Revisiting the UK’sNorth-South Divide:the Changing Face

of the North

Conference sponsored by CRECIB and organised by the University Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3 (CREW- CREC EA 4399)and the University of Lorraine (IDEA and LOTERR)

To be held in Nancy, FranceUniversité de Lorraine

4th and 5th November 2016

http://idea-udl.org/conference-north-en/

Centre de recherche en Géographie

This multidisciplinary conference, which is intended for researchers in the fields of British studies, geography and other social sciences (political science, sociology, economics and history), aims at analysing various changes specific to the North of Britain (regarding territory, society, culture, identity, politics, etc.). ● In the 21st century, when seeking to understand the socio-economic problems facing the regions of the North of Great Britain or the ‘Norths’ (not only the North of England but also Scotland, Wales and even Northern Ireland) and to define their relationship with the South of England (particularly London), is it still appropriate to refer to the North-South divide? ● What is the cultural, social and economic heritage of these territories? ● What is their political and economic place today? ● Is it still relevant to refer to a North-South divide in view of contemporary regional conditions and dynamics? ● To what extent have the 2008 crisis and the reforms conducted by the Cameron government affected regional balance? ● What are the perceptions and representations of identity, as well as the individual and collective experiences of the inhabitants of Northern England (‘Northerners’), in relation to London and to Scotland? ● What is the place of the North in public policy in a context of partial devolution of powers? ● Is it possible to observe the (re)emergence of a single distinct identity (or of several identities) as well as a distinct form of governance for the North of England within a post-devolution United Kingdom? ● Finally, can parallels be drawn with other European regions displaying similar divisions?

Scientific Committee: Manuel APPERT (Université Lyon 2), Emmanuelle AVRIL (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3), Mark BAILONI (Université de

Lorraine), David FEE (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3), Corinne NATIVEL (Université Paris-Est Créteil), Andy PIKE (CURDS, Newcastle University), Jonathan POTTER (Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques), Roseline THÉRON

(Université de Lorraine), Jeremy TRANMER (Université de Lorraine), John TOMANEY (UCL)

To answer these questions, the conference will be divided into four main strands. We are therefore reques-ting proposals which fit into one of the strands suggested below.

1. The North-South divide in the United Kingdom: an obsolete debate?

The image of the ‘North-South divide’ first appeared in novels and political writings in the 19th century (Gaskell, Disraeli, etc.). It refers to the thesis according to which Great Britain is divided economically, socially and culturally into two parts. The existence of this divide has often been questioned, even though significant disparities regarding, amongst others, employment, wealth, health and life expectancy appeared clearly in the inter-war period and were reinforced by the deindustrialisation of cities such as Newcastle, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow and even Belfast from the 1970s onwards. The first government measures to help the regions of the North date back to the 1930s, paving the way for a long series of public policies devised by successive governments. Although studies show that regional differences continue to exist, governments systematically attempt to minimise disparities in order to try to prove that their measures have been effective. Thus, in early 2015, a few weeks before the general elections, David Cameron’s government considered that the ‘rebalancing’ of the economy, which was essential for economic recovery, had now been achieved. Moreover, in January 2015, cities minister Greg Clarke very clearly rejected the idea that a divide still existed since, in his opinion, the North and the South were now ‘pulling in the same direction, which is upwards’. Nevertheless, in a sign that all was still not well, the Cameron government

launched at the same time the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ programme, a major plan to transform the North into an engine for growth in the country.

The image of the North-South divide also refers to the electoral geography of Great Britain. While the South tends to vote for the Conservatives, the North of England, Wales and, until recently, Scotland tend to elect Labour representatives. What are the origins of this electoral divide? How can this political territorialisation be explained? In addition, what does it really consist of? Is there simply one single North-South electoral divide? How has it evolved in recent elections? What are its political consequences?

The first strand will focus on the evolution of research and debates concerning the North-South divide and its consequences for the North. It will contribute to providing an overall framework as well as contextualisation by concentrating particularly on the economic and political dependency of the territories of the North in relation to London and the South-East of England. In addition to using maps and statistical data to illustrate these issues, papers may analyse recent political discourse about the ‘rebalancing of the economy’ as well as about the deepening of disparities.

