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This paper explores the performance of spoken word poetry at three venues in East London through an attention to the ways in which participants experience and conceptualize these expressive events. Drawing from observation at events and interviews with performers, this paper illuminates the most commonly reported motivations behind the uptake of this genre of performance: achieving emotional healing and providing coping tools to others. By investigating these motivations, this paper considers how spoken word performance can become a personal and collective process of care, where performers overcome individual struggle through shifting bodily orientations and attitudes, while attuning affectively with others through pedagogical caretaking relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the employment experience of workers at the Eastern Palace Cinema in East London, in 1934. In August 1934, a member of staff murdered the cinema's manager. The witness statements taken in the subsequent criminal investigation give a unique insight into the operations of 1930s cinemas and the working conditions of the people who were employed in them. The statements give voice to a group of service staff that had limited means of relating their lived experience. The article contrasts these statements with contemporary advice on cinema operations from guidebooks and trade papers to explore how trade advice translated into reality. It also draws on archival sources to excavate the backgrounds of cinema staff across roles. This adds to our understanding of the experience of staff employed in the most popular leisure industry of interwar Britain, an area that has not yet been extensively researched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on new empirical research on ‘the Bengal diaspora’, this paper explores the struggle over Bangladeshi identity in East London, as exemplified in the monument of the Shahid Minar and the related celebration ofEkushe, which marks the beginning of the Bangladesh national liberation struggle. Bringing together theories of diaspora consciousness and memorialization, the paper explores the ways in which rituals and memory work both as a form of continuity with the homeland and as a method of claims-staking for minority groups in multicultural spaces. Using original interviews with community and religious leaders, the paper explores the ways in which the establishment of the monument and the memorialization of the Liberation War represents the re-imagination of the Bangladeshi community in London and draws the lines for the contestation of this identity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An introduction is presented in which editor discusses various articles within the issue on topics including public health with parenthood, in the context of tuberculosis and healing, forms of precarity under capitalism and sociopolitical exploration of the city of East London in England.

Urban intensification is a key planning strategy in the UK, but one that is frequently resisted by local residents objecting to transformations of urban character. This paper is concerned with the factors that underlie such resistance, and with the opportunities for addressing them through the planning process. The paper relates a case-study of the East London district of Dalston where a mixed-use redevelopment project, strongly supported by local authorities, was fiercely resisted by residents who claimed that the existing character of the locality was being violated. Reflecting on the case through theories of place, gentrification, and planning process, we argue that resident resistance was not simply a case of self-interested NIMBYism, but a product of important differences in the ways that character was variously constructed and valued by local authorities and community members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the recent re-emergence of a gay scene in Shoreditch and argues that its reappraisal of British pub culture and appropriated versions of East End localism can be considered as a countercultural response to the marketed cosmopolitanism of Soho's gay village in the early 1990s. The original marketing of Soho as cosmopolitan was built around the rejection of the public house in favour of more 'continental' bars, signalling a move towards Europeanised consumption habits. In contrast, Shoreditch's gay scene evokes local working-class themes and the area's decaying urban aesthetics in attempts to market itself as an 'authentic' alternative to the 'artificial' West End. This paper begins by discussing a number of reoccurring themes in literary and media representations of East London before analysing specifically how some of these themes have been appropriated on Shoreditch's gay scene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the effect of social background and ethnicity on educational performance in an area with traditionally poor levels of attainment. It begins by examining the variation in school performance for London and specifically east London. It shows how the disadvantaged nature of the area, as measured by such variables as Mosaic group and ethnic heritage, helps to explain the poor results at GCSE. The paper then changes the focus to schools within a seven-borough area of east London. Using the Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC) linked to the geodemographic Mosaic codes based on pupils' home postcode, the authors demonstrate that, although ethnicity accounts for some of the variation in performance, this is considerably less than that accounted for by pupil social background. In addition, they show that it is not simply the social background of the individual pupil that affects school performance at GCSE. The proportion of pupils from a given social background plays some role in boosting or diminishing the overall school performance and will influence the performance of individual pupils whatever their background. It is argued that these social background effects together with the school composition effects have a considerable impact on school performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the personal and public photography taken in the 1960s by Joseph Denfield, a well-known South African ethnographic photographer and amateur historian in East London. We argue that his collection allows for a critical reflection on the narratives of the history and culture of East London during this period. Drawing attention to the economic, infrastructural, political and cultural changes that the city underwent from the 1950s onward, we place Denfield's images alongside such changes noting the ways they offer a silent critique of the ‘dismantling’ of the city's colonial past, and in turn draw on the discursive trope of ‘salvage anthropology’ to ‘redeem’ such a past. His images are melancholic and nostalgic, documenting a city in ruins. They lament the passing of an era and the collapse of a particular kind of city. Some of his photographs were deeply personal and private, but they are also of great public significance because they now provide the cornerstone of a heritage-driven representational history of a city which, we argue, effectively has no modern history. