Title:
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Residential succession and race relations in Moss Side, Manchester
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The first concern of this thesis is to set out an interpretation of
race relations in the zone of transition in British cities, expressed in
terms of general categories of sociological analysis and variables which
define the basic dimensions of the local social structure in which race
relations are embedded.
A second aim is to document the wide range of empirical situations in
multi-racial zones of transition in cities in Britain. Rex and Moore's
(1967a) study of Sparkbrook, Birmingham is at out in detail and studies
of Cardiff, parts of London, Bristol, Nottingham and Newcastle are
briefly reviewed, before the presentation of data on residential
succession and race relations in Moss Side Manchester.
The documentation of significant differences in the pattern of racial
succession leads to the third a1Jn, that is, to relate local differences
in the process and consequences of the residential settlement of coloured
immigrants to basic characteristics of the city, such as the nature of
the economic base and the net migration balance. In particular, it is
suggested that the pattern of racial succession will differ depending
on whether coloured immigrants have moved into an area with an expanding
industrial-based economy, a declining area or an area which is maintaining
its prosperity through expansion in the tertiary sector. Birmingham is
seen as an example of the first category and Manchester of the third.
An examination of the relationship between trends in the economic structure
and in the residential structure in the local area. suggests ways in which
a comparative study of British cities might be developed.
The fourth aim is to consider the theory of housing classes as set out
by Rex and Moore, which has stimulated much analysis in this field. I
conclude that as a theory-of classes in a market for housing, it is
deficient in being concerned with the use rather than the disposal of
housing and with interests generated over access to housing rather than
possession of it. I discuss the possibilities of competition as well
as conflict over housing and suggest a more 11m! ted analysis in terms c:£
interest groups rather than classes. I show the possible significance
of urban movements based on recognition of common housing interests,
but these are multi-racial in character and a feature of residential
succession in Moss Side, Manchester, rather than Sparkbrook, 131rmingba.m.
A fifth aim is to demonstrate a close association between the process
of residential succession and the local pattern of race relations •
.Again, contrasts are drawn between Sparkbrook, B1rm1ngham and Moss Side.
The sixth aim is to account for this differing pattern of residential
succession and race relations not as in Rex and Moore's account as a
result of economic competition for housing, but as a consequence of
reactions to differences in the way that housing is used by differing
categories of landlords and residents. I demonstrate the close
association between racial status and social status and argue that
much of the pattern of race relations in some multi-racial transitional
areas can be understood in terms of defensive reactions by residents
who feel that the reputational status of the area is threatened by
a particular form of residential succession in which single-family
housing is split into multi-occupation and at the same time Changes
from white to coloured occupancy or ownership.
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