Deindustrial Pasts and Present Inequalities

Original Collective Research Associate Dr Andy Clark received a prestigious ESRC New Investigator Award to undertake his project entitled 'Deindustrial Pasts and Present Inequalities: An Oral History of Deindustrialisation and Experiences of Ageing’. These grants aim to support new researchers at the start of their careers to become independent researchers through gaining experience of managing and leading research projects and teams.

Clark’s project pulled together a number of his own, and The Collective’s, research strands in this innovative new study. Building on our pilot work on the longitudinal Thousand Families of Newcastle study, this project utilised existing data, along with new oral history interviews, to understand the relationships between deindustrialisation and wellbeing in later life.

Over the course of 24 months, Clark was mentored by Collective director Professor Graham Smith, and worked with colleagues in Social Gerontology, History, and Epidemiology. The research broke new theoretical and empirical ground by examining the ways that socio-economic legacies of deindustrialisation contribute to accumulative dis/advantage and later life experiences in former industrial communities. Working across Tyneside, Clark aimed to conduct approximately 80 new interviews with members of the Thousand Families Study, and a further subsample with those not represented within that (particularly migrant communities). This was one of the first major projects to directly link studies of deindustrialisation and scholarship on healthy ageing, and will have significant impact on how scholars understand experiences of ageing, as well as informing policy interventions that can address inequalities in later life.

Clark was formally recognised for this achievement by Newcastle University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Chris Day, who said: ‘I want to particularly acknowledge Clark’s efforts in successfully applying for an ESRC New Investigator Award. That he achieved this despite the extraordinary circumstances [during Covid] is a real testament to his dedication and commitment’. The value of the grant was £292,188 and the project began in September 2021.

Last modified: Sat, 23 May 2026 16:47:48 BST