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Welcome to OXION, Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London and MRC Harwell
‘Race’, housing and the city
The analysis which follows stems from a growing concern at the apparent inability of the literature, both beyond the discipline and within it, to provide a convincing theorisation of the structural position of Britain’s minority populations within the housing market. Given that large-scale post-war migration from Africa, the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent began in the 1950s, and that significant numbers of black citizens had settled in Britain many decades earlier (Fryer 1984; Hiro 1991; May and Cohen 1974), this is somewhat surprising. Within the obvious confines of such a brief chapter, I shall endeavour to sketch out the basis for a re-evaluation of existing debates, and demonstrate how newly available empirical data can provide insights into the value (or otherwise) of various substantive theoretical positions.
Ethnicity, socio-cultural change, and housing needs
Polyethnic societies present some key implications for planners. Discrimination against, and harassment of, minorities is worryingly universal, and planning professions in all societies need to recognize and address these issues. Planning practice needs to reflect an awareness of the implications of difference while incorporating an understanding of processes of social change in relation to minority and migrant groups, specifically, changes in household size and/or structure and orientation toward the housing market. The core empirical data of the paper comes from the 1991 Census of Population and a major study of housing needs in a large district in northern England. Although focused substantively on British debates and data, most of the concerns addressed in this paper have an element of universality.
Housing inequality and 'race': Some critical reflections on the concept of 'social exclusion'
This article focuses on explanations of housing inequality in relation to key social divisions such as 'race' and ethnicity. Much of the recent debate about these issues, both in the academic literature and in the sphere of politics (especially within the European Union) has been framed in terms of 'social exclusion'. It is argued that the term is used in a number of distinct senses, which leads to considerable confusion at a conceptual level and obscures rather than clarifies key theoretical issues. Its use also leads to oversimplified accounts of complex processes, and can in extremis lead to the pathologization of communities. In the latter case, its dangers mirror those of related concepts such as the 'underclass'. Illuminating the theoretical arguments in the current literature by reference to British data, the article concludes that the 'paradigm of social exclusion' should be jettisoned by social scientists in favour of a return to a serious analysis of social divisions within a context of debates about structure and agency.
Race', housing and social exclusion
The paper begins with an overview of the ways in which the concept of 'social exclusion' has been employed in both academic and political and media discourse. In the context of 'race' and housing, the term is most often seen in debates about inequalities between majority and minority communities. These inequalities form the basis of the next two sections of the paper: the first dealing with the national evidence, the second with a case study of Bradford District. The paper then looks at how the academic literature has traditionally theorised these inequalities, and asks whether the exclusion paradigm adds anything of value to these debates. It is concluded that whilst the concept may well be of use in drawing attention in policy circles to questions of inequality, it is rather less worthwhile in the context of sociological debates. It has tended to be used in numerous disparate senses thus potentially obscuring (rather then clarifying) issues, is little more than a descriptive label, and has lent itself to a form of sloganeering which may stifle rather than encourage debate.
Planning for diversity and change: Implications of a polyethnic society
With a few notable exceptions planning analysts have been rather slower to recognise the very difficult issues raised by a polyethnic community. Much of the recent literature has tended to focus on 'excluded' individuals and communities, or even 'excluded' neighbourhoods. This paper will argue that it is vitally important for the future of our urban areas to address the policy and practice dimensions of both inequality and difference. The purpose of the present article is to provoke debate, and to dispel some popular myths and stereotypes which plague much of current policy making and implementation. Owing to its brevity, it will not be possible to delve into some of the more complex nuances. It will, however, point out where the key questions arise, and where to look for possible solutions. As such, it is intended as a contribution to the debate about cultural and ethnicity-sensitive service delivery. In order to sharpen the analysis, it focuses in particular on one set of interrelated issues: namely, housing policy and household projections.
‘Britain’ and ‘Europe’: An exploration of conceptual confusions
The data on which this paper is based comes from an international study of ‘Perceptions of Europe’ sponsored in 1990 by the Polish Association for the Club of Rome in Warsaw. In all, twelve countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, North and South America, Europe, and Australia participated. © 1992, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
The debate between Michael Banton and John Rex: a re-evaluation
Michael Banton's paper provides fascinating insights into his long-running intellectual disagreements with John Rex, the other major post-war figure in the sociology of ‘race relations’. Published work and personal recollections are supplemented by a series of communications by letter to flesh out the precise nature of these debates. They reveal differing views on the ontological status of ‘race’, race relations and racism, as well as a number of criticisms of Rex's work. He argues that Rex was wrong to put so much faith in the ability of classical sociology to address these concerns, and that there was a disjuncture between theory, methods and substance in his empirical work. There is also a suggestion that Rex played down the significance of racism. The greatest difference between them, however, lay in their divergent views on the role of sociology and the sociologist.
