The Geography of Elections, Inequality and Migration: 40 years of polarisation

Professor Danny Dorling (Oxford University)

This lecture will consider the 40 years build up to the current levels of social and political polarisation in the UK. The context of the 2015 general election is one of a country more divided than at any time since 1918 in term of the geographical segregation of the UK vote. In the South of England many voters are deciding between UKIP or the Conservatives. In many cities the choice is often between Green or Labour. In Scotland a different choice appears to have already been made. Often immigration is said to be the key issue, but that may well be a proxy for declining living standards and growing precarity. The outcome is harder to call than it has been in decades, so this lecture concludes by looking at a series of issues of worldwide interest. World maps of issues of more importance than UK voting are used to put the UK election in context. The UK may be a set of countries still adjusting to their new, less important, place in the world. It can sometimes be harder to adjust than to pretend you are still running in a global race that has long passed you by.

Recording

The Geography of Elections, Inequality and Migration: 40 years of polarisation

About the Speaker

Danny Dorling is the Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford. He grew up in Oxford and went to University in Newcastle upon Tyne. He has worked in Newcastle, Bristol, Leeds, Sheffield and New Zealand. His work concerns issues of housing, health, employment, education, inequality and poverty. With colleagues he helped create www.worldmapper.org and he’ll be showing some new world maps.

Organiser: Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies

Contact email: cb92@soas.ac.uk