2. What is the North? / One North or several Norths?

This strands aims, firstly, to give a spatial definition by answering the following questions: Where does the North begin? At Birmingham, Watford Gap, or even Camden? Does the North just encompass the three English regions (North-East, North-West, and Yorkshire and the Humber) or should a broader definition be adopted (including the Midlands, Scotland and Wales)? Is the North simply one single periphery of a metropolitan centre composed of the greater South-East or is it, as some geographers claim, an archipelago with no real unity? This strand will also examine the definitions and translations of these concepts (North/Norths, South/Souths,

‘divide’, ‘gap’, etc.), as well as the different levels at which spatial disparities and phenomena such as metropolisation can be analysed.

Following on from this, further questions can be asked about perceptions and representations, and therefore identity. Going beyond the characteristics of the North which, in the collective imagination, are often reduced to clichés about heavy industries, mines, and the working class, it is important to ask what this territory really is in 2015 and to identify the criteria which define it. Can the North be distinguished by economic, social, electoral,

Revisiting the UK’s North-South Divide: the Changing Face of the North

cultural, natural and physical criteria as well as by its landscapes and identities? Can the North be considered simply as an old industrial region? Can its large desolate moors be opposed to the idealised green – and prosperous – countryside of the South? Is there a symbolic, or even imagined, dimension to the territorial definition of the North? Papers may deal with the different ways in which the North is described in political discourse and in Art (literature, paintings, music, and cinema). Descriptions in the media or by travel agencies, chambers of commerce and industry may also be examined.

Papers may seek to establish whether the North has an identity, while also examining whether it would be more appropriate to speak of identities in the plural. Does a single North exist? Is there the slightest

feeling of shared identity between a Geordie and a Liverpudlian? Do the inhabitants of the North of England see themselves above all as belonging to the English nation or more broadly as being part of the British Isles? Is there a form of solidarity between the territories of the North in opposition to the South and particularly to London or, on the contrary, a form of rivalry between the regions of the North of England, Scotland and Wales?

This strand will thus examine the geographical limits of the North, the contrasts and inequalities within the North, the different levels of analysis, perceptions of identity (including gendered identities in the workplace) and the approach to industrial and cultural heritage.

3. What policies for the North of England ?

The first two strands have identified the difficulties met by the territories of the North, their structural economic problems, their social, political and identity demands, as well as their sources of resentment. This third axis now turns to the various public policies adopted to address these issues and the solutions put forward to tackle problems specific to the North. Papers may delve into the demands of the Northern populations and of their elected representatives as well as into the solutions – actual or envisaged – put forward by national political elites.

Indeed, the public policies currently implemented in the North strongly differ from those which prevailed after WW2. Early measures were motivated by a strong will to restore the balance, both spatially and in terms of public funding through industrial redistribution (which was enforced by a muscular planning policy and through disincentives to potential investors in the South). Such policies were shown to have had limited and even counterproductive effects. In the 1980s, the Conservatives, who denied the very existence of a North-South divide, put a complete halt to such approaches and cut all subsidies: in their view, the economic renaissance of the South would eventually benefit the whole of the country. During the 1990s, the New Labour government decided to take these measures further so as to encourage entrepreneurship, seeking at the same time to strengthen regional economic and political governance in the North.

This approach, which has been pursued by successive governments since the 1990s, aims to encourage the development of new specific sectors in the North, whilst reducing aid to the region as a whole and focusing instead on specific urban regeneration projects. Rather than seeking to erase an hypothetical geographical dividing line and thus risking being at loggerheads with the demands emanating from inhabitants of the territories of the North, successive governments have sought since the 1990s to transfer new powers to economic and political actors in the North, in the hope that they can find the right solutions to local problems which will help reduce disparities. This was based at first on a regional approach (through Regional Development Agencies, Regional Chambers, etc.), and then, from the mid-2000s, on a local approach (city-regions, Local Enterprise Partnerships, City Deals, Combined authorities, Northern Powerhouse, etc.). In parallel, the HS2 project of a fast train service between London and the North, then of HS3 links between various cities of the North have rekindled the debate on a North-South rebalancing through massive investments in infrastructure as well as town and country planning programmes.

This raises a number of issues:

What kind of governance?

There is a need to reflect upon the desired governance model and to reassess devolution as the best strategy to reduce regional inequalities

Revisiting the UK’s North-South Divide: the Changing Face of the North

Revisiting the UK’s North-South Divide: the Changing Face of the North

and the forms that it should take. In the context of institutional reforms and of a complete overhaul of UK governance since 1997, it would be impossible to study the North independently from neighbouring regions. In contrast to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, England remains highly centralized and the North is still in the main governed and administered from London. The North-East rejected in 2004 a proposal from the Labour government to create an elected regional assembly, which would have would have been the first step towards devolution to the English regions. Nevertheless the big cities of the North may soon benefit from a transfer of authority and a form of political autonomy similar to that of London. Greater Manchester and Sheffield have already signed devolution agreements with the Cameron government.

