help I was given by local community organisations in helping me to identify potential interviewees and then providing space for the interviews to take place. It would not have been possible to complete this programme of research without the support of my family. My daughters Patti Thomson and Beth Thomson-Durane were very young when I completed my first degree in 1995. They still remember the hours I spent on my studies then and how this impacted on the amount of time I was able to spend with them. Luckily, they do not resent the time I took and have encouraged me through the long process that has been this research. I have also had a lot of support from friends who although of the mind that I was mad to start this process have been supportive and encouraging and helped me stay on track to complete the thesis. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Aims of the research 7 1.3 Structure of the thesis 8 1.4 Conclusion 9 CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY 2.1 Introduction 11 2.2 Critical Discourse Analysis 12 2.2.1 The Socio-cognitive approach 18 2.2.2 The Dialectical-Relational Approach 20 2.2.3 Application of Critical Discourse Analysis 26 2.3 Four Data Sets/Areas of Research 28 2.3.1 Historiographical Research 29 2.3.2 Sociological and Political Research 30 2.3.3 Housing and Welfare Research 31 2.3.4 Discourses 31 2.3.4.1 Residents’ Discourses 32 • Semi Structures Interviews 32 • Focus Groups 34 2.3.4.2 Media Discourses 36 • Analysis of Local Newspapers 37 • Review of National Newspapers 37 • Television 37 2.3.4.3 Political Discourses 38 2.4 Case Study 38 2.5 Ethical Considerations 39 2.5.1 Ethics Relating to Interview and Focus Groups 39 2.5.2 Ethics Relating to the Researcher 40 2.6 Conclusion 40 CHAPTER 3 LITERATURE REVIEW part one – the historiographical, sociological and political 3.1 Introduction 41 3.2 Historiographical Literature 43 3.2.1 Paradigm Shifts in Welfare 43 3.2.2 State Provision of Housing and Poor Relief 45 3.2.3 Post 1980 56 3.3 Sociological Literature 65 3.4 Conclusion 72 CHAPTER 4 LITERATURE REVIEW part two – the Discourses 4.1 Introduction 75 4.2 Contemporaneous Literature 75 4.3 Television Programmes 95 4.4 Conclusion 100 CHAPTER 5 CHELTENHAM HISTORY AND BACKGROUND 5.1 Introduction 101 5.2 Cheltenham’s History 105 5.2.1 Local History 105 5.2.2 Housing Cheltenham’s Poor and Working Classes 115 5.2.2.1 Cheltenham Council/Social Housing 117 5.3 Conclusion 123 CHAPTER 6 CHELTENHAM DISCOURSES 6.1 Introduction 125 6.2 The Residents’ Stories 126 6.2.1 Residents’ Perspectives on where they live 126 6.2.2 Residents’ Perspectives on how they are portrayed 143 6.3 Local Media Perspectives 149 6.4 Conclusion 158 CHAPTER 7 ANALYSING THE FOUR AREAS OF RESEARCH 7.1 Introduction 160 7.2 Historiographical Research – What Happened? 163 7.3 Sociological and Political Research – Why it Happened? 168 7.3.1 Power 168 7.3.2 Sociological and Political Influences 171 7.4 Housing and Welfare Policy Research – How it Happened? 174 7.5 The Discourses 177 7.5.1 The Residents’ Discourses 177 • Semi Structured Interviews 177 • Focus Groups 184 7.5.2 The Newspaper and Other Media Discourses 189 7.6 Conclusion 195 CHAPTER 8 THE FUTURE OF HOUSING IN CHELTENHAM 8.1 Introduction 197 8.2 The Current Situation in Cheltenham 199 8.3 Current National Political Policies 204 8.4 Residents’ Perspectives on Future of Affordable Housing 208 8.5 Cheltenham’s Responses and Plans 212 8.6 Conclusion 217 CHAPTER 9 CONCLUSION 9.1 Introduction 220 9.2 Key Themes of the Research 221 9.3 Research Limitations 227 9.4 Further Research 227 9.5 Conclusion 228 BIBLIOGRAPHY 230 APPENDIX 1 Interview Questions 245 APPENDIX 2 Leaflet for Residents 249 APPENDIX 3 Informed Voluntary Consent Form 251 APPENDIX 4 Example of Interview Transcript 254 APPENDIX 5 Example of Focus Group Transcript 261 APPENDIX 6 Cheltenham Deprivation Map (2015) 275 APPENDIX 7 Timeline example from Tiki Toki 276 APPENDIX 8 Transcript of Interview with Peter Jeffries 277 APPENDIX 9 Transcript of Housing Future Focus Group 284 LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES, AND MAPS PAGE FIGURES 2.1 The Two-way Process of Discourse Analysis 16 2.2 Research Strategies and Theoretical Backgrounds 17 2.3 Norman Fairclough’s Three-dimensional Framework 27 2.4 The Four Data Sets/Areas of Research 28 7.1 Interview Participants by Tenure 180 7.2 Age Range of Interview Participants 180 7.3 Participants by Family Type 182 7.4 Participants’’ Attitude to Where They Live 184 7.5 Participants’’ Attitude to Their Neighbours 184 TABLES 2.1 Positives & Negatives of Using Semi-structured Interviews 32 7.1 Housing Legislation Pre-World War Two 176 7.2 Housing Legislation Post-World War Two 177 7.3 Breakdown of Semi-Structured Interview Participants 179 7.4 Focus Group Participants 185 7.5 Newspapers Used 192 7.6 Categories of Newspaper Articles Viewed 193 7.7 Search Words and Phrases used 194 8.1 Definitions of Affordable Housing 201 PHOTOGRAPHS PAGE 5.1 Houses in Byron Road, St Marks, Cheltenham 118 5.2 Houses in Clyde Crescent, Whaddon, Cheltenham 119 5.3 Scott House, Princess Elizabeth Way, Cheltenham 120 5.4 Moors Avenue, Tewkesbury Road, Cheltenham 121 MAPS 7.1 Cheltenham Area c. 1617 164 7.2 Cheltenham Area 1809 165 7.3 Cheltenham Area 1834 165 7.4 Cheltenham Area 1884 166 7.5 Cheltenham Area 2017 166 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction This thesis is based on the discourses surrounding council estates and how these are both influenced by and influence attitudes towards those people who are residents on such estates. The most important element of the research is ordinary people; particularly the poorest members of society who, because of their situation, are most dependent on housing provided by the state and are more likely to have complex needs. My choice of subject for the research was informed, in the main, by my lifelong interest in the working-classes in the United Kingdom. This interest has been, from the beginning, concerned with the power that the state, the ruling and moneyed classes, exerts over poorer people who rely on others to provide for their basic needs such as shelter or financial support, whether this be through providing employment or through welfare benefits. The lack of power that poorer people experience often results in discrimination and this discrimination is often perpetuated by the causes and effects of political policies, legislation and attitudes expressed by individuals and popular media. Housing was chosen as the main focus of the research because the type of housing lived in has always provided an indication of financial means. The size of house, the number of rooms, the amount of land surrounding it as well as who owns the property are all things that indicate the affluence and position in society of the people who live there.