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Rosemary Lane in London's East End had a reputation in the eighteenth century for being a disorderly neighbourhood. This reputation was in large part due to the Rag Fair that occurred there and its penchant for attracting disorderly women, pickpockets, thieves, and receivers of stolen goods. This paper will discuss the complicated relationship that existed between some of these streetwise disorderly women and the local thief-takers, who were major participants in the network of criminality that existed in this neighbourhood. In doing so, it will show that some plebeian women in London could be decision-makers and decision-takers; able to navigate the margins of society, and to make a livelihood for themselves that was not dependent on a husband or a partner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On June 7, 2010, UK media outlets reported that 9-month-old twins living in East London had been rushed to hospital following a “suspected fox attack”: the babies had been seriously injured. This story received sustained coverage for several months, and became the focus of debate over the behavior of urban foxes, and how they and humans should coexist. Using textual analysis to unravel the various discourses surrounding this moment, this paper discusses how the incident became such a prominent “media event.” Alongside the contexts of the “silly season” and a period of political transition, we argue that this incident breached a series of spatial boundaries that many societies draw between people and the “natural world,” from the “safest space” of a child's cot, to the categorizations made about animals themselves. We discuss the consequences of such boundary breaches, pointing to a deep confusion over the assignment of responsibility for, and expertise about, the figure of the “urban fox.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While entitlements are often expressed as universal and linked to the rights citizens should have, young people's access to them is shaped by their social positioning, meaning that whether, and in what sense, they are citizens is pertinent. If citizens have access to universal entitlements, does this position certain young people who do not have such access as 'lesser youth' because their entitlements are reduced and citizenship diminished or non-existent? This paper examines whether and how young, separated migrants wanting refuge may be positioned as 'lesser youth'. It draws on a sample of them and multisector professionals examining qualitative data on accessing health care, sexual exploitation and rebuilding lives. The data suggest that the legislative and institutional framework they face militates against their enjoying the 'universal' entitlements of citizens. This reflects their positioning as 'lesser youth' excluded from the full rights citizens are entitled to. Such a positioning is in large part underpinned by contested notions of nationhood, belonging and entitlement central to communitarian citizenship but which exclude them. We argue that a meaningful citizenship for these youth requires a contestation of restrictive communitarian ideas and practices in ways forwarding a more inclusive and socially just multicultural UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically the development of principles and practice for integrated planning and urban design around suburban railway stations has not been a core component of British planning. However, over the past decade or so, in response to the growth of a consensus around the need to promote more sustainable transport behaviour, this situation has begun to change. This paper reviews the contemporary literature for integrated planning and design at and around stations and derives a set of analytical criteria which are used to evaluate the policy context for a new railway project in East London: the East London Line Extension. Conclusions are drawn as to whether the principles of good practice are being adhered to and the likelihood of the stations and their environs becoming exemplars of good practice for others to follow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we investigate whether the distance between school and the pupil’s home is related to social background in a six borough area of East London. Also investigated is the extent to which schools in the area perform in line with expectations on the basis of the social composition of their intake. The research involves analysis of the Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC) to which geodemographic codes supplied by Experian have been attached. We demonstrate that the six schools in the area which achieved the highest average points score at GCSE recruit pupils widely from within the area (and to a lesser extent outside), whilst the lowest performing six schools recruit from much more narrowly defined catchment areas. In terms of school performance, we show that whilst we might expect schools to perform better as they become more distant from inner East London and nearer to the M25, this is not necessarily the case. In our conclusions we argue that these data support the claims made on the basis of ethnographic data about the class nature of school selection and parental choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article re-contextualises applied drama practice in the wake of Covid-19, with a particular focus on cognitive