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Supported by the Julie-Ann Macqueen Trust, this doctoral thesis examines the experiences of lone parent families in the working class, and socially, religiously, and culturally diverse area of north Edinburgh (formerly Greater Pilton; Scotland) during the decade of state-sanctioned ‘age of austerity’ that followed the 2008 global financial crash (Cooper and Whyte, 2017). Informed by historical and contemporary literature outlining how lone parent families have been conceputalised in deeply gendered, racialised, and frequently ableist ways, my research engaged with lone parents frequently ignored within past investigations. Alongside the normative cisgendered mother-headed lone parent families typified in the academy, press, and practice, this account includes queer lone parents, lone father-headed families, and others who are not the primary caregiver within their families. Utilising Biographical Interpretive Narrative Methods (Ross and Moore, 2016; Wengraf, 2004), research participants were afforded a space within their own community in which they retained control over their own narrative, shaping the dialogue a which touched on the ways in which they sought to retain or enforce their agency, fostered cross-community and interpersonal support networks, or navigated the frequently extreme hardships facing lone parent families in contemporary Scotland.

Adopting a Freirean-approach to data analysis of the thirty-four interview transcripts (Freire, 1972), generative themes emerged on re-defining lone parenthood in the contemporary context as we better understanding the precise experiences of queer lone parents, disabled lone parents, and migrant lone parents through their lived experiences. This, when combined with the extensive literature on each demographic’s experiences of state welfare and policy, allowed uniquely situated understandings to emerge. Innovative theoretical models are produced within the research as mechanisms through which researchers can demonstrate their relationships and connections to participants (a model of proximity), as well as producing a means for charting the priorities and ambitions of individual and social movements - to protect and retain existing services and spaces, or to create new (often radical) methods of peer support amidst the hostile social, economic, and political environments of contemporary Scotland.

The findings demonstrate significant gaps in current educational provision concerning who lone parent families are, offers intimate insights into the marginalisations and oppressions they face centred on precise intersectionalities, and strives to recognise these participants not as those simply victims of policy, but political agents in their own rights. Across this thesis, stories of determination, hope, and care emerge, enabling that very shift in narrative, resulting, I believe, in powerful insights across this immersive exploration of contemporary lone parenthood

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This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for apostgraduate degree (e. g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University ofEdinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use:This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights,which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated.A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research orstudy, without prior permission or charge.This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from withoutfirst obtaining permission in writing from the author.The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially inany format or medium without the formal permission of the author.When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including theauthor, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given.’She’s the Reason I Do It’: The Impact of and Responses to Post-2010 Austerity by Lone Parent Familiesin North Edinburgh (Scotland)Luke Ray Di Marco Campbell0000-0003-3590-850596,049 wordsContentsAbstract........................................................................................................................................................ 1Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................................... 2Preface..........................................................................................................................................................51. Introduction.............................................................................................................................................. 72. Approaching the Project......................................................................................................................... 203. Conceptualisation & Theoretical Frameworks........................................................................................304. Literature Review....................................................................................................................................385. Methodologies........................................................................................................................................746.Fieldwork:................................................................................................................................................ 887. Analysis of Fieldwork: Overview & Emerging Themes..........................................................................1048. Theorising Acts of Resistance & Survival:............................................................................................. 1439. Conclusions...........................................................................................................................................177References................................................................................................................................................ 1861AbstractSupported by the Julie-Ann Macqueen Trust, this doctoral thesis examines the experiences of loneparent families in the working class, and socially, religiously, and culturally diverse area of northEdinburgh (formerly Greater Pilton; Scotland) during the decade of state-sanctioned ‘age of austerity’that followed the 2008 global financial crash (Cooper and Whyte, 2017). Informed by historical andcontemporary literature outlining how lone parent families have been conceputalised in deeplygendered, racialised, and frequently ableist ways, my research engaged with lone parents frequentlyignored within past investigations. Alongside the normative cisgendered mother-headed lone parentfamilies typified in the academy, press, and practice, this account includes queer lone parents, lonefather-headed families, and others who are not the primary caregiver within their families. UtilisingBiographical Interpretive Narrative Methods (Ross and Moore, 2016; Wengraf, 2004), researchparticipants were afforded a space within their own community in which they retained control over theirown narrative, shaping the dialogue a which touched on the ways in which they sought to retain orenforce their agency, fostered cross-community and interpersonal support networks, or navigated thefrequently extreme hardships facing lone parent families in contemporary Scotland.Adopting a Freirean-approach to data analysis of the thirty-four interview transcripts (Freire, 1972),generative themes emerged on re-defining lone parenthood in the contemporary context as we betterunderstanding the precise experiences of queer lone parents, disabled lone parents, and migrant loneparents through their lived experiences. This, when combined with the extensive literature on eachdemographic’s experiences of state welfare and policy, allowed uniquely situated understandings toemerge. Innovative theoretical models are produced within the research as mechanisms through whichresearchers can demonstrate their relationships and connections to participants (a model of proximity),as well as producing a means for charting the priorities and ambitions of individual and socialmovements - to protect and retain existing services and spaces, or to create new (often radical) methodsof peer support amidst the hostile social, economic, and political environments of contemporaryScotland.The findings demonstrate significant gaps in current educational provision concerning who lone parentfamilies are, offers intimate insights into the marginalisations and oppressions they face centred onprecise intersectionalities, and strives to recognise these participants not as those simply victims ofpolicy, but political agents in their own rights. Across this thesis, stories of determination, hope, and careemerge, enabling that very shift in narrative, resulting, I believe, in powerful insights across thisimmersive exploration of contemporary lone parenthood.2AcknowledgementsNote of ThanksForemost, my thanks to the Julie-Ann Macqueen Trust for awarding me the Macqueen Scholarship. Thethree years of funding enabled me, for the first time, to focus on my academic research withoutmanaging multiple sessional, part-time, and overnight posts to make ends meet. The relative financialsupport was deeply appreciated.Thanks goes to my partner, Alex, and to our beautiful and energetic boys Sully and Seb. Thank you toAndreea, Nicola, and Marta for your critical engagements with my work. Jackie and Hayley, you’ve bothbeen incredibly influential in getting the work into shape.And, more than any others, my thanks to each of the participants and their families for sharing yourstories, your homes, your fights, and the struggles.Finally, to you, reader, I hope you find this investigation insightful and can share in its insights.Luke Ray Di Marco Campbell3PrefaceThe following doctoral thesis presents my investigation into the lived experiences of lone parent familiesin north Edinburgh - specifically, the area formerly known as Greater Pilton. The research examines howthis community has navigated a decade of state-imposed austerity following the 2008 economic crisis.The work, funded by the Julie-Ann Macqueen Scholarship, involved dialogues with thirty-four adultparticipants, all of whom live in the area or did so until very recently during the time concerned.With the qualitative research method of Biographical Interpretive Narrative Method (BINM) exploredduring my research presentation at the inaugural University of Edinburgh Social Work DepartmentConference in 2019, a refined line of investigation centred upon a series of themes stemming from theliterature on lone parents and their families. These focused on social, political, and economic factors, asit investigated their lives during a decade of austere politics. In-keeping with the BINM approach, a singleopening prompt was offered of ‘[t]ell me about your life as a lone parent…’ with the other aspectsemerging organically through extensive autobiographically-led dialogues. As explained in theMethodologies chapter subsection 5.3 Interview Method & Key Discussion Points, the participants wereafforded as long as they wanted to contextualise their circumstances and histories, with my subsequentquestions only seeking greater clarity over points raised by the participant, rather than pushing theconversation in particular directions. If certain topics were not raised naturally, these were understood -within the chosen method - to be of less significance to the respondent than I may have assumed. It’sessential to recognise, however, that some experiences are unlikely to be shared with a researcher who,for many participants, was a stranger.Save for the two pilot interviews (in November 2019), the discussions occurred between mid-March2020 - late-May 2020 aligning with the start of the UK Covid-19 lockdown period. The Covid-19 lockdownhas since been posited as the biggest social harm of the last decade aside from austerity - and while itwas only beginning to be felt in Scotland, the impact on safeguarding was immediate and required a shiftin interview practices. A handful of the latter stage interviews occurred as the City of Edinburgh councilclosed schools and childcare facilities, and physical distancing (so-called ‘social distancing’) measureswere coming into place under instruction from the Scottish Government (Scottish Government, 2020).Consequently, this thesis offers insights into lone parent lives in a more ‘business as usual’ period in theUK under state-imposed austerity than in the unique circumstances of the pandemic which saw anunprecedented surge in funding for community groups and short-lived ‘uplifts’ for some social securitypayments - collectively partially easing additional financial stress (Winchester, 2021; CAS, 2021).What is offered, therefore, are tales of struggle, intersectional fights for equity and justice, stories ofchosen and birth families coming together with local networks, and insights into the difficult choicesmany make to survive. Hope, however, abounds in the ways that these lone parents have navigated suchchallenges and, in many cases, not only survived but thrived in the face of adversity - be that alone orcollectively. I believe that by sharing in these participant-driven accounts, those of us formulating oralready engaged in community-based practices (be they social work, community development, etc.)might come to better recognise the agency of those we work and live alongside - particularly, in thisinstance, lone parents who have often been considered victims of state policy (Watt, 2016) ordemonised as scroungers (Bloor, 2012; see also Channel Four 2016). Thank you for taking the time to4read this work - the culmination of the kindness of neighbours and a collaboration of inspiring loneparents taking empowerment into their own hands.51. IntroductionRooted in north Edinburgh (specifically, the area formerly known as ‘Greater Pilton’, a working classcommunity of high religious, racial, and cultural diversity for the Scottish context (NRoS, 2014), thisdoctoral thesis examines the experiences of lone parent families in the post-2010 ‘age of austerity’(Seymour, 2014; Lee and Beech, 2011; Streeck and Schäfer, 2013). For clarity, the Office for NationalStatistics (ONS, 2017) define a family as ‘a married, civil partnered or cohabiting couple with or withoutchildren, or a lone parent, with at least one child, who live at the same address,’ whilst ‘dependent’refers to children aged fifteen-years-old or under, or those under eighteen-years-old but who are still infull-time education. Specifically in Scotland, National Records of Scotland (NRoS, 2014) identifydependents as ‘any person aged 0-15 in a household (whether or not in a family) or a person aged 16-18who’s in full-time education and living in a family with [their] parent(s) or grandparent(s)’. A distinction isdrawn, however, for those ‘aged 16-18 who have a spouse, partner or child living in the household’ asthese young adults would no longer be considered dependents in a legal sense. Given the geographicalfocus, the lone parents considered in this study are categorised by the Scottish definition primarily,though the complicated political systems of the UK and devolved governments mandates navigationbetween two states1 and an abundance of other actors, agencies, and other organisations. Thecircumstances of an individual becoming a lone parent - a topic explored extensively during most of theresearch conversations - are diverse. The series of categorising factors that permitted eligibility toparticipate in the study will be detailed in-full as part of the participant recruitment subsection in theMethodologies chapter. Conceptualisation and definitions of lone parents (and, by extension, loneparent families) from within the literature, policy, and relevant organisations will also be explored moreextensively in section 3.4 How are lone parents defined by the state?.The thesis contributes to the modernisation of how academics, relevant support services, and politicalactors engage with, support, and understand lone parent families. It does so by building on historicunderstandings of lone parenthood2 in and outside of the academy including studies that typicallyfocused on ‘single’ or ‘unmarried’ mothers. As outline in the Literature Review, a majority of theseinvestigations have centred - or, indeed, assumed - cisgendered and heterosexual lone parents at theexpense of others (see e.g. Kosciw and Diaz, 2008; and Taylor, 2020a). Many past studies have also failedto recognise the political and personal agency that those in positions of social or economic hardshipfrequently retain and enact (a phenomenon that has, however, been observed by, amongst others,2 The differences between terms related to this demographic (‘lone’, ‘single’, ‘solo’, ‘independent’ parenting’, etc.)will be explored extensively during the terminology section of the Literature Review.1 OPFS (2018), however, clarify which level of government has control over policies impacting the lives of loneparent families, stating that ‘lone parent families are affected by UK Government policies on welfare benefits,employment and child maintenance and […] Scottish Government policies on employability, skills, education,health, childcare, family law and social work.’6Welfens and Bonjour,3 2021; Holmes et al.,4 2021; Chung and Son,5 2019). In doing so, a wealth ofpostmodernist theorists, but primarily those engaging in intersectional practice, self-organisedcommunities, and non-normative or queer approaches are drawn upon to ensure that this contributiondoes ‘not merely appropriate concepts from contemporary social theory to rework old themes in faintlyrefined ways’ (Giroux et al., 1996, p.1945). Rather, the thesis sincerely engages with lone parent families- collaboratively exploring their lives, relationships, achievements, struggles, and activism - on their ownterms and in their own words. Retaining command over the narration of one’s own lived experiencesserved as the very justification for adopting a Biographical Interpretive Narrative Method-informedapproach to the fieldwork, as depicted by Wengraf (2004), Corbally and O’Neill (2014), and Ross andMoore (2016) - the rationale for undertaking this dialogical-driven approach to the fieldwork will beexplored in the Methodologies chapter. Foremost, however, the below outline serves as an introductionto the temporal and geographical contexts, with an emphasis placed on the precise socio-political andeconomic circumstances in which these life experiences occurred.The Context of UK Austerity:Following the 2008 global economic recession, the Labour Party (up until 2010), the Conservative-LiberalDemocrat coalition (2010-2015), and then consecutive Conservative and Unionist Party-led UKGovernments (2015-now) have implemented an intense austerity programme involving a myriad ofwelfare reforms (Chang and Moore, 2017). This has included major overhauls to social security and thedrastic reduction or significant reshaping of funding made available to Third Sector organisations andcommunity groups (Cooper and Whyte, 2017; Olah, 2019; Patrick, 2017; Campbell and Arya, 2019).These have seen reductions in the social support provided in communities across UK, shifting much ofthe need to enact and practice care and aid onto the communities themselves. Such austerity hasimpacted major social security upon which many low-income families rely (Goodin, 1985; Spicker, 2002;Ghysels and Van Lancker, 2011; Nelson, 2011; Loopstra and Tarasuk, 2013), reduced provision from manysupport services (UNISON, 2013; Stuckler et al., 2017; FEANTSA, 2011; Cummins, 2018), and caused thecomplete closure of others (Walker and Corbett, 2013). That communities such as those in northEdinburgh face significant issues around poverty and political disenfranchisement, amongst otherfactors, indicates that such austere shifts have had a disproportionate impact on local residents, anddemonstrates relevance of this research project.Among the populations most severely affected by this ideological shift were lone parent families - acommunity that remains primarily formed of lone mothers (WBG, 2017; OPFS, 2017; EIoGE, 2016) -people living with a disability or disabilities (Runswick-Cole and Goodley, 2015; Ryan, 2019), and young5 Chung and Son (2019) wrote of Korean single mothers fostering social and political ‘space[s] where they can betrue to themselves’ amidst mass stigmatisation. The authors observed that their lone parent status often led thesemothers to ‘experience isolation, feelings of guilt, and lower levels of civic participation’, demonstrating thesignificance of this calculated ‘coming out’ as a single parent in a consciously-created safe space – a phenomenaMcNeill (2021) suggests occurs across contexts of marginalisation and oppression. Based on the literature and thisinvestigation, this is evidently a dynamic mirrored globally and in a variety of settings.4 Here, the authors illustrated the emotional intelligence witnessed in the ‘future building of women inrelationships that do not conform to norms around having and rearing children’ (Holmes et al., 2021, p. 659) - loneparents being an example of a non-normative, certainly non-nuclear, family. Their career ambitions and politicalactivities have also, frequently, been sidelined in research that reduces them to merely ‘lone parent’.3 Welfens and Bonjour (2021) consider the perceived vulnerability and agency of lone parent refugees.7people (UNISON, 2013; CE&ENOC, 2016). As recognised throughout this thesis, the lone parentparticipants who engaged in the study come from across north Edinburgh and beyond, bringing withthem struggles frequently aggravated when class, cultural, and other identities intersect and overlap(Collins, 1989; Emejulu and Sobande, 2019; Cooper and Whyte, 2017) resulting in situations of extremehardship for many. Such hyperlocalised impacts have been defined by Koch (2020) as ‘austerity localism’;thus, this PhD thesis is intimately rooted within a similar ontological and epistemological perspective.The effects of these precise experiences extend into many people’s emotional and mental wellbeing(Cummins, 2018; Stuckler et al., 2017), and increased food precarity (Loopstra, 2015). Responses to theeconomic crisis have, in several instances, led to the reshaping of notions of citizenship and welfareentitlement, as well as fostering new forms of civic engagement and protest throughout Europe andbeyond amongst those most directly affected and their allies (Cabot, 2016). McGrath et al. (2015) wentas far as identifying ‘[F]ive Austerity Ailments: [namely h]umiliation and shame’, ‘[f]ear and distrust’,‘[i]nstability and insecurity’, ‘[i]solation and loneliness’, and ‘[b]eing trapped and powerless’ - anapproach that echoes that of the five giants of society (‘[w]ant, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness’)described in the Beveridge Report (Beveridge, 1942). These manifestations, termed ‘actually existingausterity’ (Strong, 2020), that is ‘the uneven ways through which austerity is felt, negotiated, embodiedand contested in the varied spatial tapestry of everyday life’, rather than the abstract-ness of the term‘austerity’. This is a situation that, as noted above, repeats across the participants within this research,similarly grounding it amongst the lived realities of that ‘actually existing austerity’ and Strong’s (ibid.)