Research project

Learning to Live with Risk & Responsibility: Understanding Popular Responses to COVID-19

Research groups:

Economy, Society and Governance
Lead researchers:

Professor Nick Clarke
Research funder:

British Academy
Website:

https://covidresponsibility.org/
Status:

Not active

Project overview

'Learning to Live with Risk and Responsibility: Understanding Popular Responses to COVID-19' is a research project led by Nick Clarke in collaboration with Clive Barnett. The project is funded by the the British Academy Special Research Grants: Covid-19 Scheme (Grant No. COV19\200422), and will run from 2020 to 2023.

The project investigates how people in the UK have negotiated the myriad demands made upon them during the COVID-19 pandemic to act responsibly in novel ways because of the risks their behaviour poses to themselves and others, and due to their role in complex chains of causation. Making use of contemporaneous qualitative data available through the Mass Observation Archive, we seek to develop a better understanding of how people interpreted conflicting demands to act responsibly in relation to COVID-19 and translated them into practices of everyday life.

Staff

Lead researchers

Professor Nick Clarke

Professor of Political Geography

Research interests

I research governance and citizenship, with a focus on three main areas:
1) Innovative responses to globalisation (2004-present). This research has been funded by grants from the ESRC, the Nuffield Foundation, and the Local Government Alliance for International Development. The focus has been on global citizenship, ethical consumption, and interurban partnerships. See especially my co-authored book, Globalising Responsibility (2011, Wiley-Blackwell).
2) The challenges presented to representative democracy by the 2007-2008 financial crisis, the rise of populism, Brexit, and the COVID-19 pandemic (2013-present). This research has been funded by grants from the ESRC and the British Academy. The focus has been on the relations between national and local government, and between politicians and citizens. See especially my co-authored book, The Good Politician (2018, Cambridge University Press).

Connect with Nick

Email: [email protected]

Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups

Economy, Society and Governance

Our research addresses the changing relationships between contemporary economies, societies and politics, and focuses on the ways in which human geographies are central to these changes.