Recovering Community

What does the word ‘community’ mean to you? An homogenous group of people united by faith, sexuality or another form of identity? Or perhaps it’s about the place where you grew up, or the people you work with? Recovering Community is a podcast series from the University of Glasgow’s School of Political and Social Sciences about community; what it means, how it’s formed and how it is rebuilt. Les Back is joined by academics, campaigners, volunteers and artists to talk about how communities respond to social and economic change, who belongs and who is excluded and what this tells us about some of our most pressing social issues.

Understanding Racism, Transforming University Cultures - Les Back and Professor Patricia Hill Collins in Conversation 06/27/2025

Roots and Futures in Sheffield: Growing Heritage Around Communities 10/04/2024

Roots and Futures in Sheffield: Growing Heritage Around Communities For this special bonus edition of Recovering Community, Les Back travels south of the border, to Sheffield to look at how rethinking the relationship between heritage and local communities can make them more inclusive, particularly for the most marginalised. Here, the Roots and Futures project is listening to the perspectives of under-served communities, particularly Sheffield's Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities in seven locations across the city. The project is informing city-level heritage strategies in partnership with Joined Up Heritage Sheffield, Sheffield City Council, University of Sheffield, and community partners including Zest, SOAR, Sheffield and District African Caribbean Community Association, Care for Young People’s Future, ChilyPep, Manor and Castle Development Trust, and Heeley City Farm. This all might seem like a long way from Glasgow but Roots and Futures is part of the AHRC’s Place-Based Research Programme which is based at the University of Glasgow. People rooted in local communities are absolutely essential to this kind of co-production and Les spends time with just a few of the people involved in this ambitious project: Aisha Jones has lived in Sheffield for over 20 years and is a dedicated community volunteer Lizzy Craig-Atkins is Professor of Human Osteology at the University of Sheffield and the principal investigator of Roots and Futures. Rhonda Allen, is a Research Associate in the Roots and Futures Project in the DSchool of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities, Faculty of Arts and Humanities Izzy Carter is a historian and the co-investigator of Roots and Futures. Much of her work is connected to place and working with communities. And Robin Hughes, who is a trustee of Joined Up Heritage Sheffield Many thanks to them all for sharing their time and expertise. Find out more about Roots and Futures here https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/archaeology/roots-and-futures We’re already working on plans for our next episodes, but your feedback, comments and questions are always so welcome. You can get in touch with Les via X If you’re interested in podcasting as part of your academic research, please do share your work or what you’re listening to, we are interested to hear what other people are working on. Thanks to the staff in the School of Social and Political Sciences and the College of Social Sciences who helped with this project. Recovering Community is produced by Freya Hellier. /episode/index/show/uofgsps/id/33331532

We See You: Exploring the links between violence, homelessness and the drug economy in Scotland 05/08/2024

We See You: Exploring the links between violence, homelessness and the drug economy in Scotland Les Back meets with Dr Susan Batchelor, Dr Caitlin Gormley and Jim Thomson to learn more about a new piece of research exploring repeat violence in Scotland. To be homeless is more than not having a roof over your head. It is also about a denial of being, a person out of place to look away from, to ignore and not make eye contact with them as you pass busily through Glasgow's Central Station. The numbers of people living precariously in the city is increasing (a recent article in the Glasgow Herald says they have doubled recently). This is a story of a deep crisis not only in housing, but it also reveals the symbiotic relationship between social inequalities, homelessness, violence, and the drug economy And it’s a story that many people and organisations are trying to rewrite. One of them is Glasgow City Council who has been putting up Rough Sleepers and Vulnerable People or RSVPs in a number of city centre hotels for a few years now. For an overstretched local authority struggling to meet demand, this has been a controversial and troubled solution to a very complicated issue. Another organisation working in this field is Simon Community Scotland; a charity providing information, advice, care, support and accommodation to people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness. The Simon Community has a wealth of expertise and lived experience within its teams of staff and volunteers, one of them is Jim Thomson, who - at the time of our interview - was the coordinator of We See You, a project run from the Simon Community’s access hub in the city centre. Jim and the Simon Community partnered with my colleagues Susan Batchelor and Caitlin Gormley as part of a major research project on Repeat Violence in Scotland. It’s a piece of work that is urgently important so Les met up with Susan, a senior lecturer in sociology and Caitlin, a lecturer in criminology - who are both based in the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research and Jim to learn more. Thank you to Jim Thomson and The Simon Community Scotland for hosting this recording You can read the report on repeat violence in Scotland here Recovering Community is presented by Les Back and produced by Freya Hellier /episode/index/show/uofgsps/id/31204722

The Museum of Discomfort: How Glasgow’s Hunterian is Decolonising through its Collection 05/08/2024