‘everyday.’The Research Project: Twofold in its focus, this research engaged with a total ofthirty-four lone parent families living in or recently departed from north Edinburgh as it considers theprecise ways that austerity has impacted upon the quality of life, opportunities for, and agency of lonefamilies within this area of severe multiple deprivation (SIMD, 2016). From there, the work criticallyexamines how these lone parent families, in their range of social and political contexts, navigate andsurvive the austerity practices of the UK, Scottish, and local governments. State actions and approacheshave resulted in, at times, severe social harm (Cooper and Whyte, 2017; Stuckler et al., 2017), yet, theyhave also been met with mitigation, resistance, and challenges at local and national levels (Emejulu andBassel, 2017; Fominaya and Hayes, 2018; Pemberton et al., 2015; Milbourne and Cushman, 2014;O’Campo et al., 2019). Informed by understandings of active citizenship and forms of mitigation andresistance stemming from social movement campaigns worldwide (primarily, but not exclusively, relatedto lone parent families; Simpson, 2016), the research is theoretically rooted in Freire’s (1972) ‘process ofconscientization’6 and hooks’ (1984, p.74) ‘multi-dimensional gatherings’7 - emphasising the notion ofpolitical agency amongst lone parent. These theorists emphasise how people arrive at a greaterunderstanding of their struggles through lived experience and dialogue, which thus enable individualstruggles to become collectively-recognised issues against which action can be taken7 Described by hooks (1984, p.74) as a mechanism that ‘encourage[s] members of different communities to unify inactively resisting and peer-educating’.6 Conscientization is a process of consciousness-raising whereby an individual moves ‘toward a higher level ofconsciousness by becoming aware of how larger social, economic, cultural, and political forces operate to makethings the way they are’ (Kridel, n.d.).8The interviews consider how organic knowledge, gained and developed through lived experience, isutilised to take action either independently or as part of coalition, at times with the support of localcommunity-based practitioners (see e.g. Ledwith, 2011). Other integral elements of this include Collins(1989, p.757) on ‘oppositional consciousness’ - opposition coming in counter to dominant ideologies invarying local and national contexts and systems that create ‘outsiders’ - as the fieldwork seeks tounderstand the experiences of lone parent families in relation to and separate from the state. At the UKGovernment-level, this constitutes a neoliberal and austerity-driven ideology being challenged by localcommunities forming their own oppositional protest groups or through creating alternative forms ofprovision via mutual aid - rather than merely being subjected to harmful changes to policy, welfare, andfunding. Both approaches will be examined extensively during the Literature Review chapter. Questionsof ‘in opposition to what,’ ‘critical of whom,’ and ‘for whose benefit’ also constitute key considerations inunderstanding how lone parent families have mitigated, resisted, and challenged these forms ofausterity in North Edinburgh.The findings presented within this thesis are intended to help reshape modern understandings of loneparenthood, whilst the post-Viva dissemination will include academic publications in journals and blogswithin relevant sectors, as well as summaries for organisations and practitioners involved in supportinglone parent families. This will take place with the ambition of informing future practice, whilst, perhaps,being of interest to the state’s recently established Social Security Scotland - an arms-length bodymanaging a range of newly devolved welfare powers granted to the Scottish Government (Office of theSecretary of State for Scotland, 2018;). This body now holds powers relating to Disability LivingAllowance; Personal Independence Payment; Attendance Allowance; Severe Disablement Allowance; theIndustrial Injuries Scheme; Carer's Allowance; Sure Start Maternity Grants; Funeral Payments; ColdWeather Payments; Winter Fuel Payments; and Discretionary Housing Payments (Scottish Government,2017). The PhD, therefore, acknowledges the Scotland Act 1998 and the Commission on ScottishDevolution (2007), the Smith Commission (2014) and the Scotland Act 2016, as it realises which statebodies control social security and explores the ways in which this affects the treatment of lone parentfamilies in this localised context. This comes in addition to a wealth of academic papers which arealready published, drafted, or planned. To-date, a paper focused on the research process and the impactof Covid-19 on the interview process (Campbell, 2020b) has been published in The Qualitative SocialWork Journal; whilst additional papers centred around political agency, mutual aid, and direct actionhave been featured in Concept: The Journal of Contemporary Community Education Practice Theory, andthe Anarchist Studies Blog.1.1 Project OverviewWhilst the above introduction has outlined the rationale for the research, this overview provides insightsinto the specific theoretical underpinnings and the precise contributions I’ve worked towards inproducing this research. The above subsection illustrated that much of the existing literature on loneparent families has centred the experiences of cisgendered white lone mothers. To an extent, this is tobe expected when, as detailed in the Literature Review section, lone mothers account for 93% of loneparents in Scotland (OPFS, 2017) and with ‘almost 85% of all one-parent families in the EU’female-headed (EIoGE, 2016). The lone parent family population varies significantly across nationalcontexts, however, with the European Commission (2021) advising that of the circa ‘195.4 million9households in the European Union,’ just short of one-third had children living there. Of those, as of 2020,‘[a]pproximately 14% of households with children (7.8 million households) consisted of single parents,accounting for 4% of total households’ (ibid.), with the breakdown of the data stating that ‘Sweden (34%[of all families]) Denmark (29%), Estonia (28%), Latvia and Lithuania (both 25%) and France (21%)’ hadthe highest frequency of lone parent families, whilst ‘the lowest shares were registered in Croatia (5%),Romania (7%) and Finland (8%)’, Greece, Slovakia, Malta, Poland, Spain and Slovenia all recorded 9%.Though there are numerous intersecting factors, the data suggests countries recognised aspredominantly Catholic8 are overall less likely to have lone parent families publicly identifying as such(World Population Review, 2021; Pew Research Center, 2013), with religion also being a factor in thenumber of lone parent families amongst other communities of faith (a topic explored within theLiterature Review).As such, this research endeavoured to engage with demographics who have historically beenmarginalised or, indeed, excluded from past research. Though these efforts will be fully explored in theMethodologies and Findings chapters, the gap within the existing literature combined with the author’sunique positionality and practice-based relationships (outlined in the Reflexivity and Positionalitysubsection) facilitated participant recruitment through organisations working with lone fathers (e.g.Circle), queer lone parents (e.g. LGBT Health & Wellbeing), parents of colour (e.g. Pilton CommunityHealth Project), and from minority religions in the Scottish-context (e.g. Edinburgh InterfaithAssociation). Lone father-headed households, ultimately, constituted 21% of all participants (seveninterviewees) whilst a further 9% were non-binary9 (three participants) meaning that 29% of theinterviewees were not-women - illustrating a distinct step away from the majority of existing researchinto, on, or with lone parents. In addition, 38% of discussants identified as queer (thirteen participants)and 26% were people of colour (nine participants); the overall queer and people of colour populations inScotland estimated to currently stand at circa 1.6%-1.7%10 lesbian, gay, or bisexual (ONS, 2015; ScottishGovernment, 2017) and 4% (statista, 2018), respectively. McKelvie (2022; then-Scottish Minister forOlder People and Equalities), expressed her ambition for 'Scotland to be a place where everyone’sidentity is recognised, respected, and celebrated, and where everybody can access rights andopportunities,' suggesting that 'advancing equality for marginalised groups ultimately advances equalityfor all.' Similarly, the thesis worked to include those who have historically been marginalised or absentfrom research. Beyond this investigation, however, this remains the case as very few works have beenpublished that explore non-binary parenthood and, seemingly, none that explore non-binary loneparenthood. The former, at least, is an issue that has been raised by, amongst others, Fischer (2021) andBower-Brown (2021).10 Despite numerous pilot studies, prior to 2022, the Scottish census did not include a question on sexualorientation (SPHO, 2021). NRoS (2020, p.5) stated this was linked to anxieties ‘about asking the question in a surveylike the census, which may be completed by one household member for all other household members, potentiallyleading to inaccurate replies or pressure on individuals to disclose information they would prefer not to’.9 Though non-binary people currently lack legal recognition in Scotland, Savanta ComRes (2022) found that'[p]eople aged 16 to 34 [...] backed allowing people to legally identify as non-binary’.8 Though the precise figures vary by source and research method, the World Population Review (2021) - drawingdirectly on the Pew Research Center (2013) - advises that the Catholic populations of nations least likely to havelone parent families were: Croatia (86.3%), Slovakia (62%), Malta (88.7%), Poland (85.8%), Spain (66%), andSlovenia (73.2%). The caveat here being that Romania (4.7% Catholic), Greece (0.2%), and Finland (0.2%) are morelikely to be forms of Orthodox Christian - 81.04% for Romania (Secretariatul de Stat pentru Culte, 2013) and circa90% in Greece (Pew Research Center, 2017) - whilst Finland is primarily Lutheran (67.8%; Tilastokeskus, 2021).10Though for some participants one of their demographic factors distinguished them from the majority ofWestern research into lone parents (e.g. #8 Mercy as a black Scottish cisgendered heterosexual loneparent), for others these identities intersected (e.g. #5 Dee is a pansexual Hispanic migrant to Scotland;or #15 Sasha who is a non-binary and pansexual lone parent). This thesis, therefore, is not only unique inits focus on contemporary lone parent lives in Greater Pilton, but also offers insights into the parentingexperiences of those often marginalised within related research. It is not intended that this work canpropose findings which can necessarily be generalised or assumed to encompass the rich diversity ofqueer lone parent lives, nor are the findings intended to dismiss the incredible care, affection, andactivism of many white Scottish lone mothers (indeed, the actions of the lone mothers’ collective AllAbout Me [AAM] serves as a case study during the Findings chapter); rather, it is intended to add to -and, at times, challenge - the existing data and dominant assumptions about lone parent lives.By way of preview, the fieldwork revealed many unique stories of survival from lone parents, with usefulinsights from several community-based organisations disclosed during preparation for participantrecruitment. Informal discussions with these local groups prior to commencing the fieldwork, found, forexample, that few in Edinburgh’s Sikh community (estimated to be circa 1,110 people [NRoS, 2011]) havemade themselves known as lone parents. The interviewee practitioner at Sikh Sanjog11 (in Campbell andArya, 2019), noted that the Sikh community in Edinburgh tends to be socially conservative, leading her tobelieve it less likely that local Sikh lone parents would have their marital status publicly known or beopen to participating in research projects such as this - particularly when being conducted by an outsiderresearcher such as myself. The same research found that Sikhs in Scotland rarely accept social security,12and, thus, findings regarding these lone parents is unlikely to be generalisable (ibid.). The impact ofwelfare reform would, therefore, likely cause less direct social or economic harm to lone-parent familieswithin this religious community than others; rather, funding cuts to community-specific services andreduced provision or the closure of services such families relied on (as described by Koch, 2020)constitute an indirect form of harm. The impact of austerity for Sikh lone parent throughout the UK since2008 would, therefore, likely have been distinct from the state-sanctioned violence13 experienced byothers.Further intriguing themes emerged around gender performativity and identity - both for the loneparents themselves (e.g. #15 Sasha, #25 Aiden, and #34 Jay - each of whom are non-binary), but alsoconcerning stereotypes of ‘girl toys’ (dolls, make-up, etc.) or ‘boys toys’ (such as plastic guns and knives).These gender-based issues also emerged via concerns over the perpetuation of historical expectationsaround familial care being the domain of a mother (including from most of the lone father participants,but also #15 Sasha, #21 Edina, #23 Pam, and #33 Sasha). This extended to parental fears, primarily frommale-identifying participants (such as #1 Nick, #2 Lawrence, and #9 Frank), about their role inchild-rearing and anxieties that the courts would remove children from their care (even in the absence of13 ‘Violence’ itself remains a deeply contested term, yet, Cooper and Whyte (2017) makes clear that austerityconstitutes far more than merely financial harm to individuals and organisations via cuts.12 The Sikh Missionary Society (2005; PUN: ਿਸੱਖ ਿਮ�ਨਰੀ ਸੁਸਾਇਟੀ (ਯੂ.ਕੇ.) echo this, stating that despite thewidespread practices of donating via daswandh, 'Sikhi is based on continuous effort to earn own livelihood;begging and dependence on charity are forbidden'.11 'Sikh Sanjog supports Sikh women and girls, as well as the broader BME community, in Edinburgh' (Campbell andArya, 2019, p.8).11a mother figure14). There was, however, a major issue that could not have been predicted - the Covid-19Coronavirus pandemic. As such, this Ph.D. is time-situated in the sense that many elements of everydaylife have changed drastically and many have not returned to any sense of ‘normal’ (as depicted by the UKGovernment, 2020 and 2021; Haiven, 2021; Jones, 2021). Several participants were fortunate enough torun or have been working towards establishing their own businesses (e.g. #6 Griff; #8 Mercy; and #32Nicky) and, as such, have likely experienced very different concerns, impacts, and roads to recovery.1.2 Research QuestionsThough detailed in the Methodologies chapter, the following four questions were used in establishingthe precise focus(es) and structuring and presentation of the thesis. These thematic concerns related tosituating the research and the researched-community nationally and in time (Question #1), beforelocalising the investigation in north Edinburgh (questions #2-#4). These latter questions focus on theexperiences (#2) and agency (#3) of the lone parent families during this age of austerity, and finally thelegacies of these individual or community responses (#4). Each concern was pivotal in shaping theBiographical Interpretive Narrative Method (BINM) approach.- Question #1: What does it mean to be a lone parent in austerity-Scotland?- Question #2: How have lone parent families in north Edinburgh experienced and sought tonavigate post-2010 austerity?- Question #3: What capacity15 have lone parents in north Edinburgh had to mitigate, resist, orchallenge austerity?