From ‘the people’ to ‘the citizen’ : the emergence of the Edwardian municipal park in Manchester, 1902 - 1912

This paper argues that the Edwardian municipal park represents a significant transition from the highly regulated and formal space of the Victorian park. It takes as a case study Heaton Park in Manchester purchased in late 1901 and suggests that this park represented a transition from a Victorian people’s park to an Edwardian citizen’s park in which each visitor accessed facilities and amenities appropriate to their individual or group leisure interests. It addresses the comparative neglect of the Edwardian park by urban historians and suggests the importance of the emerging concepts of citizenship and social responsibility

Doubtful fathers? : the origins and practice of paternity establishment policy within the Child Support Agency

The development and controversial history of the United Kingdom Child Support scheme has been the focus of a substantial corpus of research. This includes exploration of its origins (see, for example, Dolowitz (2001), Gamham and Knights (1994), Wikeley (2006)), experiences of the policy from the perspective of parents (for instance Hutton et al (1998), Wikeley et al (2001)) and the attainment of policy goals (such as the analysis by Skinner & Meyer (2006)). Within this there is, however, relatively little consideration of the establishment of paternity for child support purposes. This is surprising since this issue lies at the heart of any subsequent child support action. This research endeavours to redress this. The development, origins and delivery of United Kingdom child support paternity policy are explored through analysis of debates and policy documents, then through the medium of face to face interviews with Agency staff. These illuminate the manner in which the policy was both developed and then translated into operational practice. This is supplemented by a, regrettably small, handful of interviews with fathers, and a quantitative analysis of a sample of administrative data. The research finds that a particular 'forensic' storyline (Hajer 1993) dominates the discursive practices surrounding CSA paternity policy (Shram 1993, Fischer and Forester 1993, Fischer 2003). The resulting policy has then been shaped by the operation of unwritten tenets that pervade particular aspects of the organisation. This thesis suggests that the superficial similarity of these tenets within particular policy and implementation 'domains', when considered in conjunction with the prevailing storyline, helps to account for the lack of discord around the operation of the policy. Moreover, the interaction of the 'forensic' storyline and the prevailing tenets has meant that certain ethical considerations, such as the impact on children were overlooked. Finally the research findings indicate that child support paternity policy is based more around the concept of probablistic paternity rather than the expected genetic model.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceDepartment for Work and PensionsGBUnited Kingdo

A Critical Evaluation of the Regulation of Football Spectatorship: Defining & Refining the Optimal Method of Spectator Management

The behaviour of football spectators has received significant attention in the literature in areas of psychology, criminology and law, yet there is no singular piece of research that examines the legality of the package of measures governing football spectators in England and Wales. Scholarship has noted the issues regarding the statutory framework and the treatment of football spectators but research on the creation, monitoring and alternative preventative measures that can be used remains absent. Although the issues regarding football-related violence and disorder are not as prevalent as that witnessed over 30 years ago, the problem still exists. The thesis examines with a doctrinal methodology, that Football Banning Orders on conviction and complaint held in s 14A and s 14B of the Football Spectators Act 1989, respectively, are no longer fit for purpose in their current form. Analysis of the historical roots of Football Banning Orders provides that there was no sound evidential basis for their creation and in turn, has caused numerous inconsistencies in the interpretation and application of s 14. Observation of the Home Office statistics that monitor football-related arrests and the number of Football Banning Orders served each football season has illustrated that the statistics are unreliable and the methodology underpinning the capturing of the data is not sound. Finally, by evaluating the use of the alternative option to the statutory Football Banning Order, stadium/club bans, it has demonstrated that the current processes adopted do not provide a spectator with the right to a fair hearing and could leave clubs open to legal proceedings. The thesis recommends that the current package of measures adopted by Parliament, the courts, football clubs and the police need a radical overhaul to provide a proportionate, fair and reliable system that governs football spectators

The British Influence in the Birth of Spanish Sport

Sports started to gain relevance in Spain around the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century as a leisure and health option of the upper classes imported from Britain. Its early development was intertwined with the spread of other kinds of physical activities with much more tradition on the continent: gymnastics and physical education. First played by the ruling classes – aristocracy and high bourgeoisie – sports permeated towards petty bourgeoisie and middle classes in urban areas such as Madrid, Barcelona, San Sebastián and Santander. This pattern meant that the expansion of sports was unavoidably tied to the degree of industrialisation and cultural modernisation of the country. Since 1910, and mainly during the 1920s, sport grew in popularity as a spectacle and, toa much lesser degree, as a practice among the Spanish population

Suburbanization and cultural change: the case of club cricket in Surrey, 1870–1939

This article examines the social, economic and political origins of what was a new, distinctly elitist, culture of ‘non-competitive’ sport, and how these values, which emerged from a small group of metropolitan elites, spread throughout the south-east of England. It argues that a long-term analysis of sport provides a valuable contextual tool for urban historians. In this case, how the gradual adoption of a distinctly ‘metropolitan’ culture throughout Surrey, and the associated changes in the social structure and purpose of cricket, may contribute towards a more nuanced assessment of that county's ‘suburbanization’, and how this region interacted with the urban cor

Thatcher's Legacy on the Legal Narrative Surrounding Fans of Football

Margaret Thatcher is well known for her ‘tough on crime’ and ‘law and order’ rhetoric that saw her Conservative Party elected to Government in 1979. However, some criminological scholars have argued from a punitive perspective that Thatcher’s legislative programme lacked the ‘toughness’ that she championed. Assessing law through ‘punitiveness’ is, however, a narrow approach. Two pieces of legislation passed during Mrs Thatcher’s tenure, the Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc.) Act 1985 and the Public Order Act 1986 are rarely discussed within this literature. Moving away from punitiveness, the restrictive nature of this legislation amounts to ‘tough’ policing and still exists today. Drawing attention to a recent case study, it will be exemplified that football fans are still often stigmatised and policed on a 1980’s narrative that these individuals represent somewhat of a societal threat. Thus, this paper will demonstrate that Thatcher’s legislative legacy upon football fans still exists. From this angle, Thatcher’s legislative programme arguably satisfies the toughness that she advocated. Indeed, many would argue that football specific legislation is draconian. The symbolic nature of this law will always shape public perception. It is such legislation that needs to be addressed before any real transformation to the narrative surrounding fans of football can begin to change for the better

The Emergence and Development of Association Football: Influential Sociocultural Factors in Victorian Birmingham

This article explores the interdependent, complex sociocultural factors that facilitated the emergence and diffusion of football in Birmingham. The focus is the development of football in the city, against the backdrop of the numerous social changes in Victorian Birmingham. The aim is to fill a gap in the existing literature which seemingly overlooked Birmingham as a significant footballing centre, and the ‘ordinary and everyday’ aspects of the game’s early progression. Among other aspects, particular heed is paid to the working classes’ involvement in football, as previous literature has often focused on the middle classes and their influence on and participation in organized sport. As the agency of the working classes along with their mass participation and central role in the game’s development is unfolded, it is argued that far from being passive cultural beings, the working classes, from the beginnings, actively negotiated the development of their own emergent football culture

Ethos and Politics in the Youth Hostels Association (YHA) in the 1930s

The Youth Hostels Association (YHA) was a formally non-political organization founded to provide cheap accommodation for walkers and cyclists. However, the YHA drew on, and was influenced by, values and ideas which both attracted a particular kind of member and informed its domestic political interventions. The article specifically examines the connections between the YHA and other organizations, aspects of the politics of membership relating to the concepts of respectability and class and the political interventions of the YHA in the areas of unemployment and the access movement