Rural Spatial Justice
@ruralspatialj.bsky.social
News & analysis from the ‘Rural Discontent, Disruptive Politics & Spatial Justice’ (Rural-Spatial-Justice) project at Aberystwyth University. Reposts are not endorsements.
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When reality bites: the rapid rise and chaotic fall of Reform UK in Cornwall
When reality bites: the rapid rise and chaotic fall of Reform UK in Cornwall
Resignations, suspensions and infighting lead to party losing crown of highest number of seats in the county
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 10:50 AM
When reality bites: the rapid rise and chaotic fall of Reform UK in Cornwall
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14. Thanks for reading to the end. Here's the thread on one page: skywriter.blue/pages/did:pl...
Page by George Monbiot | @georgemonbiot.bsky.social
1. In the wake on Mamdani’s win, we’ll see a lot more far right anti-urban sentiment. Here’s a thread on its roots and evolution.
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside inno...
skywriter.blue
November 5, 2025 at 8:11 AM
14. Thanks for reading to the end. Here's the thread on one page: skywriter.blue/pages/did:pl...
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13. Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
But also, long live Sodom and Gomarrah.
But also, long live Sodom and Gomarrah.
November 5, 2025 at 8:09 AM
13. Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
But also, long live Sodom and Gomarrah.
But also, long live Sodom and Gomarrah.
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12. I write this as someone brought up in and currently living in the countryside. There is much that I love about it, but also much I admire about cities. I don’t believe we need to set one against the other. But urban-rural conflict is one aspect of the constant effort to polarise and divide.
November 5, 2025 at 8:08 AM
12. I write this as someone brought up in and currently living in the countryside. There is much that I love about it, but also much I admire about cities. I don’t believe we need to set one against the other. But urban-rural conflict is one aspect of the constant effort to polarise and divide.
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11. Importantly, the city is and has always been a much less controllable space for the far right than the countryside. It is less in thrall to traditional hierarchies and better able to mobilise: the sheer number of people provides a counterweight to oligarchic power.
November 5, 2025 at 8:07 AM
11. Importantly, the city is and has always been a much less controllable space for the far right than the countryside. It is less in thrall to traditional hierarchies and better able to mobilise: the sheer number of people provides a counterweight to oligarchic power.
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10. They circulate myths about “no-go zones” and subways in which you’re more likely to get your throat cut than arrive at your destination. They evince what might or might not be genuine terror at seeing black and brown faces.
November 5, 2025 at 8:06 AM
10. They circulate myths about “no-go zones” and subways in which you’re more likely to get your throat cut than arrive at your destination. They evince what might or might not be genuine terror at seeing black and brown faces.
Reposted by Rural Spatial Justice
9. Now this idea is being resuscitated once again. The city is cast by the new wave of fascists as a degenerate, crime-ridden arena, dominated by Muslims, immigrants and “alien” ideas such as feminism, antifa, anti-racism, trans rights, asylum, public transport and intellectualism.
November 5, 2025 at 8:05 AM
9. Now this idea is being resuscitated once again. The city is cast by the new wave of fascists as a degenerate, crime-ridden arena, dominated by Muslims, immigrants and “alien” ideas such as feminism, antifa, anti-racism, trans rights, asylum, public transport and intellectualism.
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8. Evil city / pure countryside is an example of what Jeremy Lent calls a “root metaphor”: an idea so deeply implanted in our minds that we don’t even recognise it as an idea.
November 5, 2025 at 8:04 AM
8. Evil city / pure countryside is an example of what Jeremy Lent calls a “root metaphor”: an idea so deeply implanted in our minds that we don’t even recognise it as an idea.
Reposted by Rural Spatial Justice
7. It should be noted that not all rural revivalists were on the far right. Lord of the Rings is a rural revivalist fantasy. A society of small farmers overthrows urban industrialism and restores a feudal aristocracy. The Shire is Wallop’s ideal society as much as Tolkein’s.
November 5, 2025 at 8:04 AM
7. It should be noted that not all rural revivalists were on the far right. Lord of the Rings is a rural revivalist fantasy. A society of small farmers overthrows urban industrialism and restores a feudal aristocracy. The Shire is Wallop’s ideal society as much as Tolkein’s.
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6. They sought to trigger a mass return of people to the countryside, depopulating the cities. I'm not sure they really thought that through: the result would have been generalised urbanisation. Though, given that some of them (esp Anthony Ludovici) wanted to exterminate so many people, maybe not.