- Question #4: What relationships and networks have been established in north Edinburgh tosupport lone parent families in this age of austerity?These four questions have been linked back to throughout the thesis, and - when combined with thethemes generated by the thirty-four interviews - provide part of the structure for the Discussion andConclusion chapters. The questions were formulated, largely, through understandings of Brazilianeducator Paulo Freire’s work on critical-consciousness amongst learners, and people’s capacity to makechanges in their own lives based on their personal realisations about their lives and needs rather thanthose imposed on them by the state (Freire, 1972; see Fanon [1954] for the origins of this concept).Further, Italian-Marxist Antonio Gramsci’s proposed dichotomy between an elite and ruling political classover the working classes influenced how I recognised power dynamics in the everyday lives of theparticipants (see e.g. Gramsci, 1971, 1988, and 2014). Finally, many of the anti-austerity campaigns andpraxis detailed by scholars such as Akwugo Emejulu, Leah Bassel, Francesca Sobande, David Whyte, andVicky Cooper helped illustrate the diverse ways through which communities in Europe and beyond havenavigated, suffered, or resisted austerity.15 Taken to mean resilience, pride, social capital (i.e. family and support organisations), financial capital (welfaresupport, loans, inheritance, money from family abroad), etc..14 This was the case for #1 Nick whose child was placed in the care of his ex-partner’s mother (the child’s maternalgrandmother) when the mother challenged his right to full custody; or with #2 Lawrence when his then-partnerwas institutionalised over mental health concerns.121.3 Structure of the ThesisAs detailed in the Contents Table, this thesis is broken down into many sections and subsectionspertaining to each respective topic. The Preface eases the reader into the project’s premise and coreremit, introducing the geographical community of focus, and notes the precise demographics centred. Asthe submission progresses, the Introduction is split into several sections offering a Project Overview anddetailing of the Research Questions – stressing how these are related and interconnected. Thesubsequent sections Approaching the Project consider my own positionality in relation to the researchproject and the relationships I hold to the researched-community from Professional, Personal, andAcademic perspectives. From there, a Conceptualisation & Theoretical Frameworks chapter details theTheoretical Underpinning, Policy Context, and Temporal settings of this project. Finally, three essentialquestions of: ‘How are lone parents defined by the state?’; and ‘Austerity and lone parent families’ensure that the existing situation is fully recognised, thereby allowing my own investigation to besituated within its niche.The Review of Relevant Literature is extensive and considers an abundance of topics ranging from thePathways to Lone Parenthood, to an overview of the Demographics in Scotland, the rest of the UK, andfurther afield from which we can understand population density and the geographical spread, age range,and work status of many lone parents. With the quantitative facts established, core issues affecting loneparents and their families are considered in turn - opening with Poverty and Lone Parent Families, ‘LoneParent’ as an Identity & Public Perception, and how these families are understood by the state (LoneParent Families in Policy). The subsections on Gender, Care, and Lone Parent Families and Race and LoneParent Families each offer a critical engagement with the literature on care practices, cultural attitudestowards lone parents, and divisions of care. In a transitionary section, a series of brief Case Studiesexamine specific incidents based on state decisions and policy, with reflections offered on loneparent-led activist collectives in Edinburgh (Scotland), London (England), and Athens (Greece)demonstrating how the core understandings drawn from the Literature Review relate to the lives,struggles, and actions of lone parents. Finally, Struggles Named by Participants Through an AnarchistLens is an additional subsection that emerged organically in coming to understand how lone parentfamilies engaged with or described in the literature have sought to navigate a decade of austerity andthe ways in which those involved have framed, conceptualised, and acted based upon similar issuesfacing those with which my own study engages. This was added after the initial draft of the LiteratureReview had been completed as it became increasingly clear that conceptualisation of the individual as apolitical agent, how we might understand ‘activism’, and what it means to form independently-runcollectives without state involvement were better explored within the anarchist ‘canon’ than in manyother fields.With the current social, economic, and political understandings conveyed within the Literature Review,the Methodologies chapter outlines how I conducted the fieldwork. Opening with an explanation of howI went about Conceptualising the Research Project based upon the foundational understandings thathelped propose this research initially, the thesis shifts to justifying why I adopted a BiographicalInterpretive Narrative Method approach to conducting the interviews. The Interview Method & KeyDiscussion Points subsection also explains how I identified the series of thematic discussion points andworded the single narrative question. With the approach detailed, I assess an appropriate interview13setting was fostered (Creating the Interview Environment). Significantly, as the closing stages of thefieldwork occurred as Covid-19 ‘social’ (physical) distancing measures came into place, a number ofinterviews took place via distanced methods (Zoom, video call, or audio-only phone calls). Thisexperience has been detailed in the first publication developed from this research16. Reflections of theeffectiveness of The Interview Process, the Ethical Issues navigated, and the Participant Recruitmentprocess are explored to fully realise the fieldwork. The chapter closes by offering a series of conciseParticipant Biographies which allow insights into the demographics, lived biographies, andsocio-economic circumstances of the interviewees. Through sharing core elements of the participant’slives, the realities of these lone parent’s experiences under austerity can begin to be realised.Following this, the wide-reaching Analysis of Fieldwork critically engages with a range of themes presentin the findings. From a Desire for Control Over [One’s] Immediate Environment to positioning Parenthoodas A Politically Transformative Process, these subsections showcase the similarities in ambition, drive,protective efforts, and politicisation stemming from the participants’ lives as lone parents. Furthersubsections examine what it means to create Blended Families or Becom[e] a Singular Unit, localising theearlier literature on Pathways to Lone Parenthood. The Relationship to Work subsection illustrates thechallenges facing many of the lone parent interviewees as they navigate childcare and un-, under-,part-time, of full-time employment. A natural continuation of this occurs in Gendered Struggles &Gender Performativity and Lone Parenting & Living with Disabilities which each examine the specificimpact one’s gender holds on how they believe society and the state and state actors (care inspectors,social workers, etc.) treat them. This section offers unique contributions to the literature on lone parentfamilies through reflections on gender identity challenges within these families (the parents’ or thechild’s), whilst the intersecting challenges of discriminatory practices towards disabled people areexplored. Such accounts provide new insights into the consequences and impact of the impact of the ageof austerity, before the chapter closes by documenting that ways that these participants haveDiscuss[ed] Lone Parenthood with Child(ren) and outlining some of their Early Concerns About thePandemic.Therein, the subsequent section proposes a new mechanism for charting and analysing individual andcommunity responses to adversity, charting a newly developed theoretically-informed model. Byreiterating the Literature Around Direct Actions in relation to the case studies and comparing these tothe findings of my own research I Propos[e] the PACA Community Action Model: Preserve, Adapt,Challenge, Alternatives as a means for improving academic understandings of community-based action.The ways several of the lone parent participants underwent their own politicisation(s) and took actionleads to the subsection Emergent Direct Approaches As Subversive to Social Democracy, and allows astudy of Mutual Aid and Mutuality in-action. This culminates in an advocacy for Reimagining theContemporary Lone Parent Family based on these in-depth and intimate understandings.Closing out, the Conclusions chapter draws together the Key Findings, then responds directly to theresearch questions in-turn (Answering the Research Questions). This ensures that the thesis meets itsintended purpose and enables further work to take place going forward. The final subsection offers aseries of Personal Reflection on the PhD Experience as a practitioner and local resident, before examininghow this project has impacted and reshaped my Local Relationships Post-Fieldwork. As an active memberof the local community, this process could have caused several significant alterations to everyday16 Campbell, L. (2021) Doctoral research amidst the covid-19 pandemic: researcher reflections on practice,relationships, and unexpected intimacy. Qualitative Social Work. Vol.20(1-2), pp. 570-57814dynamics with many of the participants, but also how I see and understand the community. Therein,Final Conclusion & Next Steps provides insight into how this project has achieved its aims, beforeproposing a number of directions the work could take post-Viva.1.4 ConclusionThis project has spanned the fields of community development, community-focused social work, socialactivism, gender studies, and queer theory, drawing upon each in order to recognise the breadth of loneparent experiences. Prioritising that the doctoral study sincerely engaged with the cultural, linguistic,sexual, and religious richness of north Edinburgh, amongst other characteristics, and platformingautobiographically-formulated accounts of diversity of gender, care roles, and ambitions demonstratesthe uniqueness of the project. Approached with critical pedagogical theoretical framing (Freire, 1972) asa means for understanding how lone parents experience and understand their role(s) within the familyand broader society, understandings of social and interpersonal relationships were largely recognised byhooks’ (1984, 1994) conceptualisation of the diversity, conflicts, and care that emerge withincommunities. Austerity is recognised as a state process, constituting hegemonic approach thatperpetuates and threatens to entrench socio-economic divisions, stereotypes, and forms ofmarginalisation (Gramsci, 1971, 1988), whilst the analysis of individual and collective actions arerecognised and examined through similar accounts shared within studies.152. Approaching the ProjectThis subsection recognises how the project was situated, outlining my own relationships with northEdinburgh's communities from a threefold perspective (based upon my own work Master’s research. Itoutlines my own placement within the insider versus outsider dichotomy, informed by Tuhiwai Smith(2012 and Berg (1989), charting my own history with the area and the fields upon which this project isbuilt. It then adopted Christakopoulou et al.’s (2001) approach to generating Community Profiles toimmerse the reader in the area. Given the nature of this topic, my own experiences of parenting ordepending on the aspect, lack of familiarity, influenced how I interpreted and responded to accountswithin the literature and the narratives of the participants. That I became both a stepfather andbiological parent during the research resulted in additional moments of reflection, and, though the focusof research has been specifically on the experiences and actions of the lone parents, I hope that thisthesis had effectively accounted for the care and responsibility involved in supporting, being, andbecoming a family unit - coupled, lone, blended, or otherwise.Aside from gradually sharing some aspects of lived experiences of parenting, I boasted sharedgeographical and activist settings with many of the participants, some of whom I’d encountered throughmy professional, placement, or voluntary community development practice in north Edinburgh. Insiderpositions and familiarity with research participants can, Owton and Allen-Collinson (2013) stress, enable‘unique insights’ that would otherwise not be available to complete outsider researchers. Indeed, theauthors suggest that the inherent ‘complexity and negotiation of roles and different “voices” can addmultilayered texture, richness, and emotional depth to the ethnographic interview as lived interactionalexperience’ (ibid., p.303). Recognising this, the following critically considers the abundance of ways thatmy experiences overlap or contrast with others in the locality, and is, thus, divided to consider a series ofroles I occupy, or have occupied, in relation to the geographical communities considered.Pre-existing relationships can risk researcher biases manifesting in or warping findings. The chosenresearch methodology was, in part, chosen due to the manner in which researchers cede their positionof power and creator of the interview context works to permit the interviewee as much conversationalspace as possible during the dialogue. This allows those with the lived experience of the concerned issuean opportunity to articulate their insights, concerns, and experiences as they, themselves, see fit withoutbeing dictated to or overly-instructed. Douglas and Carless (2012, p.31) argue, however, that ‘reciprocity,supportiveness, and care are critical within qualitative research [...] in order to build a trustingrelationship with a participant, so that [they] can feel safe to be open and forthcoming’, emphasisingthat ‘this applies particularly to the researcher-friend role’. Given Owton and Allen-Collinson’s (2013)warning that particular issues may trigger distress in the interviewer regarding their own experience of,for example domestic violence and the challenging circumstances under which they became a loneparent (bereavement, separation, etc.), I entered the fieldwork hyperconscious of the sensitive nature ofthe research topic and believe the BINM to be amongst the most effective means for encouraging theparticipant to touch exclusively on topics they feel comfortable sharing.162.1 Reflexivity & PositionalityDivided into three subsections focusing on my (i) Professional, (ii) Personal, and (iii) Academicrelationships to north Edinburgh’s communities, this subsection establishes the positions from which Iengaged with the researched-community. It addresses the professional identities I hold locally havingworked as a community development practitioner in the area since 2012, but also my presence as both alocal resident and community activist operating alongside or on issues that had affect(ed) many of thelone parents living locally. Berg (1989), Mitchell (2010), and Råheim et al. (2016) are amongst those inthe social sciences who have explored the relationship between an academic researcher and theirresearched-community. Accounting for Berg’s (1989, p.196) belief in research as 'a commitment tononviolent social change', 'appreciation of the capacity of humans to reflect, learn, and change' (a coreelement of Freire’s [1972] conscientization), and 'the democratization of knowledge production and use'within community-based research, this section examines what underpins the research.On the insider versus outsider researcher dynamic (those of are ‘part’ of north Edinburgh or not),Tuhiwai Smith (2012, p.x) has criticised practices whereby 'indigenous communities are most often theobjects of subjects of study by non-indigenous researchers' rather than active participants within theinvestigation. Whilst centred on a less specifically indigenous identity than that of the Māori in NewZealand or First Nations communities in Canada, this research's geographical focus situates theexperiences of communities living in north Edinburgh as distinct from other parts of Edinburgh, Scotland,or the rest of the UK, tapping into that north Edinburgh identity described by several participants andlocal issues recognised by the state17. Given the limited academic attention previously afforded toGreater Pilton - the handful of papers to-date coming from Carlin (2017), McCabe (2010, 2011, 2012),Greene (2007), and Erskine and Breitenbach (1994) with these tending to focus on specific group work orsituations around substance abuse - I committed to utilising locally-produced knowledge juxtaposed tothat of established research bodies for broader contextualisation qualitatively and quantitatively on thearea - ensuring that local voices are not lost within the investigation (insofar as can be represented bylocally-produced works in blogs, newspaper articles, and documentaries), with BINM ensuringauthenticity to the accounts. Whilst these below elements naturally intersect, the distinctions betweeneach are significant in terms of how I am perceived and what assumptions participants are likely to haveof me depending on which roles facilitated our first encounter(s), but also what responsibilities I bear (asa neighbour versus as a researcher).2.1.1 The Professional: Having moved from Dundee to Edinburgh in September 2012 for the Universityof Edinburgh’s BA Hons Community Education programme, my professional relationship(s) to the northEdinburgh include three university placements18, paid positions with a number of local youth workorganisations,19 and overnight provision of support and services for young people at risk of19 Past employers included the Muirhouse Youth Development Group (2017); Edinburgh Mental Health Service(2016-2017); and SmartLiving (2017).18 LGBT Youth Scotland (2013-2014); Pilton Equalities Project (2014-2015); and Pilton Community Health Project(2015-2016).17 Similar sentiments have been raised by Green Councillor Kayleigh O’Neill (2022) who spoke of families in theForth Ward (part of North Edinburgh) struggling to pay rent, afford food, or heat their homes, and by region MSPFoysol Choudhury (2022) who spoke of ‘a 2018 report [which] found that a boy born that year in Muirhouse ofWest Pilton had a life expectancy that was thirteen years shorter than that of a boy born in neighbouring [and moreaffluent] Cramond’.17homelessness.20 Boasting a pre-existent relationship with several of the would-be lone parentparticipants through my variety of roles risked the conflation of my former and present roles orassumption over the purpose of our interactions versus expressed meaning as stated within theinvitation to participate. Despite this, my professional connections aided the purposive sampling21recruitment process and, I believe, afforded me a level of trust amongst the workers and communityleaders who, arguably, served as gatekeepers - not necessarily one whom I needed permission from toconduct my research, but certainly, from experience, people who would expect to know what was goingon locally.My first solo venture into Muirhouse occurred in the early evening as I arrived for an interview with theMuirhouse Youth Development Group. My panel, formed of first- and second- year high school studentsalongside the youth club manager, took to me - the young folk appreciating my openly displayed tattoosand the manager acknowledging my experience in similar positions in Dundee, Glasgow, and otherworking class communities throughout Edinburgh. It’s worth remembering, however, thatcommunity-based roles such as youth workers have an incredibly high turnover of staff due to thewell-paid but very limited number of contracted hours (Borden et al,, 2011). My hiring may, therefore,have equally related to their need to fill the vacancy as much as to my own efforts to impress the panelmembers. Though I, admittedly, experienced slight reservations about entering the neighbourhoodsstereotyped by violence and intimidation, drug culture, and etc. (as several of the accounts of northEdinburgh in the literature perpetuate), my concerns rapidly dissipated as I realised how familiar thearea felt, the ways in which it echoed the neighbourhoods I’d live in, where played football, or in whichI’d worked as a community development practitioner.As I walked towards the community wing for my opening shift, however, several such concerns rushedback. A young man, likely of similar age to myself at the time, approached me - his nose broken, left eyeswollen, and blood trickling down his face. Whilst it was unclear whether he had been a victim orperpetrator in whatever conflict had occurred, it was obvious he had held his own adequately enough toend the fight whilst he was still in a condition to walk away. I realised he was walking directly towardsme, alone, his motivations unclear. In witnessing the cigarette hanging from my mouth, he asked if I hada lighter. Whilst certain elements of the area’s reputation have been fulfilled during my time working orliving in north Edinburgh, my experience has, for the most part, suggested that the majority of acts ofviolence, theft, and vandalism take place between groups, families, or individuals already familiar witheach other (observations suggested by #16 Michael as parallel to his own adolescence). Whilst there areplenty of exceptions, nothing was overly varied from my own experiences as a young adult.2.1.2 The Personal: Having permanently resided in West Pilton since 2016, the relationships betweenresearcher and the researched-community requires careful consideration to avoid conflation of life roles(as with the professional identity noted above; Etherington, 2007; and Dickson-Swift, 2009). The issuesfaced by the research participants (eviction, welfare sanction, social isolation, mental health struggles,challenges over legal status of residency in the UK, etc.) each constitute what Lee and Renzetti (1990)refer to as a ‘sensitive topic,' and, as such, the emotions involved in conducting this investigation cannotbe neglected. ‘This is not to say that there does not exist universal human emotional responses involving21 Defined by Palinkas et al. (2015) as allowing 'for the identification and selection of information-rich cases relatedto the phenomenon of interest' - in this case, the lives of lone parents in Greater Pilton.20 Positive Transitions Project (2015-2018).18death, grief, or the loss of loved ones; it is just that these responses are tempered, or contextualized,within specific cultural norms and values’ (Hedican, 2006, p.22) each of which bore potential significanceto how these lone parent participants became lone parents. The issue being that anonymity isundermined in that there are more direct connections between researcher and participant, whilst theshare activism developed trust through embodied effort.It is in this vein that Hubbard et. al. (2001, p.120) suggest that ‘those of us who carry out qualitativeresearch involving in-depth interviewing are well aware of the ethical issues that are raised when we tapinto areas that are emotionally sensitive for the respondent [- t]hat is, we are conscious of the ethicalissues that are concerned with the respondent’s experience’. Conscious that these are issues affectingmy neighbours and having been a community activist in numerous campaigns against austerity and cutsalongside many of them, I ensured to put support mechanisms and mindfulness practices into place tobetter manage the emotional impact that could occur as a result of these dialogues (contact details forfree counselling services, mental health support phonelines, etc.). Dickson-Swift (2008; 2009) notes theemotional toll that conducting social research can have on the researcher, with Bodone (2005) furtherwarning that a researcher’s personal relationship(s) to an area of study risks nostalgia and assumptionwarping how findings are interpreted.My youth work, campaign work, and personal exploration of north Edinburgh’s Pilton, Drylaw, Granton,and Muirhouse neighbours was supplemented by extensive university degree programme placementswith local organisations. In each instance, I worked (or rather volunteered) as if I were a full-timemember of staff. I was present when we were told of a Vietnamese group who’d been present for years,but were only emerging or becoming known as their young children began to speak English and foundthemselves thrust into positions of liaisons for social, welfare, and census issues they themselves wereyet to understand – demonstrating the presence of language barriers in access. I was there as newbornswere introduced by their parents (usually their mother) to our English language learning groups; and Iintroduced my then-partner to our learners and colleagues. My professional and personal lives becameintegrated and I found myself in a space I began to recognise as ‘my own.’ This led to undertaking roles ofsignificant responsibility within political and social movements. I moved to West Pilton, built myself agarden, and populated my flat with pets. I became friendly with some neighbours (often those withyoung families), and tensions emerged with others who proved to be deeply problematic on many levels(racist, misogynistic, or intimidatory).My own history of political activism during the 2014 Scottish independence campaign, the NorthEdinburgh #SaveOurServices campaign (see e.g. Di Marco Campbell, forthcoming; North Edinburgh#SaveOurServices, 2020), and other local periods of action, meant that some social actors meeting thequalifying criteria for participation were already known (e.g. #1 Nick, and #3 Lindsay). As such, stepswere taken to ensure known participants were not over-represented in the interview sample via a target-recruitment process via partnering with local organisations that ensured the participants primarily camefrom outside of my own social, professional, or other relationships. This approach is detailed in theMethodologies chapter which chronicles the recruitment phase and outlines the three levels ofconnection between the researcher and each participant through my own model.2.1.3 The Academic: At every stage of my academic career (Undergraduate, Masters, and now PhD), myresearch has centred on issues of local relevance. An undergraduate investigation into the capacity of19association football to serve as an educational medium to combat racist, homophobic, and Islamophobicattitudes led to an internship with national charity Show Racism the Red Card Scotland (see e.g.Campbell and Hay, 2018a; Campbell and Hay, 2018b). My activism with the housing collectives allowedme to produce an extended study into how to understand the motivations and actions of these localactivists’ paralleled or diverged from past women-led housing initiatives elsewhere in the UK underConservative-led administrations (Campbell, 2018). North Edinburgh also served as the focus for my MScEducation: Philosophy dissertation which examined the relevance and applicability of Brazilian educatorPaulo Freire’s (1972) notion of conscientization and US feminist scholar bell hooks’ (1984) concept of‘multi-dimensional gatherings’ in better understanding the actions undertaken by the lone parentactivist collective AAM when they were threatened with eviction during the summer of 2017 (see alsoNEN, 2017a; NEN, 2017b; and CommonSpace, 2017).This substantial period spent as a researcher whilst also living in north Edinburgh simultaneously broughtwith it a wealth of social and professional connections - enabling access to would-be participants - yetfurther necessitated consideration of Bodone’s (2005) focus on the issues of assumption that stem fromthis potential overfamiliarity with an area. As such, whilst resources utilised in my previous works onnorth Edinburgh were re-visited, many updated, new, and broader sources have also been drawn uponto produce a far richer Community Profile than was possible previously. This doctoral work has onceagain asked members of the local communities to permit me to share in their lives, this time as loneparents - revealing stories of hardship, survival, overcoming odds, giving back to those around them, andtales of personal development. I want to thank each of them for taking me into their worlds and hopemy work can do some form of justice to all that they trusted me with.2.2 Community Profile: The following is based on an approach to understanding communities ofplace - that is, areas unified initially by geography (Skerratt and Steiner, 2013; Means and Evans, 2011) -which allows a better understanding of how north Edinburgh is perceived within the literature andstate-produced datasets, whilst also considering how local people have communicated their experiencesof the area. Influenced by Christakopoulou et al.’s (2001) approaches, the profile examines a given areathreefold - ‘as a place to live,’ ‘as an economic area,’ and ‘as a political community.’ Utilising qualitativeand quantitative data, each of these aspects will be addressed in turn, ensuring that the readerrecognises the specific contexts and circumstances in which this investigation occurred.(i) Greater Pilton as a Place to Live Currently spread across part of the Scottish Parliamentaryconstituencies of Edinburgh Northern and Leith (86,344 residents) and Edinburgh Western (75,794residents), the Greater Pilton area encompasses housing estates across Granton, East Pilton, West Pilton,Muirhouse, and Wardieburn. Works centring on urban renewal and housing (Hastings, 2004) have alsodiscussed regeneration and redevelopment taking place in recent decades including the demolition ofseveral locally-iconic high rise blocks of flats (see Image #1).20Image #1: The ‘[n]ewly-completed blocks of flatsin Muirhouse in February 1964’ (Hepburn, 2022).Image #2: SIMD (2016) map displaying the areas withNorth Edinburgh that fall in the Most Deprived 20% ofScotland.Despite these attempts at regeneration and urban renewal, the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation(SIMD, 2016) placed parts of Muirhouse in the ‘Most Deprived 5%’ of the whole of Scotland, with furtherareas of Muirhouse and West Pilton falling within the ‘Most Deprived 10%.’ Widening the parameters tothe ‘Most Deprived 20%’ sees a further twelve data zones highlighted in the bottom quintile (see Image#2). Greene (2007 pp.26-27) notes that whilst ‘in 1993 Greater Pilton became a designated regenerationarea [...] Greater Pilton continues to remain one of the few areas of deprivation in Edinburgh.’ McCabe(2011), however, contests this, arguing that ‘in many ways, the physical environment of North Edinburgh(formerly Greater Pilton) has changed dramatically for the better during the last two decades.’ However,as detailed below in the North Edinburgh as a Political Community subsection, campaigns to address theseemingly constant state of disrepair many people are forced to live in are constant phenomena (LivingRent Edinburgh, 2023; CommonSpace, 2017, NEN, 2018a). This seeming ambivalence from the statetowards sincere improvements and regular clashes of opinion characterise much of the literature on thearea as a place to live.In terms of social groups living locally, the 2011 Scottish Census (NRoS, 2011) suggests that the twoScottish parliamentary constituencies across which North Edinburgh is spread each boasts far more‘households where not all persons are [from the] same ethnic group category’ than the Scottish nationalaverage of 10.6% (North: 17.2%; West: 14.1%). At 2.8%, the Muslim population in Edinburgh Northernand Leith is double the national average of 1.4% with Blackhall Mosque located just outside theconcerned area. Another notable statistic is that 19.3% of residents in the north of the city were bornoutside of the UK (7% across Scotland), with 5.8% of all local people noting their ethnic identity as Asian,Asian Scottish or Asian British population and 3.1% Other Ethnic Groups (2.7% average in Edinburgh and1.3% Scotland-wide). Around 14.4% of north-based census respondents noted national identitycombinations that included no UK identity compared to just 4.4% Scottish average. The ethnic andreligious identities of those living locally are, therefore, far more diverse than the majority of Scotland.Emejulu and Bassel (2017, p.13) illustrate the importance of this demographic information with theobservation that ‘under austerity, minority women are disproportionately disadvantaged due to theiralready existing precarity compounded by their particular relationships with the social welfare state.’ It21is, therefore, noteworthy that the adult members of AAM - one of the existing lone parent-led groups inthe area - were all white Scottish (as evidenced in all publicity materials produced by the activist groupand the press see Images #3-#4). This suggests the possible absence of local people from minoritypopulations in community-organised activities and acts of resistance to the austerity.Image #3: Member of AAM at a gathering in theNorth Edinburgh Arts Centre where they sharedmany of their campaign materials and stories withinterested local people (NEN, 2018c).Image #4: AAM campaign leaflet organising oneof their first demonstrations (NEN, 2017).(ii) Greater Pilton as an Economic Community Originally built as a ‘slum clearance area’ across the1930s-1950s (Greene, 2007), the percentage of lone parents in neighbourhoods within the formerGreater Pilton such as Pilton (East Pilton and West Pilton combined), at 17%, is almost triple theEdinburgh average of 6% (Carlin, 2017). As such, the number of households with a single source ofincome is significant. The 2011 Scottish Census (NRoS, 2011) stated that, in Pilton, 25% of the populationwas, at the time, under the age of sixteen (compared to 17% at national level) suggesting a large numberof households with multiple dependent children as witnessed in the AAM membership (thirteen womenand thirty-five children [NEN, 2017]). Engaging with thirty-four lone parents in this research, thus,enabled a sizeable cross-section of north Edinburgh’s lone parent community to shape the findingsdetailed and analysed in the latter stages of the submission. It cannot, however, claim to represent thetotality of all lone parents’ experiences (social, economic, etc.).In terms of employment, the Employment and Unemployment (Apr 2017-Mar 2018) report from DurhamUniversity (2018) suggested that 4.2% of the entire Scottish working age population were unemployed22(4.8% of all men and 3.5% of women within their binary categorisation). An area profile produced by theCity of Edinburgh Council (2005, p.9), however, found that ‘Muirhouse/Drylaw areas had the highestlevel of unemployment [in Edinburgh]’ and that ‘Pilton and Granton had the 3rd and 4th highest levels ofunemployment.’ However, MacDonald (2011) notes that these statistics may in fact mask trueemployment levels when ‘underemployment’ is considered. Bell and Blanchflower (2013, p.1) defined‘underemployment as ‘[those] employed who want more work than is currently available to them,’ withLichter and Costanzo (1987) similarly characterising it as those working fewer hours than desired andhence living on a low-income despite being considered ‘in-work.’ Mackie (2018) argues that ‘chronic“underemployment” is slowly replacing [...] outright joblessness’ and that in 2018, ‘there [were] twice asmany “underemployed” workers as unemployed workers’ -supported by Emejulu and Bassel (2017) andthe Women’s Budget Group (2018). The former noted that ‘minority groups were disproportionatelymore likely to be unemployed or underemployed’ (Emejulu and Bassel, 2017, p.87). This is significantfrom a quantitative perspective in areas of contextually high diversity, and suggests that, given the ethnicand cultural profiles of those involved with those already present within the literature, such as All AboutMe, there may be groups facing additional barriers such as language (Bloch, 2007; Tang, 2016), andstigmas targeted towards a specific culture or religion (Netto et al., 2010) who are not yet accounted forwithin research and activism. Similar barriers also exist for other socially marginalised groups who aremore likely to be unable to participate in or who become excluded from these acts of resistance andsurvival to, for example, austerity, despite facing similar problems to those who are, at least publicly,involved (Frazer, 2005; McCulloch, 2006; Ravensbergen and VanderPlaat, 2010).(iii) Greater Pilton as a Political Community At the time of this investigation, the Scottish NationalParty’s (SNP) Ben MacPherson MSP represents Edinburgh Northern and Leith; whilst Alex Cole-HamiltonMSP (Scottish Liberal Democrats) gained Edinburgh Western from the SNP in 2016. Despite there-establishment of the devolved Scottish Parliament in 1999 under the Scotland Act (1998),Westminster (the UK Government) retains many legislative powers over issues facing people in theGreater Pilton area, demonstrating the complexities of navigating and understanding local politics. Asdetailed in the Key Theorists & Broader Research chapter, the austerity measures implemented at theUK-level have often been devolved to ‘regional’ administrations and, eventually, local councils via, forexample, reductions in block grants. Issues such as defence and national security, benefits and socialsecurity, and employment also remain Reserved Powers, whilst remits for Health and Education areamongst the Devolved Powers managed at Holyrood (Scottish Parliament, 2018). At the UK-level,constituents in Greater Pilton are represented by the SNP’s Deidre Brock MP (Edinburgh North and Leith)or by the Liberal Democrats’ Christine Jardine MP (Edinburgh West). Historically, the north andnorth-west areas of Edinburgh have been dominated by Labour (north) or switched between theConservative and Liberal Democrat parties (north-west). At the Local Authority-level, the Forth Ward andAlmond Ward are represented by multi-party groups including councillors from the SNP (Eleanor Bird,George Gordon, and Norman Work), the Scottish Conservatives (Jim Campbell and Graham Hutchison),Scottish Labour (Cammy Day), and the Scottish Liberal Democrats (Kevin Lang and Louise Young).In addition, two major referendums occurred within the four years prior to the doctoral researchbeginning: the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum and the 2016 vote on the UK’s membership ofthe European Union. The City of Edinburgh (2018) voting analysis report suggested that 72,181 peoplevoted within Edinburgh North and Leith - 40% yes (28,813) to Scottish independence; 60% no (43,253).In Edinburgh West, with 65,625 votes cast, the electorate backed a ‘yes vote’ at a slightly lower rate of2334% (22,615), with 65% (42,946) voting no (ibid.). However, many social activist groups in Greater Pilton(e.g. North Edinburgh Fights Back and the Radical Independence Campaign) advocated for Scottishsecession from the UK. This was recognised by the then-Edinburgh SNP Group Leader, Councillor SteveCardownie (2014), who stated that ‘areas within these constituencies where Labour has traditionallybeen strong voted Yes in substantial numbers – places like Granton, Pilton, Craigmillar and WesterHailes.’ That data is collated by constituency means data disaggregated by ward is inaccessible. Of the57,099 votes cast in Edinburgh North and Leith during the ‘Brexit’ vote, 78% (44,618 votes) backedremain whilst just 22% (12,435 votes) preferred leaving the European Union. In Edinburgh West, 71%(38,019) voted to remain compared to 29% (15,353 votes) who believed it would be better to leave(Edinburgh Guide, 2016). In a city of contextually high diversity, with estimated populations of around39,000 EU nationals (approximately 8% of Edinburgh’s population; Scottish Government, 2016), this is animportant statement of seemingly inclusive attitudes, though the precise motivations of individualsbacking continued membership of the European Union requires separate investigation. The final resultssaw Scotland remain within the United Kingdom, whilst the UK eventually left the EU on the 31st January2020.My initial experiences of north Edinburgh involved door-knocking as part of the Radical IndependenceCampaign (circa 2012-2014). In a group of four young men (aged between seventeen and ourlate-twenties), we were from all over Western Europe - a Scot, a Spaniard, an Englishman, and aPortuguese. We simultaneously embodied the internalist outlook we hoped an independent Scottishstate could work towards, yet, reproduced the largely cisgendered male and Eurocentric space that alltoo often characterises mainstream political debate. This is by no means a downplaying of the interestand campaign groups that emerged during the years leading up to the Scottish IndependenceReferendum - including Women for Independence, Scots Asians for Independence, African forIndependence, etc. - rather it is intended to demonstrate the disparity between gender identities, age,and nationalities that are north Edinburgh’s communities and some activist contexts operating locally.Electoral politics is far from the only aspect of political life in the area though. Ranging from Gala Daysorganised by local committees (Muirhouse Residents Association, 1963), the Pilton Festival of Music,Dancing and Drama, lobbying the local council for dedicated drying spaces (Fleeting, 1963), andcommunity histories (North Edinburgh Social History Group, 2011), local organising has been a majorelement of political activity in north Edinburgh for generations - albeit one that is drasticallyunderrepresented in the literature. These activities sit alongside the more traditional forms of politicalaction such as voting (detailed above) and strike action (for example, by the AUBTW [see Image #5]). Inrecent years, a local branch of the tenant union Living Rent has emerged, spearheading the coalitionMuirhouse Deserves Better campaign. In one such success, the group 'won' a £10,000 investment fromthe Muirhouse Housing Association to address long term damages and infestations (Living RentEdinburgh, 2023).24Image #5: Amal Union of Building TradeWorkers striking in Muirhouse (1962), takenfrom Hepburn (2022)Image #6: Housing union activists protestingoutside the Pennywell Shops (Living RentEdinburgh, 2020).2.3 ConclusionThis lived experience of north Edinburgh (social, political, economic, historical, geographical, andcultural) aided me in producing a Community Profile based upon Christakopoulou et. al.’s (2001)threefold template which demonstrated how the literature understood the studied-community. Thesesupportive materials ensured further contextualisation and supported my own reflexivity by engagingwith the environment as articulated in the literature. As Palinkas et al. (2015, p.1) emphasised, this wasessential in creating a ‘sufficiently complex’ project as ‘a single methodological approach is ofteninadequate’ (see also Palinkas et al., 2011). From the roles and relationships angle, these were essentialin identifying local lone parents who, as Palinkas et al. (2015, p.3) stress may have ‘availability andwillingness to participate, and the ability to communicate experiences and opinions in an articulate,expressive, and reflective manner’ on an issue so central to their lives that go far beyond what’s presentin the literature, thereby making this project possible. In submitting this thesis, I am eternally grateful foreach of the thirty-four contributions.Understanding the context in which this research took place required recognising the