Semester Calendar 12 weeks – 1 hour/week Identity: who are the British? Geography and demographics: how do British people organize spatially and socially? Politics and institutions: how are British people represented and ruled over? The UK and the World: British people and the EU, British people and the US

Actualités et faits de société Lecture 4 - Licence 1 North and South: the great divide?

North-South Divide: where is the line? Northern Cities: Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Liverpool Southern Cities: London, Brighton, Gloucester Wales is situated north of the divide

North-South divide in music: The Battle of Britpop in the 1990s

1. Geography, demography the physical shape of the north/south divide ca. 80% of the population live in England, the south-east is the fastest-growing region of the UK London itself has 8.3 million inhabitants, 13% of the total of the UK

Anamorphic map of the UK

Anamorphic maps of France and Italy

2. Historical explanations south: traditionally held money and power (landowners, aristocracy) 19th century: growth of northern cities BUT decline of northern industry started in 1914 Thatcher years (1980s): widened the gap between north and south (closing down heavy industries, mines) to promote services and finance, mainly in the south

Mapping unemployment

Mapping unemployment

3. Some signs of the great divide Let’s have a look at three kinds of data: 3.1. Health - a good indicator of national disparities in lifestyle 3.2. Housing - a good indicator in national disparities in wealth 3.3. Education - a good indicator in national disparities in access to top education, signs of an elitist, socially exclusive society

3.1. Health Long-term illnesses Death rates increase and decrease

3.1. Health (overall premature deaths)

3.2. Housing lowest prices (Scotland, Wales): ca. £ 64,000 highest prices (London): ca. £350,000  housing is much more expensive in the south of the UK

3.3. Education 3.3.1. Secondary Education (12-17 years) South-East has the largest number of selective independent schools the most influential public schools are in the south, especially near London (Eton, Harrow) VOCABULARY: public school = école privée GCSE results: children in the south-east outperform children in the north  40% more likely to gain As

3.3. Education 3.3.2. Higher Education there is a north-south divide in university admissions more southerners apply to university, and more get the places they want in top universities Example in 2010: Northern applicants: 800 students got in Oxbridge London and South-East applicants: 2,700 students got into Oxbridge

Access to elite universities South-east and London send a lots of students to elite universities So does Scotland Wales, Midlands and Northern England send the lowest number of students to elite universities

University admissions Southern students tend to choose top southern universities Northern students are more found in northern universities

4. London, a counter-example London is the city where you find both the wealthiest people in the UK and the poorest people in the UK the divide is an East/West divide in London, with the East being traditionally poorer highest housing prices in the country, highest salaries… … but also highest unemployment rates

5. Bridging the north/south divide? governments have tried to bridge the divide, but so far have failed government subsidies go to the north, mainly, where you also find the highest rates of people being employed by the state plans to bridge the geographical divide by building new transport infrastructures, like the planned HS2 train lines

Bridging the divide with a new train line