November 5, 2025 at 8:03 AM
6. They sought to trigger a mass return of people to the countryside, depopulating the cities. I'm not sure they really thought that through: the result would have been generalised urbanisation. Though, given that some of them (esp Anthony Ludovici) wanted to exterminate so many people, maybe not.
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5. They saw the countryside as the “true” heart of the nation, which upheld clean and decent traditions, and sustained old ideas about how society should be run. Crucially, they believed, it was not “polluted” by “miscegenation” and the “dilution” of “racial characteristics”.
November 5, 2025 at 8:00 AM
5. They saw the countryside as the “true” heart of the nation, which upheld clean and decent traditions, and sustained old ideas about how society should be run. Crucially, they believed, it was not “polluted” by “miscegenation” and the “dilution” of “racial characteristics”.
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4. The city, for them, was a seething mass of “aliens” and “cosmopolitans” (ie Jews). It teemed with “foreign” and “degenerate” ideas and practices. Some of them, particularly Gerald Wallop (Lord Lymington), railed against its democratic impulses: he wanted a revival of aristocratic rule.
November 5, 2025 at 8:00 AM
4. The city, for them, was a seething mass of “aliens” and “cosmopolitans” (ie Jews). It teemed with “foreign” and “degenerate” ideas and practices. Some of them, particularly Gerald Wallop (Lord Lymington), railed against its democratic impulses: he wanted a revival of aristocratic rule.
Reposted by Rural Spatial Justice
3. It was rescuscitated in the 1920s and 1930s by fascist movements. “Rural revivalism” was a major force in the emergence of fascism in Germany, Italy, France, the UK and elsewhere. In the UK it was fomented by the likes of Gerald Wallop, Jorian Jenks, Rolf Gardiner and Henry Williamson.
November 5, 2025 at 7:59 AM
3. It was rescuscitated in the 1920s and 1930s by fascist movements. “Rural revivalism” was a major force in the emergence of fascism in Germany, Italy, France, the UK and elsewhere. In the UK it was fomented by the likes of Gerald Wallop, Jorian Jenks, Rolf Gardiner and Henry Williamson.
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2. As the prophet Nahum put it, “Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not ... the well-favoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.” Lovely guy, I’m sure.
November 5, 2025 at 7:58 AM
2. As the prophet Nahum put it, “Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not ... the well-favoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.” Lovely guy, I’m sure.
Reposted by Rural Spatial Justice
1. In the wake on Mamdani’s win, we’ll see a lot more far right anti-urban sentiment. Here’s a thread on its roots and evolution.
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵
November 5, 2025 at 7:58 AM
1. In the wake on Mamdani’s win, we’ll see a lot more far right anti-urban sentiment. Here’s a thread on its roots and evolution.
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵
Why one small town with very little immigration turned to Reform UK www.bbc.com/news/article...
Buxton: Why one small town with very little immigration turned to Reform UK
How national concerns affected a local election in the heart of the Peak District.
www.bbc.com
October 28, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Why one small town with very little immigration turned to Reform UK www.bbc.com/news/article...
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New publication for everyone interested in climate politics, far-right climate obstruction, and the role of elite cues! 📚
"Climate action versus environmental protection?" now out in @environmentalpol.bsky.social (with Matthias Diermeier).
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... (open access!) (1/5)
"Climate action versus environmental protection?" now out in @environmentalpol.bsky.social (with Matthias Diermeier).
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... (open access!) (1/5)
Climate action versus environmental protection? How far-right and environmentalist messengers shape public attitudes towards renewable energy infrastructure in forests
This article examines how political messengers, and not the message, influence attitudes toward renewable energy infrastructure amid an increasingly polarized climate change debate. Focusing on win...
www.tandfonline.com
October 14, 2025 at 8:34 AM
New publication for everyone interested in climate politics, far-right climate obstruction, and the role of elite cues! 📚
"Climate action versus environmental protection?" now out in @environmentalpol.bsky.social (with Matthias Diermeier).
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... (open access!) (1/5)
"Climate action versus environmental protection?" now out in @environmentalpol.bsky.social (with Matthias Diermeier).
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... (open access!) (1/5)
Reposted by Rural Spatial Justice
Great study on the urban-rural divide in Sweden. Clear attitude- and identity-based polarization, but no systematic bias towards out-group political candidates.
