Ageing, Austerity, and Neoliberalism

This book explores how neoliberalism and austerity have affected older people living within a deindustrialised town, utilising a Foucauldian approach and an ethnographic methodology.

Amy Jones is currently a Sociology University Lecturer. She completed her PhD in 2019, which explored the impact of neoliberalism and the 2008 recession upon older people living within a deindustrialised town, which serves as the basis for this book. She has also completed a Research Fellowship at the University of Exeter, wherein she worked on a 'Transforming Engagement' project, which drew from the principles of C2 (Connecting Communities) and complexity theory, and measured (both quantitatively and qualitatively) the extent to which people in areas of deprivation experience feelings of isolation and loneliness. Amy's areas of specialism are social theory, critical theory, research design and methods, ethnography, consumerism, inequalities, the economy, and community studies.

1. Introduction 2. The fragmentation and stigmatisation of the working class 3. The resistant 'monsters' of consumerism 4. The irrevocable demise of the community? 5. Conclusion and the contemporary shocks to the UK