Mapping The Thatcherite Legacy: The Human Geography of Social Inequality in Britain Since the 1970s

Abstract

Thatcherism has shaped the early lives and subsequent careers of many social scientists in Britain. The human geography of the country can be said to be shaped by Thatcher’s legacy in much the same way as its physical geography still bears the scars of relatively recent glaciation. Thatcherism has transformed the social landscape but, unlike glaciation, its core processes continue to operate in Britain today. Glaciation left dramatic scenery, but was especially damaging to the soil and species in the North of England, Wales and Scotland where the glaciers gouged out great chunks of the ground and left an often far more infertile landscape than previously. This chapter shows how the same social process did not occur in many similar countries during (and after) the late 1970s, then discusses the implications of living in a country that has been so transformed in so short a time, when time is measured politically and space is seen socially.