Communities in Transition

Priority Area Leads: Professor Matthew Hilton, History, m.j.hilton@bham.ac.uk; Jenny Phillimore, Applied Social Sciences, j.a.phillimore@bham.ac.uk; Professor Karen Rowlingson, Applied Social Sciences, k.rowlingson@bham.ac.uk

‘Communities in transition’ is concerned with the understanding of the changing nature, impact, emergence and representation of groups in society, from the local to the global. Focusing upon the movement and consolidation of peoples and ideas, and the evolving roles of communities (whether of place, interest or value) over time, this priority area encompasses the social, historical, cultural, policy and political processes of community formation and development.

Staff from across the arts and social sciences have long explored the notion of community in all its manifestations. The scope of our work is both global and local. Through major research council and agency funded research programmes we have focused on communities, regions and transnational interactions and sought to challenge interpretations of integration, inclusion, multiculturalism and globalization while using innovative methodologies that place communities at the heart of our research.

Our work has examined communities from all over the world, either in one place, on the move, and always in transition over time. The scale of the communities we examine ranges from the micro to the transnational, ranging from small-scale voluntary activities to social movements with members from all around the world.

The city of Birmingham itself has proved a longstanding laboratory in which we have studied communities in transition. It is a global city with a long history of transnational links, diversity, multiculturalism and change. It is emerging as one of Europe’s leading ‘superdiverse’ cities witnessing change at an unprecedented pace as global citizens move around the city, country and super-national region while connecting to communities across the world associating simultaneously with physical, geographically based, communities and virtual communities. Understanding such global forces, and Birmingham’s connections to them, is a major area of interest to staff in the arts and social sciences.

Key projects and centres of expertise 

Staff from all areas of the arts and social sciences are involved in the study of communities in transition. Applicants are welcome to approach any member of staff, but some of our key projects, centres and areas of expertise include:

Third Sector Research Centre

The TSRC (www.tsrc.ac.uk) examines communities as represented in the third sector: that is, all groups and organisations operating outside the formal state or public sphere.  It aims to explore the role, value and evolution of the sector through a range of workstreams including the longitudinal research programme “Real Times” and “Below the Radar” focus on micro civil society groups and actions.

Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS)

IRiS is currently under development. The institute brings together over 50 academics from across Birmingham for the interdisciplinary study of superdiversity. IRiS examines the presence and effects of superdiversity in a range of different environments as well as problematising the concept as a category for analysis.

Active citizenship and counter-terrorism

This strand focuses upon active citizenship within counter-terrorism policy.  It examines the challenges for policy makers attempting to involve and engage with communities in counter-terrorism purposes and the implications of the responsibilitisation of communities.

Musical Communities in Transition

Music provides an important barometer of change and transition in shifting and resettling communities. This field focuses upon the diasporic experience as reflected in music in general, and in communities associated with Birmingham in particular.

  • Professor Andrew Kirkman (Head of Department of Music)

MOSAIC Centre for Research on Multilingualism

MOSAIC provides a forum for the development of new, interdisciplinary lines of enquiry related to bilingualism/multilingualism, multilingual literacy, bilingual education, second language learning and contemporary discourses about linguistic and cultural diversity.

Community heritage

The University of Birmingham's Heritage and Cultural Learning Hub and Ironbridge Institute are concerned with the preservation and examination of communities in transition, in the past through to the present using methods such as digital media.

Centre of West African Studies

This interdisciplinary centre focuses on how processes of transformation affect ordinary people. It explores communities through stages of slavery, liberation, revolution, state formation, crisis and the diaspora beyond the African continent.

Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)

This Leverhulme Trust-funded project examines the roles of NGOs in modern Britain (www.ngo.bham.ac.uk) and the wider world. It explores how new community formations around values and interests have led to the creation of new forms of activism and institutions.

Cultural Intermediation: Connecting communities in the creative urban economy

This AHRC-funded ‘Connect communities’ project is one part of a wider interest among cultural geographers in the city as both a manifestation of cultural activity and a space through which uniquely urban cultures are brought into being cultures are brought into being