What kind of economic, social and urban policy?

The economic, social and urban policy established by successive governments must also be compared and evaluated. At a first level, proposals may look into the various policies carried out in the past few decades, in particular in the New Labour years. Proposals may look at the principles they were based on, their territorial approach, the economic and political models which sustained them, their priorities (Foreign Direct Investment, public investment, endogenous development etc.), the relative involvement of local actors and of the State, their legacy, as well as their results. Proposals may also assess the promises of the Northern Powerhouse, the latest great policy initiative for the North, launched in the summer of 2014 just under a year before the general election: will the transfer of more competencies to local politicians, the creation

of innovation hubs and better connections between cities be enough to turn the North into an economic powerhouse, on a par with the Greater South-East?

What kind of town and country planning?

Proposals may also critically assess town and country planning and the development of new infrastructures (HS2 and HS3, telecommunication networks, data centres, innovation zones, etc.) as well as urban regeneration programmes in the North.

What kind of territorial marketing and promotion?

Lastly, proposals may analyse tourism and cultural policies, the approach to heritage, and the strategic presentation of a new image of the North so as to better sell the region to tourists and investors. The North is home to several large natural parks, to a number of World Heritage sites and of sites which are part of the European Route of Industrial Heritage, and others, which together give a different of the North. The North is also the terrain of conflicts regarding town and country planning or the environment, which pitch those who seek to protect its heritage and environment and political and economic actors against each other: should economic development and job creation justify the exploitation of shale gas or of open air coal mines? Should the identity of the working-class neighbourhoods of Liverpool, Manchester or Newcastle be sacrificed to give way to a vertical and standardized city model?

Proposals within this strand may look at different scales, from the very local (neighbourhood) to the whole region.

4. The North and beyond

For a long time, before the country was unified through force, the North of England shared commercial, cultural and linguistic links with Scotland and, beyond, with Scandinavian countries, as well as with the European continent or with London. For many centuries, the North also benefited from trade links with the rest of the British Empire. What remains today of such links and exchanges, in an environment which has become national and supranational?

This raises some of the issues listed below:

The North of England and other British territories

What are the economic, political, cultural and identity relations between the North of England and London ? With the “South”? With Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

Revisiting the UK’s North-South Divide: the Changing Face of the North

The North as a land of emigration and immigration

National migration trends have long been characterized by North-South migration referred to as the North to South drift. Today, although Northern cities are no longer losing their population, indicators show that internal migratory trends within the UK are still significant. Many young graduates from Northern universities continue to migrate to the South in search of jobs which would reflect their competencies. In this context, can the term “Northern diaspora” be used to refer to people from the North living in London and elsewhere? Are there more or less culturally and socially organised communities of « “Northerners” », of Geordies, Sheffielders, Scots and other exiles? What are the consequences of migration trends which continue to be unfavourable to the North?

But because the North of the UK used to be the industrial workshop of the country and even of the world, it has also been a land of immigration. In a European context, the North continues to be the destination of immigrants, particularly from Eastern

Europe (Polish nationals, Czechs, Roma etc.), who no longer come to work in the factories but in the building industry or agriculture. How has the North dealt with immigrants from the South, from Ireland, from Eastern Europe and from the former Empire? What are the relationships between the different communities who live in the North? How do they relate to local identities and idiosyncrasies?

The British North and Europe

Given that the North has long benefited from European regional policy, how are the Northern regions, particularly the North of England, positioning themselves with regards to the debate on Brexit? What would be the effects of a UK exit from the EU on these territories? What is the relationship between the North and European institutions, and between the North and the rest of Europe? What parallels may be drawn with other European regions facing similar issues, in France or Italy, but also in countries such as Germany where territorial divisions are oriented along an East-West rather than a North-South axis?

By focusing on the British North, a territory which has rarely been studied as such in France, this conference will break new ground and bring together French and British specialists in British studies and geography.

Abstracts (500 words with a short bio) should be sent by 15th April, 2016 to the following address : conference-north-contact@univ-lorraine.fr Web page of the conference: http://idea-udl.org/conference-north-en/

Organising Committee : Emmanuelle AVRIL (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3), Mark BAILONI (Université de Lorraine), David FEE (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3), Corinne NATIVEL (Université Paris-Est Créteil), Roseline THÉRON (Université de Lorraine), Jeremy TRANMER (Université de Lorraine).