diversity. From an inclusive perspective, it asks how encouraging self-expression helps to diversify the still often one-dimensional perception of people with learning disabilities in media reports. It thereby continues an on-going argument around empowered representation within disability drama and culture. The article traces arts practice that engaged a group of women with learning disabilities in reflections about the lockdown 2020. The practice section of the article documents three concrete examples from a workshop series with the members of Powerhouse, a group of women with learning disabilities from the East of London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2016 UK's vote to leave the European Union (i.e. Brexit) has evoked a sense of insecurity and non-belonging among EU citizens and other migrant and minoritised ethnic communities in British cities. Against this backdrop, little is known about how migrant and established populations produce inclusive community spaces, in particular in areas with a history of deprivation. In response, this article explores how Polish migrants and the long-settled residents 'come together' in the East End of Glasgow, a rapidly changing area with a history of poverty and multiple inequalities, to work on community food projects and create inclusive spaces of throwntogetherness. Methodologically, the article draws upon 40 interviews with the long-settled residents and more recent Polish migrants in the area, 10 interviews with representatives of community organisations and associated fieldwork (e.g. occasional participant observation). The article finds that in 'throwing together' diverse local populations, the East End food spaces are conducive to positive encounter against the backdrop of a wider hostile environment. By conceptually engaging with the Masseyan notion of throwntogetherness, the article re-thinks those spaces as continuously becoming and overcoming difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composed as events unfolded, the songs in a 1929 Communist Party strike songs booklet capture the sorrows, desires, complaints and worries of the striking clothing workers involved in two disputes led by Communist Sam Elsbury. The lyrics and simple musical scales of a bricolage of jazz, mass-market, folk and hymn-inspired parodies and homages aimed to facilitate audience attention and participation, and to raise support, gain sympathy for the workers and boost morale. The songs indicate the grievances of the workers, many of whom were young, Jewish, women who lived in east London. The songs attempt to nurture a community dedicated to supporting a 'Revolutionary Workers' Government' (the Communist Party's aim from February 1928). They illuminate the political strategies, leadership assumptions, dreams and visions of the Party during its ultra-leftist 'Third Period'. They also indicate how struggles over modernity and the development of jazz and secular Judaism were expressed and connected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to explore the role of embodied repertories in teaching and learning in a multi-ethnic karate club in East London and its implications for language teaching and learning. We do so through the lens of translanguaging and apply the concept of translanguaging space where diverse semiotic systems are integrated and orchestrated. Through a close examination of how teaching and learning takes place in the karate club, we argue that embodied repertories are central to interactions and pedagogy. The coach manages and instructs the class through orchestration of embodied repertories and verbal instructions. Learning Japanese karate terms becomes part of embodied performance, repeated, copied and polished along with drilling of physical moves, whilst the other available linguistic repertories, Polish and English, become languages of discipline, explanation, elaboration or reinforcement. Such translanguaging practices serve the purpose of the karate club envisaged by the coach and become an effective way of communication amongst the participants from diverse linguistic backgrounds. The notion of translanguaging, in particular, the idea of orchestration, helps to highlight the multiplexity of resources in embodied teaching and learning and overcomes the monolingual and the lingual biases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The East End of London's radical changes in topography and population have made it a rich resource for writers and filmmakers. What did it offer documentary film and wartime propaganda? How do depictions of local life help to construct national community? And how do moving images of the East End in the 1940s preserve places and patterns of behaviour that survived the Blitz but have since disappeared? This article addresses these questions by looking at the filmFires Were Started(1943), shot on location in the East End, but until now, not studied for the local geographies it depicts. Director Humphrey Jennings draws on T. S. Eliot's ‘The Waste Land’ as well as his own poetry to present the story of a city ravaged by the Blitz. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article discusses the historical and geographical contexts of diasporic religious buildings in East London, revealing – contrary both to conventional narratives of immigrant integration, mobility, and succession and to identitarian understandings of belonging – that in such spaces and in the concrete devotional practices enacted in them, markers and boundaries of identity (ritual, spatial, and political) are contested, renegotiated, erased, and rewritten. It draws on a series of case-studies: Fieldgate Street Synagogue in its interrelationship with the East London Mosque; St Antony's Catholic Church in Forest Gate where Hindus and Christians worship together; and the intertwined histories of Methodism and Anglicanism in Bow Road. Exploration of the intersections between ethnicity, religiosity, and class illuminates the ambiguity and instability of identity-formation and expression within East London's diasporic faith spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This essay examines the imbrication of violent white racism and institutional racism as a relatively permanent contradiction in British liberal governance.