The Museum of Discomfort: How Glasgow’s Hunterian is Decolonising through its Collection Les Back visits the Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow to talk about history, and how it impacts our lives and relationships in the 21st century. He meets with Hunterian Curator of Discomfort Zandra Yeaman and Dr Jay Sarkar to learn more about why history is so important when it comes to meaningful and respectful connection and cohabitation. Glasgow is famous for its museums and galleries - from The Burrell Collection in the Southside, to Kelvingrove in the West End. But as you wander around these grand, serene places, do you ever think about how these traces of the past got here and what museums are actually for? Perhaps they’re to inspire, to educate, to memorialise our shared history. Or maybe to help us relax on a Sunday or enjoy a nice coffee and piece of cake, but could there, or should there be the possibility that museums can make us uncomfortable? It’s a question that’s in the minds of the curators and community at The Hunterian - the museum right at the heart of the University of Glasgow’s main building. The Hunterian is home to a beautiful and important collection of art and objects, bequeathed to the University in 1783 by the pioneering obstetrician Dr William Hunter, who was a former student. A collection tells a story about the collector; it also tells us a lot about the society, politics and trends of the time it was formed. But when we think carefully about how the collection was put together, it also tells us a lot about power, wealth and privilege - and that’s where the stories can start to get uncomfortable. Discomfort is closely related to confronting the legacy of empire in our culture. The museum exhibits often provide symbols or clues about the unspoken or glossed damage and violence within the historical record. Reckoning with that imperial past involves ‘decolonisation’ an idea that’s in the minds of many people who think about history - from teachers and activists, to artists, curators and writers. Learn more about the Curating Discomfort here https://www.gla.ac.uk/hunterian/about/achangingmuseum/curatingdiscomfort/ And you can learn more about Decolonisation Through Archives, including the podcast here Recovering Community is presented by Les Back and produced by Freya Hellier /episode/index/show/uofgsps/id/31204582

The Soup'erheroes: Fostering Food Solidarity in Castlemilk 05/08/2024

The Soup'erheroes: Fostering Food Solidarity in Castlemilk Les Back swaps his desk for the kitchen table as he travels to Castlemilk in the south of Glasgow to meet a group of remarkable women working together to feed their community. Is there a more powerful symbol of community than the soup pot? It is both a distinctive part of Scottish working-class experience and at the same time a universal ritual of solidarity in hard times. Eating a home cooked meal is a kind of communion with others. But what happens to a family, or even a whole society, when the basic necessity of food is out of reach? The huge demand on food banks in recent years is a stark reminder of just how big of a problem food poverty is, and it’s a highly politicised problem that brings out the best - and worst - in us. But what if we were to think about food solidarity instead of food poverty? If we think about sharing a meal with some sitting next to you at the table rather than crumbs of charity handed by the privileged to ease our conscience. Les first met the women of Castlemilk’s Food Solidarity Soup'erheroes at the University of Glasgow through his colleague Kait Loughlin who is a Community Knowledge Exchange Lead. Kait runs a programme called ‘Community Matters’ that trains researchers how to work with communities, and the insights of the Soup'erheroes have been part of this process of educating researchers. These heroes don’t wear capes, their ‘souper power’ comes in the form of fresh fruit and veg, bags of lentils, free music events and hope and solidarity by the pound delivered every week in Castlemilk. Cathy Milligan is a long standing Castlemilk resident and activist, and she welcomed Les to her house along with fellow soup'erheroes; her niece Natali, and Bridget Crossan. We were also joined by Paddy McKenna who is the Community Development Manager for Cassiltoun Housing Association, and Kait Loughlin. Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone involved in making this podcast possible Learn more about the work of the Souper heroes You can find the Castlemilk Cooks Up Memories cookbook here https://www.nemoarts.org/castlemilk-cooks-up-memories/ Recovering Community is presented by Les Back and produced by Freya Hellier /episode/index/show/uofgsps/id/31204347

Is Wasteland Ever Wasted? Looking beyond the developer’s view; how brownfield sites add value to the cityscape 05/08/2024

Is Wasteland Ever Wasted? Looking beyond the developer’s view; how brownfield sites add value to the cityscape In this episode of Recovering Community, Les Back climbs through a hole in a fence to get right to the foundations of urban life. He meets with Dr Ross Beveridge, and artists Mary Redmond and Jim Colquhoun to talk about the landscape of the city, how it’s valued, and who gets to value it. The story of Glasgow’s mixed fortunes is written into its built environment - from the confident grandeur of its Victorian monuments, to the once futuristic, now flaking edifices of post war modernism, to the new smoked glass and steel developments promising growth, longevity and perhaps - with some scepticism - ecological harmony. Glasgow also bears many scars from the collapse of its once thriving industries. Former warehouses and factories, decaying public buildings and housing; euphemistically termed ‘brownfield sites’ pepper the city. And although Glasgow is rich in this wasteland, these sites are disappearing as developers move in to rebuild the cityscape and harvest profit. The Wastelands and the City Network is an interdisciplinary research team connecting the University of Glasgow’s College of Social Sciences, and The Glasgow School of Art with artists, ecologists, researchers and archeologists. Together, they are thinking about different perspectives on this ‘wasted land’ and how we use it. One of the most productive of options might be to do nothing at all - but that requires a huge leap of imagination and courage. The Wastelands and the City Research Network and Seminar Series is a collaboration between the University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art. Learn more about the College of Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Research Theme, Challenges in Changing Cities and Reading Landscape Group at GSA. Recovering Community is presented by Les Back and produced by Freya Hellier /episode/index/show/uofgsps/id/31204122

The Wellbeing Economy: rethinking traditional economic structures to benefit people and planet 06/10/2022

Coming Back: How Vox Liminis uses creative responses to the criminal justice system to build community 02/03/2022

Colombia River Stories: The symbiotic relationship between the Río Atrato and the community who call it home 11/05/2021

Communities, Identity and Borders: What does the Kenmure Street Protest tell us about belonging to Glasgow? 10/08/2021

1. After Auchengeich: Resilience in a Mining Community 09/14/2021

Recovering Community

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