#OpenAccess from @jepsjournal.bsky.social -
A Registered Report on Place-Based Resentment: Exploring Urban-Rural Tensions in Sweden - https://cup.org/3J30J34
- Kajsa Hansson, Gissur Erlingsson & Gustav Tinghög
#FirstView
A Registered Report on Place-Based Resentment: Exploring Urban-Rural Tensions in Sweden - https://cup.org/3J30J34
- Kajsa Hansson, Gissur Erlingsson & Gustav Tinghög
#FirstView
October 14, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Great study on the urban-rural divide in Sweden. Clear attitude- and identity-based polarization, but no systematic bias towards out-group political candidates.
@ruralgrg.bsky.social @wiserd-research.bsky.social @ecpr-ead.bsky.social @ecprpovb.bsky.social @psaepop.bsky.social
Join our team: We're recruiting 2 x 3-year post doc researchers for the Rural-Spatial-Justice project at Aberystwyth, to undertake fieldwork on rural discontent & support for disruptive politics in the UK, Europe & USA. Closing date: 19 Oct. Details: jobs.aber.ac.uk/en/vacancy/p...
Aberystwyth University - : Post-Doctoral Research Associate (Rural-Spatial-Justice) (5874)
jobs.aber.ac.uk
September 24, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Join our team: We're recruiting 2 x 3-year post doc researchers for the Rural-Spatial-Justice project at Aberystwyth, to undertake fieldwork on rural discontent & support for disruptive politics in the UK, Europe & USA. Closing date: 19 Oct. Details: jobs.aber.ac.uk/en/vacancy/p...
Aberystwyth University - : Post-Doctoral Research Associate (Rural-Spatial-Justice) (5874)
jobs.aber.ac.uk
September 24, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Join our team: We're recruiting 2 x 3-year post doc researchers for the Rural-Spatial-Justice project at Aberystwyth, to undertake fieldwork on rural discontent & support for disruptive politics in the UK, Europe & USA. Closing date: 19 Oct. Details: jobs.aber.ac.uk/en/vacancy/p...
As Andrew's Previews marked its 15th anniversary last week it seems apt to highlight the importance of @andrewteale.me.uk 's Local Election Archive Project to this analysis of the geography of the Reform UK vote. ruralspatialjustice.substack.com/p/where-is-r...
Where is Reform UK winning?
This is a written version of a presentation to the conference of the PSA Elections, Public Opinion and Parties Specialty Group (EPOP).
ruralspatialjustice.substack.com
September 14, 2025 at 9:35 PM
As Andrew's Previews marked its 15th anniversary last week it seems apt to highlight the importance of @andrewteale.me.uk 's Local Election Archive Project to this analysis of the geography of the Reform UK vote. ruralspatialjustice.substack.com/p/where-is-r...
@sundersays.bsky.social Far-right protest in Newtown today. Estimate 100-150 present. Some had travelled in from Shropshire etc.. Curious locals on fringe watching rather than participating.
September 13, 2025 at 6:01 PM
@sundersays.bsky.social Far-right protest in Newtown today. Estimate 100-150 present. Some had travelled in from Shropshire etc.. Curious locals on fringe watching rather than participating.
Where is Reform UK winning? Read our analysis of Reform's local elections vote across rural & urban England - and what it means for the electoral geography of Britain: open.substack.com/pub/ruralspa...
Where is Reform UK winning?
This is a written version of a presentation to the conference of the PSA Elections, Public Opinion and Parties Specialty Group (EPOP).
open.substack.com
September 10, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Where is Reform UK winning? Read our analysis of Reform's local elections vote across rural & urban England - and what it means for the electoral geography of Britain: open.substack.com/pub/ruralspa...
Reposted by Rural Spatial Justice
From LA to Paris, the populist right hates cities – and it’s fuelled by a sense of bitter defeat | Andy Beckett
From LA to Paris, the populist right hates cities – and it’s fuelled by a sense of bitter defeat | Andy Beckett
LA was once a conservative stronghold; now the military is occupying it. Liberal cities have become targets for politicians looking to stir up their voters elsewhere, says Guardian columnist Andy Beckett
www.theguardian.com
June 20, 2025 at 5:59 PM
From LA to Paris, the populist right hates cities – and it’s fuelled by a sense of bitter defeat | Andy Beckett
We’re investigating the decline of local news in rural America as a factor in rural support for disruptive politics. This report suggests a self-perpetuating cycle.
If Trump cuts funding to NPR and PBS, rural America will pay a devastating price
If Trump cuts funding to NPR and PBS, rural America will pay a devastating price
Much of the country has little access to local news, with public media filling the void – and serving as a lifeline
www.theguardian.com
June 6, 2025 at 5:26 PM
We’re investigating the decline of local news in rural America as a factor in rural support for disruptive politics. This report suggests a self-perpetuating cycle.