‪‪ Utilizing fieldwork in East London, I ethnographically discuss how police and local municipal anti-racist failures are produced through tacit racial logics inherent within professional proceduralism and policymaking. Furthermore, the deployment of discourses that re-embed black and minority ethnic people as ambiguous rights-bearing and claim-making subjects implicitly codifies racial order and a white-centric state formation in contemporary Britain. Liberal racialized exceptions to justice are contingent on reproducing British whiteness as emergent from social processes of dis-identification with black suffering and longue durée struggles against racism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article emerges from an ongoing exploration into how British minority ethnic communities in the London area create spaces in community-based programs to maintain or develop their languages and literacies. In London, more than one-third of the 850,000 school children speak a language other than English at home (Baker & Eversley, 2000). This article compares a model of complementary schooling developed by the more recent Albanian refugee community in east London with provision within the long-established Bangladeshi community. Within the Bangladeshi community, it contrasts two examples that suggest that government policy and local political power can impact very differently on the same community in two different locations. The case studies illustrate the way in which communities with different immigration trajectories and geographical locations within east London maintain their identities, their languages, and their literacies in the face of changing government policies and a challenging economic climate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The social and economic regeneration of inner-city housing estates has been a common feature of successive UK government policies for a number of years. However, their focus has primarily been on the physical regeneration of communities to the exclusion of individuals' emotional and personal problems. Community-based counselling projects are still a rarity in regeneration projects. This article describes the establishment and subsequent history of a counselling project based on an inner-city housing estate in East London, which was undergoing extensive regeneration. It discusses how the service originated from the ongoing work of a participatory action research project and how it challenged stereotypical images of counselling. It demonstrated that free, accessible and locally based counselling services are needed in the regeneration of communities; that extensive planning is necessary both within the organisation and in relation to funding before the project begins; and that on-going core funding is essential to sustaining such innovative and much-needed projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the potential impact of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England on the East End community that will host the event. The local economic impact of the Olympic games is framed in terms of the construction jobs that it provides and its potential to revitalize the economy of the East End. The goal of reducing unemployment through the course of developing London for the games is described.

There has been little exploration in the literature of the dialogic exchanges among marginalized youth, including the kinds of associations they may have, if any, with resilience. Based on preliminary findings from an ethnographic study in East London, we explore some of the dialogic exchanges about resilience among ethnically diverse groups of vulnerable youth to suggest alternative ways in which it can be contextualized. Youth narratives are used as an analytical tool to unravel the ambiguities of the terms resilience and adversity and to illustrate ways in which the respondents' association and understanding of resilience and adversity can contextualize more effectively the covert processes they undergo as they navigate through personal and cultural adversities. What is their association with the concept of resilience? Do these connections (if any) influence the ways they contextualize and face their daily adversities? How and where can the voices of vulnerable youth be positioned in the health resilience literature? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a shortage of information on the relationships between resources available to Regional Medium Secure services, demand from catchment area populations, and clinical factors which determine whether patients assessed are actually admitted. During a 7 year study period, the East London Service had few resources and the assessment process was entirely reactive in that all referrals were generated by external agencies. Patients selected for admission were primarily serious offenders with schizophrenia specifically referred for admission to medium security. The inpatient service was heavily reliant on admissions to the private sector. Needs of the catchment area population could not be met and it was necessary to prioritise a limited subgroup of mentally disordered prisoners at the expense of supporting local services and patients inappropriately remaining in maximum security. These findings are of contemporary relevance to the continuing lack of capacity in other medium secure services in the UK. Future service planning based on the 'rates-under-treatment' approach in the absence of adequate epidemiological data is discredited by these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the growth of a new revivalist, internationally orientated Islam in Tower Hamlets. It moves beyond discussions of identity to look at the roles of ideology and socio-economic background, and to assess the effect of the new identities and ideologies on social and political action. It looks at why young Bengalis are being increasingly attracted to Islam, and at how this can benefit both themselves and the wider Bengali community; and it also explores where the impact of the new Islam is less positive, ending with an examination of the limits of its power as a vehicle for radical change in a deprived area of London. The article is based on interviews carried out in 2000 and 2001 as part of a wider historical study of political mobilization of Jewish and Bengali immigrants in London's East End. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]