Reflections on Race, Community and Conflict: A Study of Sparkbrook
There are few sociology texts that acquire truly seminal status. This brief paper, however, reflects on one of the most celebrated and often cited works in British urban sociology. It seeks to explain: (1) the book's initial impact on debates and research in the field of ‘race and ethnic relations’; (2) the key controversies sparked by its theoretical positioning; and (3) why, and in what ways, it remains of relevance almost half a century after it was written. It concludes that there are two reasons for its continued appeal and significance. First, it placed housing firmly at the centre of debates about the position of Britain's migrant communities; second, it illustrates the potential of sociological research. At a time when controversies rage about ‘impact’, here is a work that not only contributed to our theoretical understanding of contemporary society, but also illustrated the value of ‘public sociology’ by engaging with the polity to bring about social change.
Promoting social cohesion: Implications for policy and evaluation
This book makes a forthright case for a shift in policy focus from 'community cohesion' to the broader notion of social cohesion, and is distinctive and innovative in its focus on evaluation. It constitutes an extremely valuable source both for practitioners involved in social cohesion interventions and for researchers and students studying theory-based evaluation and the policy areas highlighted (housing, intergenerational issues, the recession, education, communications, community development).
'Ethnic Group', the State and the Politics of Representation
This paper explores the notion of 'ethnic group' focussing, in particular, on attempts to transform the concept into an empirical indicator in population censuses. The latter is seen to be riven with difficulties, not least the fact that such measures tend to be attempting to address two conflicting agendas - one requiring an ascriptive, the other a subjective, measure. Illustrating the core arguments with the decennial census in Britain, the paper explores the contested political terrain underpinning the introduction of such a question, and then demonstrates that the construction of an 'ethnic group' indicator takes the form of a complex dialectical process involving negotiation and re-negotiation on the part of a myriad of social actors and structural forces at macro-, meso- and micro-levels. Finally, it reflects on broader concerns arising from the reification of the measure, not least its material effects in the context of debates and policies on 'multiculturalism'. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
Tau depletion in human neurons mitigates Aβ-driven toxicity.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative condition and the most common type of dementia, characterised by pathological accumulation of extracellular plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles that mainly consist of amyloid-β (Aβ) and hyperphosphorylated tau aggregates, respectively. Previous studies in mouse models with a targeted knock-out of the microtubule-associated protein tau (Mapt) gene demonstrated that Aβ-driven toxicity is tau-dependent. However, human cellular models with chronic tau lowering remain unexplored. In this study, we generated stable tau-depleted human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) isogenic panels from two healthy individuals using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. We then differentiated these iPSCs into cortical neurons in vitro in co-culture with primary rat cortical astrocytes before conducting electrophysiological and imaging experiments for a wide range of disease-relevant phenotypes. Both AD brain derived and recombinant Aβ were used in this study to elicit toxic responses from the iPSC-derived cortical neurons. We showed that tau depletion in human iPSC-derived cortical neurons caused considerable reductions in neuronal activity without affecting synaptic density. We also observed neurite outgrowth impairments in two of the tau-depleted lines used. Finally, tau depletion protected neurons from adverse effects by mitigating the impact of exogenous Aβ-induced hyperactivity, deficits in retrograde axonal transport of mitochondria, and neurodegeneration. Our study established stable human iPSC isogenic panels with chronic tau depletion from two healthy individuals. Cortical neurons derived from these iPSC lines showed that tau is essential in Aβ-driven hyperactivity, axonal transport deficits, and neurodegeneration, consistent with studies conducted in Mapt-/- mouse models. These findings highlight the protective effects of chronic tau lowering strategies in AD pathogenesis and reinforce the potential in clinical settings. The tau-depleted human iPSC models can now be applied at scale to investigate the involvement of tau in disease-relevant pathways and cell types.
Two sample Mendelian Randomisation using an outcome from a multilevel model of disease progression.
Identifying factors that are causes of disease progression, especially in neurodegenerative diseases, is of considerable interest. Disease progression can be described as a trajectory of outcome over time-for example, a linear trajectory having both an intercept (severity at time zero) and a slope (rate of change). A technique for identifying causal relationships between one exposure and one outcome in observational data whilst avoiding bias due to confounding is two sample Mendelian Randomisation (2SMR). We consider a multivariate approach to 2SMR using a multilevel model for disease progression to estimate the causal effect an exposure has on the intercept and slope. We carry out a simulation study comparing a naïve univariate 2SMR approach to a multivariate 2SMR approach with one exposure that effects both the intercept and slope of an outcome that changes linearly with time since diagnosis. The simulation study results, across six different scenarios, for both approaches were similar with no evidence against a non-zero bias and appropriate coverage of the 95% confidence intervals (for intercept 93.4-96.2% and the slope 94.5-96.0%). The multivariate approach gives a better joint coverage of both the intercept and slope effects. We also apply our method to two Parkinson's cohorts to examine the effect body mass index has on disease progression. There was no strong evidence that BMI affects disease progression, however the confidence intervals for both intercept and slope were wide.