social, economic,political, and historical factors that shaped it. To examine it exclusively from quantitative sources such asthe Scottish Census (NRoS, 2011) or community profiles produced by the City of Edinburgh Council(2016) masks many important factors only made visible through qualitative accounts (e.g. Greene, 2007;Cardownie, 2014; and NESHG, 2011). So too, were the political understanding to be based solely uponvoting patterns, this would be incredibly limiting when rich accounts have been produced by localresidents such as those by AAM or Living Rent Edinburgh (2023). That community developmentpractitioners operating in North Edinburgh such as McCabe (2011) have also offered reflective accountson their practice allows uniquely-situated insights into the area as well as its communities, amenities,and political consciousness that would, arguably, otherwise be absent. With this Community Profile inmind, the thesis now progresses to a outlining the Conceptualisation & Theoretical Frameworks throughwhich the research was framed and, therefore, how it was approached.253. Conceptualisation & Theoretical FrameworksIntroductionThe following chapter details the core theories utilised in this thesis. It explains how political and socialaction has been understood at the individual, community, and local level, connecting actions taken innorth Edinburgh to broader theorisations of direct action. This includes, but is not limited to, exploringhow Alinsky's (1971) practice in the US offers an overview to conceptualising actions, whilst Gramsciantheory (Gramsci, 1988) is outlined, thereby, establishing the hegemonic context in which these loneparent participants operate. So too, the policy context is recognised, reaching a consensus over how thestate perceives and treats lone parents. Alongside this, Alston’s (2018) report into austerity in the UKforms a central component of the critical analysis.As van der Walt (2020, p.62) outlined, '[p]eople‘s different sensory modalities – vision, hearing, touch,taste, smell – and the complexity of the things the different interpretivists take themselves to perceive,make it impossible to claim that any interpreter can arrive at definite knowledge about anything’. Thus, acombination of approaches were utilised in producing the thesis. A wealth of critical theory-centredliterature enabled an intense analysis of the political context of austerity and community activism, whilstvan der Walt (2020, p.63) recognised that the researcher ‘has to make a judgement about itsauthenticity and acceptability status’. The chosen research approach of utilising the BINM premised, as itis, upon trust and taking the participants' narratives as fact is, therefore, a logical progression. The thesisis, thus, better recognised within a constructivist paradigm given that it is 'based on the assumption thatreality and the human behavior therein is characterized by continuous fluctuations, adjustments andtransformations' (ibid., p.61). Acknowledging the diversity of experiences and abundance of truths,range of understandings communicated, and relationships - i.e. the ways in which '[r]eality is constantlybeing (re)constructed by such actors in interactions with others by assigning an individual meaning to anevent or an experience' (Leutwyler et al., 2012, p.112) - any single approach would struggle to grapplewith the wealth of information and perspectives within the literature and accounts gathered during thefieldwork.3.1 Theoretical Underpinning: Critical Theory(ies)Emejulu’s (2015) illustrated the ways that hyperlocalised community organising and, at times,cross-community support occurs, stressing that it is intimately shaped by the national contexts – i.e.policy changes at the meso-Holyrood- or macro-Westminster-levels altering what spaces remainin-place, close, or emerge in the micro (the hyperlocalised council areas). Much of the theoreticalunderpinning of 'micropolitics' stems from the practical approach to community organisation outlined byAlinsky (1971). Indeed, the thesis recognises individuals for their own capacity and seeks to betterunderstand precisely how they have sought to navigate their lives as lone parents (for whateverduration), as they exist under the state (socially, but also politically in terms of control and agency);rather than proclaiming them a product of it despite the many ways in which it has shaped their lives. Inthis sense, it draws from Emejulu’s (2015) recognition of the political in the everyday and is foundedupon Freire’s (1972) understanding of conscientization whereby we develop and refine our sense of selfand politics through our experiences. Rather than examining the dynamics of ‘professionals mediating,26regulating and controlling other people’s development of agency’ (Emejulu, 2015), this thesis learnsfrom the research participants’ own narrations and lived biographies within their micro geographicalcontext of North Edinburgh. Whilst doing so, it recognises how the broader political contexts of Holyroodand Westminster warp, shape, and frequently threaten their capacity to influence or decide what occursfor them and their children.Concerning that respect for the participants’ insights, the Gramscian notion of the ‘organic intellectual’centres on lived experience as the fostering of knowledge - in part, the process of undergoingconscientization. Stating that ‘all men are intellectuals, but not all men have the function of intellectuals’(Gramsci, 1988), he recognised the social and political power maintained by those of privilege andposition – generally economic – that affords some the capacity to dominate over others via coercion or,at times, consensus (these being central to his conceptualisation of hegemony). In the context of thisthesis, hegemony is primarily recognised as the successive pro-austerity agendas advocated by theBritish state since the 2008 economic crash (Toynbee and Walker, 2020; Cooper and Whyte, 2017),during which austerity has largely been taken for granted by the state as the only solution to fostering aneoliberal recovery. The brief exception to this occurred during Covid-19 when additional funding wasprovided for many community-based organisations who were better positioned to address theinequalities directly than the state (Jun and Lance, 2020). This also, however, represented the transfer ofmuch of the responsibility for overseeing the recovery process and survival of communities throughoutthe UK from the state to local activists and community-based organisations who, in settings like northEdinburgh, frequently boasted far more comprehensive and socially interconnected networks than anystate-led organisation.In the same way that Freire’s (1972) conscientization is the recognition of these social experiences asconnected to the political – akin to Emejulu’s recognition of micropolitics - a Gramscian framing allowsthe contextualisation necessitated for Emejulu’s (2015) understanding to effectively position theeveryday within a broader setting. The earlier Community Profile constitutes part of this immersivecontextualisation. Drawing directly on the capacity of those with lived experience (Gramsci’s organicintellectuals) to make connections between their own lives and the politics that occurs to, within, andaround them in their geographical and social contexts (Freire’s conscientization occurring in the micro),the four themes and the single initial prompt within the BINM research methodology were identified asan appropriate approach for encouraging the articulation of such insights. This, within the thesis, isunderstood as a central component of the enactment of micropolitics, rooted, as it is, - Craig (2016, p.2)argues - in '[d]emocracy, [e]mpowerment, [c]oalition and [t]ransformation discourses.’ These, herecognises, ‘shun the language of capacity building’ and instead 'focus on “the need for democratisationof public spaces," recognis[ing] the importance of both process and outcome and act in solidarity ratherthan within a hierarchy of roles’ (ibid., p.2). Providing spaces, generally of the discussants’ choosing,within community settings to reflect upon these issues allowed participants to articulate empowerment,social change, challenges, barriers, and needs in their own words, without forcing the conversations in aset direction or placing constraints on the participants’ vocabularies via a series of imposing questions.Under Gramscian theory, every class possesses or has the capacity to produce new knowledges andprecise expertise stemming only from their lives, not those of the traditionally valued ‘ruling classes’ -those we might recognise as ‘political aristocracy’ (Saville Roberts, 2021). To an extent, this includescommunity development workers and social work practitioners who might have professional expertise27locally but are afforded a distinct form of state-sanctioned power unavailable to those merely living inthe concerned community of place. Though Gramsci wrote primarily from a Marxist-perspective and,therefore, centred much of his thought on economic and labour-based movements, the same premise isapplicable to the social. That people can survive or navigate any number of unique socio-politicalcircumstances – many of which are precise to their own immediate contexts in terms of the intersectingconcerns, needs, and cross-community or conflicting ambitions – similarly possesses organicallydeveloped insights based on their status and positioning culturally, socially, and economically. The loneparent participants shared particular connections (e.g. time spent living, working, and / or studying innorth Edinburgh; collaboration in anti-austerity movements; or attendance at community groups locally),much of which was that related to their status as lone parents.3.2 Policy Context & Temporal settings (2008, 2010, 2018)This subsection details the specifics of how lone parent families are defined broadly - though theterminology will be explored more extensively in the Literature Review - whilst a range of papers, policybriefing, and other state publications will also be considered. Of major significance, for example, are thecircumstances which led to the implementation of austerity as state policy (Toynbee and Walker, 2020;Cooper and Whyte, 2017). Termed the ‘age of austerity’ (Seymour, 2014), these social sanctions werefirst implemented by the Labour Party (until 2010), yet the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition(2010-2015) and then consecutive Conservative and Unionist Party-led UK Governments (2015-now)have implemented an intense austerity programme premised on a myriad of reforms. These haveincluded major overhauls to social security and the drastic reduction of funding made available to ThirdSector organisations and, by extension, community groups who had, previously been reliant on stategrants to finance their operations (Cooper and Whyte, 2017; Patrick, 2017; Olah, 2019).The reforms to welfare state provision - money which many low incomes families rely upon, but,particularly of importance to those on low single incomes such as lone parents - saw drastically revisions,and the implementation of several highly controversial policies including the two-child cap, and theintroduction of Universal Credit (CPAG and IPPR, 2017). The aforementioned ‘[F]ive Austerity Ailments’detailed by McGrath et al. (2015) ‘[h]umiliation and shame’, ‘[f]ear and distrust’, ‘[i]nstability andinsecurity’, ‘[i]solation and loneliness’, and ‘[b]eing trapped and powerless’ became central to publicrelationships to the state - particularly from poor and working class families - whilst the cuts and reformshad disproportionately harmful impacts on communities which were already facing far greater degreesof poverty than other areas. As noted above by Emejulu and Bassel (2017), these inequalities werealready entrenched in the UK, with minority communities (religious, ethnic, linguistic, etc.) enduring fargreater proportional harms. This is not, however, a dismissal of the precarity facing those who are notpart of these demographics, but it recognises the propensity with which intersectional factors impact thelikelihood of harms affecting particular communities. Austerity, therefore, is not an abstract concept, butsomething which has been felt in a very real manner by many living in north Edinburgh - Strong’s (2020)‘actually existing austerity’.As stressed by Alston (2018), economic reform - particularly austere politics - is a neoliberal-drivenideological choice, and was only one option for the state to take following the economic crash ratherthan an absolute necessity. This decision, he advised, ‘could easily have spared the poor, if the political28will had existed to do so’. The WBG (2017) similarly observed the ideological underpinning of thisapproach, recognising that the reforms had a disproportionate impact on women and put at risk manylone parent families who were within the most impacted demographics (OPFS, 2018; Averett, 2021). AsDavis (2017) observed, under austerity circa ‘49% of children in lone parent families now live below thepoverty line’. Other groups, such those facing homelessness faced a 24% rise in death rates (Olah, 2019),whilst legal aid for those with precarious residency status was drastically impacted (Beales, 2020b)3.3 How are lone parents defined by the British and Scottish states?Though a full exploration of the terminology used to discuss, engage with, and produce policy affectinglone parents will be explored in the Literature Review, this subsection further establishes the policywithin which the research occurred. Bernardi et al. (2018) observed that ‘[t]he socio-demographic profileof lone parents has changed in the last decades,’ noting that pre-1970s it had been understood as‘mostly widowed men and women or young single mothers,’ whilst modern understandings recognisethat many lone parents are divorced or were never married to their co-parent (where there was one).They do, however, recognise that women continue to significantly occupy the space of primary or solecaregiver.22 With the England-based Office for National Statistics (ONS, 2021) finding that as of 2020,‘there were 2.9 million lone parent families in 2020 [-] 14.7% of all families in the UK,’ it is clear that thisfamily type is far more socially accepted now, with the diversity of pathways to lone parenthood fairlycommonplace in most of Europe (see Hübgen, 2020). Han et al. (2021), however, suggest that in Chinathe emergence of lone parents remains a new ‘social phenomenon,’ with Li (2020) acknowledging that -as elsewhere - women head the majority of lone parent families in the country. Though a more in-depthexploration of cultural and religious factors which influence the propensity of publicly known lone parentfamilies occurs in the Literature Review, the shifting state perceptions of lone parents are clear. Similarly,their own identities continue to evolve due to social acceptance, but also through lone parents’ growingconfidence to openly be themselves. The two are interconnected, but individual lone parents do notnecessarily need to wait for social attitudes to change before they may choose to be open about theirstatus in cultures where lone parent families are still frequently looked down upon. As Hall (2019)argued, ‘[p]erhaps instead of thinking of identity as an already accomplished fact, which the new culturalpractices then represent, we should think, instead, of identity as a “production,” which is nevercomplete, always in [but] process.’3.4 Austerity and Lone Parent FamiliesDespite the clear connection between economic precarity and poor health, many studies have focusedon the health impacts of life in a lone parent family for children rather than the parent - a situationacknowledged by Chzhen and Bradshaw (2012) regarding the academy in the European context. This isnot to negate the importance of this, with Pryor and Rodgers (2001) having examined the health andwell-being of children in Anglo-Western nations after parental separation or divorce. Ringbäck Weitoft etal. (2003, p.289), for example, claiming that childhood in a lone parent family ‘entail[ed] disadvantages interms of socioeconomic circumstances and health’ in Sweden during the 1990’s. In recent years,however, large swathes of the literature have documented how austerity has impacted poor and workingclass people in many negative ways (including physical and mental health, work opportunities, and job22 Jones (2021) describes this position from a more legal perspective, adopting the term ‘custodial’ parent.29security). As with other aspects of this contextualisation chapter, the crisis many face regarding work willbe explored more fully in the corresponding subsection of the Literature Review.In the aftermath of the global economic recession, the UK Government, like governments throughoutEurope and beyond, made an ideological choice to reduce support for communities and supportorganisations as they sought to address financial imbalances stemming primarily from the financialsector (Cooper and Whyte, 2017; Economou et al., 2016; Alston, 2018; Sutton Trust, 2018). Thissubsection, therefore, builds on information regarding existing levels of poverty in the UK by examiningthe impact of austerity on the lone parent families most at risk - amongst them, those on low-incomes,disabled people, those requiring state aid, or others who face further barriers (Alston, 2018; Davis, 2017;OPFS, 2018; Cooper and Whyte, 2017; Averett, 2021; WBG, 2017).To focus, briefly, on one of the most significant reports into austerity in the UK, Alston (2018) - theUnited Nations Special Rapporteur for Extreme Poverty and Human Rights - concluded that theConservative-led UK Government’s austerity measures were ‘a political choice [and that] austerity couldeasily have spared the poor, if the political will had existed to do so’ (Alston, 2018, p.24). This helpsjustify the formulation and framing of this project, as many of the lone parent participants fall withinmultiple categories of those most directly impacted by these ideological choices. In 2017, less than ayear before Alston’s investigation, the WBG (2017, p.7) had argued that ‘the Treasury and Chancellorfailed to provide an adequate assessment of how the Budget impacts on different groups,’ adding that‘such analysis must be an essential component of the decision-making process when setting policies thataim to build a country that “works for everyone.”’ They suggested an 'analysis by gendered householdtypes could be carried out, simply by differentiating the gender of single-adult households' (ibid., p.9) todemonstrate the disproportionate impact austerity has had on women (and, by extension, many loneparent families in the UK). Alston’s (2018) report is one example of the form of investigation the WBGdeemed essential in advancing a progressive and compassionate politics. Upon completing his two-weekinvestigation, Alston (2018, p.2) concluded that austerity had created a form of ‘deep despair that le[d]the Government to appoint a Minister for Suicide Prevention23 and civil society to report in depth onunheard of levels of loneliness and isolation’ (emphasising the additional health precarities fostered byausterity). Yet, Alston (ibid.) noted the ‘tremendous resilience, strength, and generosity, with neighborssupporting one another, councils seeking creative solutions, and charities stepping in to fill holes ingovernment services’ witnessed across the UK.Lone parent families featured multiple times throughout the report, with Alston (2018, p.6) observingthat the ‘DWP does not make public sanctions data disaggregated by race or ethnicity, much less certainother claimant statuses such as single parents.’ He does, however, identify lone parents, the workingpoor, asylum seekers and migrants, children living in poverty, and those with disabilities as among thosemost severely affected by the Conservative Party’s austerity measures - those whom he terms ‘thehardest hit.’24 These communities, many of whom face the forms of fuel and income poverty, long-termunemployment, or severe underemployment detailed above have categorically borne the brunt of24 Taylor (2020c) reported that twenty-nine asylum seekers died whilst being housed in Home Officeaccommodation between 1st January 2020 - 15th December 2020.23 Jackie Doyle-Price was appointed to the role of Health Minister by then-British Prime Minister Theresa May, withan expanded portfolio including ‘suicide prevention’ (BBC News, 2018).30austerity in the UK (ibid., Cooper and Whyte, 2017; Mackie, 2018)25. As Alston (2018, p.18) concludes,‘the[se] policies have taken the highest toll on those least able to bear it’ financially and, at times,socially - at least in terms of immediately available support to address it (much of which, itself, ceased).This comes despite Sikka (2015) recognising that ‘failure to tackle tax avoidance has seriousconsequences for distribution of wealth and even survival,’ and that ‘organised tax avoidanceundermines confidence in fairness, democracy, justice and the rule of law.’ As such, the UK Governmentis culpable in their political and ideological decision to orientate post-recession reform towards many ofthe most marginalised communities (Stephenson, 2011).Despite claims to the contrary (May, 2018; Hammond, 2019), austerity politics continues to harmcommunities UK-wide; though, as witnessed with the protests following the implementation of the twochild cap to Child Benefit, citizens in north Edinburgh and beyond readily responded to further changes.Alston’s (2018) special report was dismissed outright by Rudd (2018) and others within the Conservativeadministration for the ‘political language’ and criticism of austerity politics. The findings of thisinvestigation attest similar points put forward by Alston (2018); however, the time spent adialogically-driven manner with the research participants has allowed more intimate insights than hehad the opportunity to afford lone parents-specifically. Rudd’s (2018) comments, in full, dismissed thereport ‘on the grounds of taste and decorum, eliminat[ing] the possibility of meaningful debate or criticalengagement on the issues affecting people’s lives.’Published in collaboration between the Child Poverty Action Group and the Institute for Public PolicyResearch, The Austerity Generation (2017) demonstrated that the introduction of Universal Credit (aprocess of merging six previously separate forms of social security into a single process) would put morethan one million more children into poverty; yet, the UK Government continued to implement thisreform. Similarly, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF, 2018, p.2) warned that 'without [major] reformsto fix Universal Credit, more families - especially lone parents - are likely to face higher rates of poverty inand out of work’, given that the ‘families already at greater risk of poverty - including lone parents,families with very young children, larger families and those with a disability - will be especially hard-hitby a decade of cuts’ (OPFS, 2017, p.3). Indeed, upwards of thirty-three percent of the lone parentfamilies currently not in employment live with a disability or long-term illness, with a similar percentage(34%) raising a child with a form of formally diagnosed disability (UG, 2018, p.1). These lone families are,thus, demonstrably among those likely to suffer most under the continued regime of austerity inmultiple and intersecting ways.Many others made similar observations, with Stephenson (2011, p.21) citing both Gingerbread (n.d.) andthe Resolution Foundation (n.d.) arguing that the implementation of Universal Credit will ‘make workunaffordable for many low-income women, particularly single mothers.’ The response to theintroduction of Universal Credit has been significant, with anti-austerity demonstrations taking placeUK-wide (see e.g. Unite the Union, 2018; Corr, 2018; Bell, 2018; Kelly, 2017). Indeed, November 201825 This topic was raised by #16 Michael and #3 Lindsay during our discussions, with both advising of thecomplications underemployment had imposed on their relationships with their children. #3 Lindsay worried aboutthe quality of life she could provide for her two kids, whilst #16 Michael had endured years of anxiety over how hisson perceived his inability to afford to travel from north Edinburgh to Grimsby (where the son lived with theex-partner) on a regular basis. #21 Edina’s experience contrasted deeply with #3 Lindsay, however, as she felt that,even with part-time employment, she was able to provide a higher standard of living for her child than she could inher own country of birth.31witnessed four lone mothers in England challenge the UK Government’s over Universal Credit via theHigh Court on the grounds that it ‘disproportionately affects single parents’ (BBC News, 2018), forcingsuch families further into poverty and debt. Prentis (2018) acknowledged the Universal Creditprogramme as ‘pointlessly cruel,’ with ‘single parents, care leavers and people with disabilities andhealth conditions [...] disproportionately vulnerable to sanctions’ compared to coupled-families andthose without disabilities and in relatively good health. This precise experience would be raised by #10Rona during our discussion. Such privileges, however, can be a temporary status, with genetic factors orother external influences (e.g. Covid-19) able to severely alter those positions in the short- or long-term.Indeed, the WBG (2017, p.11), echoing Stephenson (2011), stated that ‘both lone mothers and coupleswith children stand to lose 20% of their living standard if they contain both a disabled adult and adisabled child’, constituting ‘perhaps the worst hit of all households.’ These examples from the literature,thus, demonstrate the urgency of this research, with Davis (2017) condemns the austerity measuresunder the belief that the ‘by 2021 [all] lone parents and their children will lose 20% of their currentincome due to welfare reforms’, placing almost 62% of children in lone parent families living in povertyby 2022.3.5 ConclusionThis chapter highlighted the range of ways austerity has harmed society according to the literature,whilst the Community Profile showcased some of the local factors, demographics, and challenges thatwere understood upon entering the fieldwork. As Averett (2021) emphasises, research which is notrooted in intersectional understandings results in ‘broad brushstrokes,’ thereby ‘obscuring differences’between participants and their experiences of parenting. Such broad comments would similarly blurimportant differences between groups, identities, and experiences. Thus, the hyperlocalised nature ofmy doctoral research necessitated an immersive entry point without which the reader would beunfamiliar to the context in which it occurred (geographical, temporal, etc.). Many of the findings offeredby Alston (2018) helped demonstrate the extent to which issues have been and continue occurring;however, the focus on north Edinburgh permits greater engagement with the unique impacts of andresponses to austerity locally, engaging some of the many lone parent families that live in the area.In summary, this chapter has identified core theoretical lenses for understanding community-basedexperiences and motivation(s) to take action. The synthesis of a range of theoretical positions aligns withvan der Walt’s (2020) recognition that no single theory or approach can account for the diversity ofinsights, changes in the political (and policy-based) environment, and conceptualisations of issues asthey are experienced both individually and collectively. The BINM approach from Ross and Moore(2016), combined with understandings from Emejulu (2015) and Gramsci (1988) on the fostering ofknowledge through lived experience, has been demonstrated as an aptly positioned approach for adialogical and situated investigation. The agency-centred approach and perspectives that inform thisresearch permit significant power to be retained by the participants – devoid of imposed lines ofquestions as BINM is, in-action for example – with the conversation participant-led and the environmentor form (i.e. online or in-person) components that the interviewees have control over. As such Strong’s(2020) ‘actually existing austerity’ can be discussed without an overreliance on second-hand accountsthat limit the responsibility of those living through the studied phenomenon. This becomes particularlyurgent amidst Alton’s (2018) emphasis that target austerity was a political choice – one that has32drastically impacted many in north Edinburgh to a far greater extent than in more affluent areas – andhis recognition that these state-imposed actions have created multiple complex and intersecting crisesaround poverty, mental health, social inclusion, and opportunity, amongst other factors.334. Literature ReviewIntroductionThis Literature Review chapter provides an extensive overview of existing research on the topic of loneparent families. The chapter covers seven key areas of the literature, offering insights into theintersections of lone parenthood with, for example, the welfare state and on how lone parent familieshave historically engaged with the state. Therein, it examines literature concentrating on other topicsconnected to family life, such as gendered assumptions, the impact of disability, and navigating differentcultural boundaries. As such, it asks what is known about lone parent families in Scotland drawn fromqualitative and other quantitative studies to effectively understand how the academy perceives loneparents. Amongst the intersections examined are understandings of lone parenthood through lenses ofrace, social class, sex and gender identity, disability, and sexuality, in addition to queries intocontemporary family composition. Finally, a number of current policy debates affecting lone parents areexamined including the introduction of the two-child tax credit, as well as birth certificate legislation andgender recognition certificates that have marginalised or harmed birth parents who changed their legalgender prior to birthing their child.Methodologically, a critical narrative review was conducted to gauge an effective understanding of thediversity of literature on lone parent families. Recognised by Sukhera (2022, p.418) as a ‘flexible [yet]rigorous approach to analyzing and interpreting the literature’, narrative reviews typically mirror thebroader approach to research undertaken by the investigator(s), centring similar core elements towhat the project explores come the fieldwork (see also Rumrill and Fitzgerald, 2001). Much of the datasought was produced under post-recession austerity which involved utilising governmental databasesto gauge quantitative understandings (e.g. through NRoS or The Scottish Government), utilising theUniversity of Edinburgh’s physical and eLibraries, as well as major journals for relevant fields (e.g. theJournal of Social Policy, The Journal of Qualitative Research Methods, and Community DevelopmentJournal), and Google Scholar for key terms (e.g. ‘lone parent’, ‘single parent’, with related intersectionssuch as ‘austerity’). The handful of hyperlocalised qualitative outputs (e.g. local newspapers and blogsproduced in north Edinburgh) permitted these reflections to become situated in the researchedcontext in a manner that would not have otherwise been possible. In this way, Strong’s (2020)‘actually existing austerity’ became sincere.As emphasised in the findings, a thematic approach was taken to structuring the literature review,clustering contemporary debates within the academy (taken to mean, initially, within the last five toten years to establish clear parameters for non-exhaustive research) and placing these alongsidesignificant practice examples related to the concerned context (Onwuegbuzie and Frels, 2016; e.g. thecase studies offered of All About Me, Focus E15, Fathers4Justice, and The United African Women’sOrganisation). In doing so it connections, primarily, to the first research questions of ‘What does itmean to be a lone parent in austerity-Scotland [and beyond]?’, with the searches largely remainingconnected to ‘lone parents’ and ‘austerity’ - in-keeping with Sukhera’s (2022, p.419) emphasis that‘narrative review is not designed to be a comprehensive review of the literature’ but occurs under aset ‘rationale for specific parameters’. In this sense, the approach was purposeful but not overlyselective in that these clustered arose organically based on current academic and policy debates on34austerity Britain, demonstrating relevance of ‘a rich, meaningful, and practical’ approach to theinvestigation. As such, it aligns with Ferrari’s (2015, p.231) belief that, although there remains no setapproach to their formatting, narrative reviews tend to showcase ‘a summary of the history ofresearch when clear trends are identified, or presented as a “conceptual frame”, within which thecontents are separated according to dependent or independent variables and their relationships’.Whilst he emphasises that under narrative review, the ‘structure should respect, […] the conventionsfollowed in the particular field’ (ibid.), in this instance that necessitates a blending of social work andcommunity development conventions.4.1 Pathways to Lone Parenthood26This subsection considers the reasons individuals may become lone parents, encompassing divorce,separation, and bereavement. It also notes the circumstances by which someone may live in a loneparent setting, such as imprisonment and the residency status of a partner or co-parent, which canseparate coupled-families for extensive periods of time. Further, it acknowledges times when a ‘spouseworking abroad [or suffering long-term] illness' (Ezzeldine, 2011) results in a lone parent setting(Hancock and Mooney, 2013; Martin and Wilcox, 2013). This notion of ‘pathways’ is a similarly premisedphrase to Bower-Brown and Zadah’s (2021) ‘routes to parenthood’.The Centre for Social Justice (2013) found that ‘cohabiting parents are three times more likely toseparate by the time a child is aged five than married couples’, however, contrary to popularmisconceptions (see Wilkinson and Pickett, 2009), the NRoS (2015, p.22) found that ‘the proportion ofhouseholds with two or more children was higher for couple households than for lone parenthouseholds.’ As such, there are numerous complexities over how we theorise parents given that thosewith multiple children may have the same partner for one or more of their children, but many do not.Despite countering stereotypes of lone parent families, the challenges of living on a single source ofincome are demonstrated by neighbourhood, with the NRoS (2015, p.22) advising that ‘in the mostdeprived decile almost half of dependent children were in lone parent households [...] compared to only10 per cent [...] in the least deprived decile.’ This issue of poverty and income inequality arising fromreliance on a lone source of income demands reflection on the ‘intact’ family described earlier by Bailey(2017) and seems to justify the different focuses some studies have on the children in lone parentfamilies versus the adult(s) or the family unit.Concerning divorce, Weir (2013) observed that ‘two-thirds of children have regular contact with bothparents after separation,’ creating situations where most children have two separate families, but alsorevealing a setting where both birth-parents may lay claim to being a single or lone parent despite thechild(ren) residing with the other partner. Though seemingly absent within the literature, it manifestswithin several of the interviews and will be explored during the Discussion chapter. However, familybreakdown has been cited by The Children’s Society (2008) as a contributing cause of poor mental healthin children. Further evidence has demonstrated correlations between divorce and childhood obesity(Biehl et al., 2014), poorer physical health (Amato, 2000), and poor educational attainment (CfLS, 2007).It is worthwhile, then, to note that between 2015 and 2017 the number of lone parent families in the UK26 This phrase is borrowed from Walker's (2013) Equality Network publication, LGBT Pathways to Parenthood:Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People Share Their Personal Journeys.35decreased from circa three million, to around 2.8 million (ONS, 2017). This significant fall - equivalent tothe total number of lone parent families in all of Scotland (NRoS, 2015) - perhaps is due to the status oflone parent often being temporary, with re-marriage, civil partnerships, and cohabitation replacing the‘lone,’ ‘single,’ or ‘solo’ situation for one or both partners (Panico et al., 2010).Regarding young lone parenthood and youth pregnancies more broadly, UNICEF (2001) found that fewerthan one-in-four teenage mothers were married to a partner when they gave birth to their first child.Wilkinson and Pickett (2009) observed a stark contrast between the UK and nations such as Japan wherearound 87% of teenage mothers were married prior to giving birth. This preference not to get marriedwhilst a teen mother in the UK was further evidenced by Graham and McDermott (2005), whoconcluded that heterosexual young mothers often prioritised forming a strong relationship with the childover any connection with the biological father. Furthermore, Ellis et al. (2003) found that, regardless ofsocial class, in both the US and New Zealand teenage girls raised in a female-headed lone parent familywith an absent father were significantly more likely to fall pregnant at a young age themselves. Despitesuggestions that the majority of unwanted pregnancies in the UK will no longer be forcibly carried toterm (Wellings et. al, 2013), this only applies to some countries and political unions as despite UK lawmandating access to safe abortion and family planning clinics in Scotland, England, and Wales (see TheAbortion Act 1967) abortion remains illegal in Northern Ireland. Furthermore, in the US, Alabama hasfollowed Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Ohio by introducing legislation to make access to safeabortion highly restricted (BBC, 2019) demonstrating that personal agency is at-risk or has been removedfor many would-be birth parents.Related to this, is the significance of religion within family settings (an aspect raised by severalparticipants including #9 Frank and #31 Jenny). Writing in the US context, Amer (2018) observed thatwhilst lone parenthood has become increasingly common within the Muslim community, divorce is oftenstill 'viewed as taboo in traditional Muslim households.' She counters the common misconception thatthe Qur'an forbids divorce, recognising that separation is 'a permissible option for a woman or man toexit a marriage if all solutions of reconciliation are exhausted.' Greenwell (2006), however, cited stigmasremain amongst many of the UK’s Sikh communities, stating that ‘the emphasis put on the values ofmarriage and family in Britain's Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities is still strong’ (a findingnoted earlier in Campbell and Arya, 2019). As noted in the Community Profile, the Greater Pilton areahas significantly higher minority religious populations than Scotland, but also than the City of Edinburghas a whole (NRoS, 2012). Despite many major figures within Islam being raised by lone mothers (e.g.Prophet Ismail, Prophet Isa, and Prophet Muhammad, as well as Imam al-Shafi’, Imam Ahmed, and ImamBukhari), Ezzeldine (2011) states that, presently, 'the Muslim community often alienates and ostracizessingle parents and is often selective regarding which single parent “deserves” compassion, based on thereasons they are single.' This, therefore, was expected to be a challenging community to include in theresearch as the suggested stigma made assurances that the invitation would reach the eligiblepopulations difficult to attain. This was because some social or familial practices may seek to mask thesituation of lone parenthood to avoid alienation from one’s own community. As a non-Sikh,non-Christian, and non-Muslim myself, the connections between myself and those of faith living locallywas limited in this regard. Overlaps in lived experience and shared geography were, thus, relied upon inmaking connections where there were larger differences between myself and participants.36An additional category of lone parents who were significantly underrepresented in the literature werecircumstantial lone parents - that is, those who find themselves in situations of lone parenthood(generally on a temporary basis), such as those parenting on their own whilst a partner is in prison,waiting for an opportunity to enter the country in which their partner resides (e.g. asylum seekers), orinvolved in military deployment. Indeed, it seems that there is no clear term for this specific situation;therefore ‘circumstantial lone parenting’ appears to be the most appropriate description of thiscommunity. This is, however, an issue requiring significant concern going forward, given the urgencysurrounding the British Home Office's 'hostility' towards, for example, those from the WindrushGeneration and their descendants (see e.g. Olusoga, 2019; Gentleman, 2020a; and Topple, 2020) withmany people (several of them parents) have been forcibly deported to countries such as Jamaica,Dominican Republic, Nigeria, and Grenada27 - often in ‘wrist and foot restraints’ (Gentleman, 2020a). Thiscomes despite numerous public protests (BARAC UK and BAME Lawyers for Justice, 2020), legalchallenges to government decisions28, political interventions (Powell, 2020; Runnymede Trust, 202029;BfID, 2020a; ECHR, 2020), and personal attempts to save relatives whom activists believe are suffering aninjustice (Taylor, 2020b). Townsend (2021) advises that this is the consequence of the 2007 UK BordersAct (UK Parliament, 2007) whereby 'individuals who are not British citizens and receive a prison sentenceof more than 12 months are automatically targeted for deportation,' emphasising that '[t]his policy hasseen hundreds of people, mainly men, put on charter flights to Jamaica, leaving their British childrenbehind in the UK'30 Amongst the appeal letters to the Home Office, Taylor (2020a) disclosed:‘The Guardian has seen a letter and drawing from a 10-year-old boy addressed to ajudge he hoped would remove his father from the flight. The boy wrote: “People aremaking decisions about my dad. When they grew up they probably had a dad. Thedecisions they make mean I won’t have a dad with me.”’ 31Such violent interventions into these families’ lives have created a rapidly increasing number ofcircumstantial lone parents - directly harming people of colour socially by splitting families, andeconomically by ridding families of an earner, carer, and companion. Several of the organisations workingto prevent the deportations provided testimony centring the impact on children and young people.32Amongst them, Sankey (CEO at Detention Action; 2020) condemned the deportations as a ‘cowboyoperation,’ proclaiming that ‘the tragedy of this tale is the many devastated children who have had aloving parent forcibly ripped from their lives without any consultation or being able to make their voiceheard.’ This, she described as ‘child cruelty plain and simple’ (ibid.). Similarly, Doyle (2020) stated that32 BfID (2020d) further adds that ‘[t]he experience of deportation produces increased emotional and behaviouraldistress among children and places children at risk of developing a range of disorders, such as sleeping disorders,depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder’.31 Another testimony from a seventeen-year-old recounting her father’s deportation stated, '[i]t feels like he’s died,really. […] He’s all alone with nobody around. He can’t even give us a hug or pick us up from school'.30 A situation that BfID (2020d) emphasise ‘can lead to family dissolution’.29 Runnymede Trust’s (2020) open letter was co-signed by a further thirty-five campaign groups, coalitions,advocates, and charities.28 Taylor (2020a) notes that interventions later revealed that some 'may have been victims of modern slavery'.27 The inconsistencies of this were highlighted when London-born twin brothers Darrell and Darren Roberts(children from a lone parent household and in-care since age thirteen) were issued deportation notices to differentcountries (Gentleman, 2020c). Similarly, Charles Unuane was deported to Nigeria whilst his partner was permittedto remain in the UK with their three children - each of whom hold British citizenship (ibid.) - thus creating anothercircumstantial lone parenting situation.37there are ‘many children who just lost their father before Christmas at a time of pandemic whenchildren’s mental health is already suffering’ (creating a new form of evidence that the absence of aparent can harm adolescence development). Such state action has, therefore, produced many situationsof circumstantial lone parenting and may, in some instances, breach Section 55 (‘Duty regarding thewelfare of children’) within the UK Parliament’s (2009) Borders, Citizenship & Immigration Act 2009which states that: ‘[T]he Director's functions [include] regard to the need to safeguard and promote thewelfare of children who are in the United Kingdom’. Indeed, the European Court of Human Rights (2020)concluded that these deportations - which have forced children to witness and endure traumatic familialseparation - were 'not reconcilable with article 8 of the convention’, whilst Beales (of BfID [2020a])similarly stressed that ‘a child growing up with one of their parents thousands of miles away is nevergoing to be a positive thing for them.’ Beales (2020a) does, however, rehash the suggestion that lifewithout one of their parents means that ‘[i]t will reduce the child’s ability to reach their full potential,’which remains far from a universal truth. Thus, it would perhaps be more apt to suggest that the traumaof losing a parent via violent state intervention does more harm to the children than simply growing upin a lone parent household.BfID (2020c) has, however, observed that ‘[i]n some cases [...] parents who are the sole or primary carersfor their children have been detained, resulting in their children being placed in care.’ Despite this breachover their duty of care, Townsend (2021) notes that ‘the Home Office has ruled out officiallyinvestigating the impact on minors and families when considering deporting a parent,’ indicating thatthere is likely to be a long-term traumatic impact for many children and partner(s) who have seenanother parent forcibly removed from their lives. The recently formed Families for Justice (a coalitionadvocating on the behalf of the deported individuals; 2021) emphasised this neglect directly, releasing astatement arguing that, in addition to ‘tearing apart British families and communities,’ children weresuffering en masse. They advised that:‘Our children have been professionally neglected and inexplicably made to feelunwelcome in the country we call home. Our children’s British birthrights [sic] have beendisregarded. We are saddened about the systematic disregard for the mental health ofour children and the unassessed separation they are put through.’Once again, however, the British Home Office (2021) claimed that only ‘[f]oreign dangerous criminalswho violate our laws and abuse our hospitality’ were or will be deported. Despite the numerousstatements to the contrary, the official line remains that ‘[t]he UK only ever returns those who the HomeOffice and, where applicable, the courts are satisfied do not need our protection and have no legal basisto remain.’ Beales (2020b) connects this directly to the crisis of austerity advising that legal aidpreviously made available to parents facing deportation has been cut. He further states on the UKGovernment policy developments post-2012 that ‘you can only appeal deportation on the basis of yourrelation to the child if you can prove that it would be “unduly harsh” to separate you from the child.’There are, therefore, further concerns regarding the entitlement of the circumstantial lone parent toaccess particular forms of support (e.g. welfare where applicable or access to support from thecommunity sector). In addition, the capacity of the removed partner to provide support will vary greatlydepending on the cause of their removal from the coupled family. If incarcerated, there is an immediateloss of opportunity to earn an income, whilst deportations may still allow, in some situations, for38employment opportunities in the new country of residence. It may well be the case, however, thatincome levels are lower than those in the UK, meaning that any intended financial assistance may besignificantly lower in value once differences in cost of living and currency exchange rates are considered,amongst many other factors. Furthermore, a majority of papers reflecting on the experience of theresearcher and their work with families appears to focus on the family as a whole, rather than thechallenges of interviewing just the parent(s) or guardians (Dockett et al., 2009). An exception to thiswould be situations in which the parents and children are not living together (Akesson et al., 2012;Brabeck and Xu, 2010).The death of a co-parent is another event that forces a surviving parent to transition into singleparenthood’, with Donahue (2020, p.11) summarising that, ‘regardless of the nature of the death,whether predictable (e.g. occurring with greater than two weeks of forewarning) or unpredictable, thereare certain norms expected of recently widowed parents.’ Indeed, she recognises that when ‘bothqualitative and quantitative research suggests that widowed parents typically experience positive and/ornegative changes in their parenting that likely co-occur and ebb and flow over time’ and, as expectedgiven the diversity of lone parents, ‘some parents indicated that they had few internal resources left tohandle the new set of burdens following their co-parent’s death, while others could manage relativelybetter.’ Regardless, the loss of a co-parent causes significant challenges for the surviving parent, withgendered differences observed as women tend towards seeking the support of others, whereas men areunderstood to ‘exhibit more problem-solving approaches to dealing with loss, which involve failure toexpress grief emotionally or seek social support’ (ibid., see also Martin & Doka, 2000). This was an issueraised by, among others, #4 Lachlan who had put his social life on hold to raise his daughter. Literatureexamining surviving mothers and fathers have mirrored these gender differences concerning topics suchas seeking social support and engaging in problem-solving aspects of grief (Hagan et al., 2012; Kwok etal., 2005). However, it is important to note that a study which examined widowed fathers withdependent-age children found that men often use covert means of support, such as online websites, toaddress their grief as opposed to seeking out social or emotional support from friends, family members,or mental health professionals’ (Yopp et al., 2015). This is, however, something which is gradually shiftingas support groups for men become somewhat more commonplace. In north Edinburgh, this includes theformation of the Men's Mental Health Club run by the Tamas Jeles Project (Pickering, 2019). Thesegendered differences between widowed mothers and fathers are significant, suggests Belsky (1984),believing that ‘the marital relationship is the primary support system for parents,’ before emphasisingthat ‘other social networks (e.g. work, extended family and friends, community ties) can provide primarysupport in certain circumstances (e.g. single parenthood). The loss of that partnership was an experiencedetailed by #7 Cathleen in the aftermath of her partner’s parents’ deaths.4.2 Lone Parent Families: Demographics: General Background:At present, there are upwards of 2.8 million lone parent families in the UK (ONS, 2017) of which anestimated 174,000 - involving around 295,000 children - live in Scotland (OPFS, 2018). Policy Exchange(2014) note that the UK currently has the fourth highest percentage of lone parent families in the Europe- behind only Estonia, Latvia, and Ireland - whilst Hirsch (2019) suggests that more than 20% of allchildren in the UK grow up in a lone parent household (a figure that includes siblings). O'Grady (2013)has similarly noted the increased prevalence of this family type, advising that '[i]n 1971, just eight per39cent of households [in the UK] were headed by a lone parent, but by 2011 that figure had reached 22 percent.' At present, around three-to-four in every ten families in Scotland are lone parent families (UG,2018), of which an estimated 12,988 such family types live in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh (Taulbut et.al., 2016). However, some discrepancy occurs regarding this figure of 174,000 lone parent families asstated by OPFS (2017), with NRoS (2015) suggesting closer to 291,000 lone parent families in Scotland(therein accounting for 11% of all Scottish households [NRoS, 2015]). This difference of around 117,000could be attributed to someone being a lone parent regardless of whether they live with their children.Furthermore, someone’s ‘lone parent’ status is susceptible to change based on new relationships,marriage, civil partnerships, cohabitation, and other forms of second or blended family composition.Despite this, OPFS (2018) estimate that ‘by 2037, households containing just one adult with children areprojected to increase by 27 per cent’ (NRoS, 2014).As a demographic, lone parent families in Scotland are significantly more likely to live in relativepoverty,33 with 23% of lone parent families experiencing ‘persistent poverty’34 between 2008-2013(OPFS, 2017) - a figure four times higher than persistent poverty in coupled-families. In line with this, UG(2018, p.1) emphasise the ‘unique challenge’ that many lone parent families face whilst relying on asingle source of income (where the parent is in some form of employment), given that this parent oftensimultaneously acts as primary carer for their child or children. The JRF (2018) does, however,acknowledge that coupled-families in which only one parent is in work may share similar financialcircumstances to lone parent families, though care costs are not outlined in their summary. UG (2018)also stressed that the lived experience of lone parent families varies depending on neighbourhood,welfare reform, gender, and the job opportunities available. Around 24% of all children in Scotland live infemale-headed lone parent households, with just 2 percent living in male-headed lone parenthouseholds (NRoS, 2015), meaning that, when understood in relation to the gender pay gaps, thefemale-headed lone parent households may - and often do - face additional economic marginalisation.Hirsch (2019) advises that most of these female-headed lone parent families ‘have no child maintenancearrangement’ in place from a former partner and, consequently, ‘three in four [children from lone parentfamilies] end up with income lower than the minimum needed for an acceptable standard of living.’Struggles around poverty, therefore, often become further engrained when lone parents (particularlythose who are poor, working class, and female) try to access support with childcare.Additional barriers which face poor and working communities Scotland-wide but may be proportionatelymore detrimental to lone parents include dominant language command (Bloch, 2007; Tang, 2016),residency status (Negrón-Gonzales, 2014), education attainment (NRoS, 2015), stigmas specific toparticular cultures, religions, or towards lone parent status (Netto et. al., 2010; Mohd et. al., 2011;Bailey, 2017), or social marginalisation (Frazer, 2005; McCulloch, 2006; Ravensbergen and VanderPlaat,2010). The JRF (2018) noted that 30,000 Scottish children in poverty live with a lone parent who was outof work, while a further 15,000 living with a lone parent working part-time were also in poverty. NRoS(2015) detailed that lone parent families account for more than 20% of all households in the mostdeprived areas in Scotland; compared to just 6% of households in the most affluent areas -demonstrating the appropriateness of the chosen geographical focus of this PhD in north Edinburgh.34 ONS (2017) define persistent poverty as ‘individuals [who] live in a household with an equivalised disposableincome that falls below 60% of the national median in the current year’.33 Relative poverty is defined by the Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research (n.d.) as those unable toafford an ‘ordinary living pattern’.40Furthermore, the Urban-Rural Indicator (2012) demonstrated that lone parent families account for amore significant percentage of families in large urban areas such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, orDundee - 12% of all households - than in more remote areas such as some of Scotland’s islands, wherelone parent families constitute just 8% of all households. Finally, illustrating the challenge aroundhousing, a majority of lone parent families live in social housing, rather than private rentals or homeownership (NRoS, 2015).Age: Gingerbread (2015) found that, in the UK, 'less than two per cent of single parents areteenagers,35; whilst UG (2018, p1) suggest that the average age of the primary carer in a lone parentfamily is around thirty-eight years old. Despite this, stereotypes of lone parenthood being the domain ofyoung mothers persist (OPFS, 2018). Graham and McDermott (2005) recognise, however, that ‘teenagemotherhood is a pathway through which women become excluded from the activities and connectionsof the wider society’, thereby creating another characteristic through which marginalisation might occur.This, they suggest, causes families to become ‘trapped’ in poverty. Indeed, the Social Exclusion Unit (SEU,1999) and Hobcraft and Kiernan (2001) further reinforced these conclusions, noting that lowereducational attainment, youth criminal records, and forms of social exclusion were consistent withteenage parenthood, thus suggesting social and economic marginalisation(s) which gave rise to taking‘extreme behaviours’ to survive. Given that the UK as a whole has one of the highest teenage birth ratesin Europe36 (FPA, 2016), and with this correlating directly to levels of economic inequality (Wilkinson andPickett, 2009), areas featuring negatively in the SIMD (such as Greater Pilton) may be expected to behome to an above average percentage of young lone mothers (ISD, 2018).In addition, the SEU (1999) have shown that many teenage mothers (lone parent or otherwise) receiveminimal support from the father of their child, whilst girls born to teenage mothers are also statisticallymore likely to be teenage mothers themselves compared to girls born to older women (again, regardlessof whether they grew up in a lone parent family or not). It is therefore essential to stress that teenagemotherhood is not witnessed only among communities experiencing poverty. Ermisch and Pevalin (2003)demonstrated that, in the UK 4.8%, of women within the poorest quarter of the UK population were ateenage mother. Of this figure, 2.9% and 2.4% of women in the second poorest and second richestquarters of the population, respectively, also became a mother whilst a teenager. By way of comparison,the lowest rate, 1.2%, of women in the wealthiest quarter of the population gave birth to their first childwhilst a teenager.Finally, and leading into the below subsection, Carter and Coleman (2006) link teenage pregnancy tonotions of control and the inaccessibility of traditional markers of adulthood such as home ownership,stable employment, and long-term committed relationships (Eliason et al., 2015; Hall and Walls, 2015).Concerning age and income, the WBG (2017) note that workers aged below twenty-five years old faceadditional challenges given the age-specific bands of National Minimum Wage (NMW), National LivingWage, and social security, suggesting that ‘women under 25 stand to lose an average £552 against menlosing £236, almost entirely owing to benefit freezes and cuts’ (WBG 2017, p.10). When this research36 Behind Bulgaria (35.5 teenage births per 1,000); Romania (29.2); Slovakia (15.9); Hungary (15.4); and Latvia (8.9);FPA (2016) places the UK at 6.8 teenage births per 1,000 - above the EU average (6.0).35 This study only considered those aged 16-19 years, not those below the legal age of consent. The rate ofunderage births was reported in The Herald Scotland (2017) as ‘three per 1,000 in 2015 with a total of 244pregnancies - eight of which were to girls aged under 14.’41commenced, NMW rates were set at just £3.70 for those undertaking apprenticeships; £4.20 for undereighteens; £5.90 for those aged eighteen-twenty; £7.38 between twenty-one and twenty-four; whilstthose aged twenty-five and over must be paid £7.83 (UK Government, 2018).4.3 Poverty and Lone Parent Families:According to OPFS (2018), circa 50% of lone parent families live in some form of poverty; with Davis(2017) observing that ‘recent Department of Work and Pensions statistics show 49% of children in loneparent families now live below the poverty line’ - a significant increase directly correlated to post-2010austerity. This was echoed by Graham (2014) who advised that children in lone parent families werealmost twice as likely to experience poverty than children in coupled-families - 43% compared to 22%.Closely linked to the frequency with which fuel poverty37 is experienced - between 24.9% and 39% ofScottish households (Energy Action Scotland, 2018; Liddell, 2015) - precarious income and the lack ofhousing market regulation are all contributed to creating a context whereby many low-income loneparent families are forced into poverty. UG (2018) note that in Scotland, children with lone parents aremore than twice as likely to live in relative poverty than children in two-parent families (‘41% comparedto 24%’); Poverty Alliance (2013) identifying 'the rising cost of fuel and food as [...] key concerns.'On poverty and employment, JRF (2018) and Gingerbread (2018) also note that many families of alltypes that live in poverty have some form of employment. Consequently, the Trade Unions Congress(2011), Sentamu (2014), Armstrong (2017), and Milburn (2017) each note that work can no longer beconsidered an effective means of people lifting themselves out of poverty. Consequently, most loneparents (58%) are now in some form of employment, compared to less than 45% in 2000, however,aligning with Graham’s (2014) findings, Hirsch (2019) warns that ‘policies that succeed in getting morelone parents into work do not automatically succeed in reducing poverty or low-income.’ With manylone parents requiring flexible work practices to allow for childcare arrangements, entering low-paidprofessions (often incurring additional travel costs) in-work poverty amongst lone parents has, in fact,increased (JRF, 2018). Indeed, the JRF (2018) has suggested that as many as four million peoplethroughout the UK now face in-work poverty - an increase of more than 500,000 people since 2016.Graham (2014) further found that 31% of children in lone parent households with a parent in part-timework live in poverty. Even when the lone parent is in full-time work, this figure is almost 18% afterhousing costs. In addition to barriers such as language, social stigmas, and education, Graham (2014, p.9)argued that health and local job opportunities produce further challenges in identifying employmentopportunities, whilst childcare, transport links, car ownership, work hours, work flexibility, number ofchildren, and employer policies regarding childcare responsibilities often result in difficulties 'reconciling[a] job with care responsibilities.' Consequently, ONS (2013) found that, in the UK, ‘36% of lone parenthouseholds have no adult in work, compared with 5% of couple[d] households with dependent children,’with Glasgow enduring the ‘highest proportion of working-age households with no adult in work in theUK’ at 30.2%. For context, ONS (2013) suggested that 20.6% of all households in Scotland and 18.1% ofhouseholds in the whole of the UK experience the same situation.37 Fuel poverty occurs when ‘in order to maintain a satisfactory heating regime, [a household] would be required tospend more than 10% of its income on all household fuel use’. When upwards of 20% of household income isrequired for fuel, this is defined as ‘extreme fuel poverty’.42OPFS (2018) emphasised that lone parents, as both primary carer and sole breadwinner, are the mostlikely form of family to live on the cusp of poverty. Susceptible to labour market shifts, a significantnumber of lone parent families in Scotland and beyond fall into what former-UK Prime Minister TheresaMay (2016) referred to as ‘the just about managing.’ UG (2018) noted that ‘due to wider changes in thelabour market with the increase in the number of people on zero hour contracts and those workingpart-time but unable to increase their hours or find a full-time job,’ many people are at risk of becomingtrapped in poverty due to what Lichter and Costanzo (1987), and Mackie (2018) refer to as‘underemployment.’ As outlined earlier, this was defined as ‘[those] employed who want more workthan is currently available to them’ (Bell and Blanchflower, 2013, p.1). Underemployment causes manyindividuals and families to cycle between relying on state welfare and earning sufficient income to meetthe minimal costs of living. In addition, several other forms of poverty including food poverty38 (Douglaset al., 2018; Douglas et al., 2015; Loopstra, 2015; D’Ambruoso, 2017) and period poverty39 (Astrup, 2017;Zipp et al., 2018; Wolfe, 2019) have also become far more commonplace in the UK over the last decade.Millar and Ridge (2020) stressed that, in ‘November 2000 Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of theExchequer, set an […] explicit and important target–70 per cent of lone parents to be in employment by2010.’ Dhungel et al. (2021) observed that ‘[i]n Japan, ten percent of single-parent households are led byfathers’; however, their approach to work appears heavily swayed against fathers taking on the primarycaregiver roles. For example, the paper itself is premised on the belief that ‘[t]aking care of children as asingle father is very stressful and could put a strain on their health,’ and, working to ‘prevent and identifypsychological distress among fathers for both their own health and to avoid negative impacts onchildren’ is essential in fostering a more comprehensive Japanese state (ibid.).40 Little attention is givento rebalancing assumptions around gendered care. Li (2020) identified similarly poor mental healthamongst lone mothers in China; whilst Abeykoon and Karunanayake (2022) echoed these findings in SriLanka, and, likewise, Toledo Dal’Ava dos Santos (2020) found poor mental health was common amongstpregnant lone mothers and mothers of newborns in Brazil.On this age and gendered component, Averett (2021) stressed that ‘[t]he association of women with‘private sphere’ care work (including paid and unpaid childcare) and men with paid, public sphere workis problematic because, as England [2005, p.384] points out, ‘what men do is seen as a basis ofcitizenship rights more than what women do.’ Furthermore, Collins (1989) notes that women of colour -mothers or otherwise – in the US have continued to work in some capacity, thereby resulting in ‘higherrates of participation in the paid labour force than white women, and particularly, the experiences ofBlack women working as domestic workers.’ This stress has been observed to varying degrees acrossmany contexts. Indeed, involving upwards of 2,000 people, the first of the proposed quarterlyUnderstanding Scotland surveys (DPaCSP, 2021) - an undertaking not dissimilar to the previouslyconducted Fairer Scotland (Scottish Government, 2019) - found that circa 34% of respondents identified‘poverty and inequality’ as their greatest concern, though the figure increased to 38% in areas ofmultiple-deprivation. Whilst this finding is unsurprising, that those raising ‘the economy’ as a concern,40 Their investigation did find a higher propensity towards psychological concerns amongst lone fathers (8.5%) thanin coupled-parents (5%).39 ‘Period poverty’ is defined by Lunette (n.d.) as ‘a lack of access to sanitary products due to financial constraints’.38 'Food poverty', as described by Maslen et al. (2013, p.2), 'is the inability to afford, or to have access to, food tomake up a healthy diet', adding that [i]t is not just about hunger, but also about being appropriately nourished toattain and maintain health'.43dropped by roughly a third between the most to least affluent (26% versus 19%), illustrates the urgencywith which navigating daily life takes precedence over neoliberal issues.4.4 ‘Lone Parent’ as an Identity & Public PerceptionsThis subsection considers the terminology used by organisations working with or researching lone parentfamilies, by various governments and arms-length agencies (e.g. Vanier Institute of the Family, 2018;Statistics Canada, 2018; ABS, 2019; and Census Bureau, 2018), and by lone parent families themselves. Itseeks to understand how lone parent families are perceived socially - as victims of the actions or inactionof the state; or as active members of society with capacity to challenge or even change theircircumstances.Terminology: The Vanier Institute of the Family41 (VIF) is a charity supporting families inCanada. Working with Mirabelli (2018), the institute observed the diversity of terms used to describelone parent families across a range of settings, noting the specific connotations they carry. Defining‘family’ more liberally as ‘any combination of two or more persons who are bound together over time byties of mutual consent, birth and/or adoption or placement,’ VIF (2018) identify ‘physical maintenanceand care of group members’; the ‘addition of new members through procreation or adoption’;‘socialization of children’ and ‘social control of members’; ‘production, consumption, distribution ofgoods and services,’ and ‘affective nurturance – love’ as key attributes that can create a family.Acknowledging the range of terms (including neutral and non-gender specific terminology) demonstratestheir understanding of the functions and actions of a family, rather than questioning the particularcomponents and imposing expectations of either heteronormativity or other assumptions over typicallygendered aspects of familial care.Extending into more broadly recognised terminology, Bailey (2017) identified ‘lone parent, single parent,one-parent family, independent parent, non-married parents, alone parent[, and] autonomous parent’as common descriptions in Canada - stressing that ‘what can seem like a valid category to one personmay be considered a stereotype by another.’ She notes that particular ‘labels can carry stigma with themthat has an impact on family well-being and identity - particularly for single mothers’; consequently,divergent uses are witnessed within a single national, organisation, or governmental context based onthe understandings, experience, and knowledge (or absence) of the policy makers, politicians, orpractitioners involved. Furthermore, the shifts in public tolerance, legal recognition, or categorisationmay result in updates or revisions to better reflect contemporary practices and understandings.Acknowledging this, it is important to observe the shift in terminology used towards lone parents inScotland given this is the geographical focus of the thesis. For example, Macqueen (1972) wrote of‘unmarried mothers’ and co-established the Scottish Council for Unmarried Mothers (theunfortunately-named ‘SCUM’), whilst One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS) avoid the use of genderedphrasing within the organisation’s name. Terminology and gendered assumptions, therefore, result froma multitude of factors, including changing attitudes towards men in care roles and improvedunderstanding of gender diversity (Arber et al., 2003; Hanlon, 2012; Oláh et al., 2018).41 L’Institut Vanier de la Famille.44Regarding recognition within national contexts, in the US, the Census Bureau (2018) uses severaldifferent terms when referring to lone parents, some of which are heavily heteronormative, including‘female household’, ‘no husband present’, and ‘lone parent’. McMahon (n.d.), similarly, wrote of ‘unwedmothers,’ which may, Bailey (2017) notes, be ‘tied to [...] religious doctrine’ in largelyChristian-influenced nations. By contrast Statistics New Zealand (2012) asks about ‘sole parents’, and theAustralia Bureau for Statistics (2019) refers to ‘one-parent families.’ Bailey (2017) credits this to areframing of how lone parenthood is understood in what may be considered more socially inclusivenations. The notion of lone or solo motherhood in particular (ibid) positions parents as ‘“on their own”[and therefore] without support’ - an approach ignorant that ‘many of these parents may have richnetworks of support that include family, friends, community organisations and even former partners.’These networks, this thesis demonstrates, were, and remain, vital for many lone parents, better enablingthem to undertake education, employment, and self-care, supplementing or addressing gaps within stateprovision.Lone Parent Families and the ‘Big Society’: This subsection investigates the historical relationshipbetween the state and lone parent families in the UK, and notes the rapidly shifting linguistic discoursewithin policies affecting lone parent families brought forth by the current consecutive Conservative-ledUK Governments. Lone parent families in the UK have, at times, been treated as an integral componentof British society (e.g. within one-nation conservatism or ‘one-nationism,’ and within the ‘Big Society’);whilst they have also been demonised or treated as synonymous with ‘scroungers’ and ‘benefits streetculture’ (Dorey, 1995; Bloor, 2012; Heppell and Seawright, 2012). Understood to be generally associatedwith the UK Conservative and Unionist Party (Heywood, 2007) - particularly Benjamin Disraeli’s tenure(Blake, 1966) - one-nation conservatism promoted government prioritising established support services,advocating ‘a social and economic program designed to benefit the common man’. The ideologypromotes a moral and social obligation between citizens, which Adams (1998) suggests enablesgovernments to place a ‘burden’ of support towards communities - including lone parent families,relatives, and neighbours - instead of the state. In addition, many of the key ideological underpinnings ofone-nation conservatism (paternalism, voter appeasement, voluntarism, and social hierarchy) areechoed in the recent Conservative-led Governments (Williams, 2017; Atkins, 2018).A significant caveat here, however, within both one-nation conservatism and the Big Society comes inthe form of ‘deserving’ versus ‘undeserving poor’ discourse. Walker and Corbett (2013) note that, whilstCameron’s Big Society concept ‘claim[ed] to empower individuals and communities [...] the Governmentsimultaneously remov[ed] state support through massive funding cuts to local government and thewelfare state.’ Furthermore, the regime of austerity highlights the disconnect between the one-nationconservatism ideal of philanthropy and reinforcing existing social structures (Blake, 1966). Walker andCorbett (2013) further contend that, within this ideological perspective, ‘the state’s role is limited toshaping basic social institutions like the family and local community.’ This is witnessed in thecontroversial ‘two-child limit’ introduced for claiming Child Tax Credits. Constituting the ‘Child Element’of Universal Credit, the reform came into place on 6th April 2017, meaning that families cannot claimstate support via Child Tax Credits for any subsequent children - save for in exceptional cases includingmultiple births, ‘a child you have been claiming for has a child of their own’ (i.e. a parent aged undersixteen-years-old), or, most controversially, where ‘the child was born as a result of non-consensualconception’ (DWP, 2016). This latter aspect, commonly referred to as the ‘rape clause’ (Thewliss, 2017),has been met with significant resistance from communities and parliamentarians in Scotland.45Requiring birthing parents to prove to the satisfaction of the DWP that a third or subsequent child wasconceived as the result of rape (Stone, 2017), the reform has been termed ‘abhorrent’' by then-FirstMinister Nicola Sturgeon (BBC, 2017). As noted by Walker and Butler (2017), the eight-page form alsorequires ‘rape victims to declare that they do not live with their attacker if they wish to claim anexemption to a new two-child limit for tax credits’ - creating further risk of violence towards thewould-be claimant - and demonstrates an ignorance of the genuine danger in which they may be placedif trying to leave their abuser. Thewliss (2017) cited the lack of professional training in recognising sexualviolence as evidence of the Conservative-led victimisation of those on low-income, yet this was met witha public statement from the DWP (2017) which stated that the new restrictions were ‘a key part ofcontrolling public spending.’ The JRF (2018) suggested that the restrictions risked forcing an additional200,000 children into poverty, noting that ‘a nurse with three children, earning £23,000 [...] who becamea single parent, would lose £2,780 a year.’ Rustin (2017), The Ferret (2017), and Engender (2017) eachnote further issues arise given the stigma a child may experience when DWP officials, police, socialworkers, and healthcare professionals would be aware of the circumstances of the child’s conception. Asthe two-child limit was introduced, a cut to bereavement-related social security further targeted loneparent families (Walker and Butler, 2017; Thewliss 2018).4.5 Gender, Care, and Lone Parent FamiliesThis subsection investigates shifting gender roles in the UK including notions of ‘breadwinner,’ women asprimary carer, etc.. It places these into context given the demographic data examined earlier, critiquingemergent understandings and trends in care roles within modern families.Gender & The Primary Carer: Of the 174,000 lone parent families currently living in Scotland,OPFS (2018) state that 93% are female-headed households, however, this contrasts NRoS (2015, p.5)who three years earlier reported that, in Scotland, ‘87 per cent were female lone parent families and 13per cent were male lone parent families.’ In the absence of one parent, the remaining primary caregiveris required to adopt all parental roles (with a caveat for support networks considered later). As such, thegendered dimension to the lived experiences of lone parent families in Scotland is central tounderstanding them. Written in the context of individuals from negatively stereotyped communities(specifically young black working class men), Hirsch (2019) suggests that many individuals are forced tomoderate their behaviours to avoid inadvertently reinforcing particular stereotypes. This notion thatindividuals must adjust their everyday actions extends to other contexts with, Critchley (2018) attestingthat fathers often feel forced to avoid becoming animated during children’s committees for fear ofcompassion being conflated with aggression.The WBG (2017) noted that ‘women are disproportionately affected by the care crisis.’ This is, therefore,a further largely gendered concern, given that women are the most likely to provide paid or unpaid care(ibid.). Acknowledging the frequency with which both general care responsibilities and specifically statusas primary carer for children within lone parent families are undertaken by women, Stephenson (2011,p.36) stressed that, whilst parents are not forced into work as part of the UK Government’s workfareagenda, this often conflicts with care responsibilities - ‘organisations like Gingerbread have shown that,nationally, benefits advisors do not always show understanding of the particular situation that lone46parents face.’ This results in ‘some lone parents [being] threatened with sanctions for refusing jobs thatwould be impossible to fit [a]round their children’s needs’ (ibid., p.36).In the context of lone parenthood, any gender identity beyond that of ‘female’ (and, arguably, anyoneexisting beyond heteronormativity) who occupies the role of sole parent and performs the role of theprimary caregiver becomes ‘the other’ in their gendered experience. Yet, diverging from the expectednorm and can result in clashes within social settings or marginalisation of the non-female orfemme-reading parent. Understanding caring roles as frequently positioned as that of female-identifyingindividuals, Butler (1990,) suggests that the ‘man with a feminine attribute [may] still maintain theintegrity of the gender,’ adding, however, that the ‘secondary and accidental characteristics of a genderontology’ mean the expectations placed on the historically binary parental identities of ‘mother’ or‘father’ cannot be accepted as anything beyond performative. Thus, in the same manner Mihut(Forthcoming) and Mulcahy (2007) understand an individual’s behaviour within the courtroom asperformative - theatrical even - parents (dependent on their assigned gendered role) may consciously orunconsciously perform as they believe they are expected to. Such internalised restrictions constitutesocially acceptable behaviours for their respective role constitutes, demonstrating hegemony viareproduction of parental roles. When a parent finds themselves lone parenting, however, gender rolesbecome less definable.Trans* Parenting: Following major consultation in Scotland involving 15,532 people and165 groups (Grant, 2018; though more since then), the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) may be reformedby the Scottish Parliament with the proposals supported by equalities organisations including ‘Close theGap, Engender, Equate Scotland, Rape Crisis Scotland, Scottish Women’s Aid, Women 50:50, and ZeroTolerance’ as well as ‘Scottish Trans Alliance, Equality Network, LGBT Youth Scotland, and StonewallScotland’ (Equal Recognition, 2019). As a result, ‘non-binary’ could be introduced as an additionalgender category within future census data and equality monitoring forms. However, the HolyroodCulture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee has suggested that the ‘mandatorymale-female question over biological sex should remain to protect the integrity of the data [currently]used to help determine the country’s service provision’ (Paterson, 2019). The reforms would enshrineinto law that individuals may self-identify regarding their gender (a practice already ‘in place in Scotlandsince the Equality Act 2010 came into effect’ [Duffy, 2019]), as well as changing the current systemrequiring two-years spent as their acquired gender for the Standard Track process. Legal and medicalconsent would also be reduced to one medical or legal professional approving a gender recognition form(GIRES, 2014).When many non-gender-conforming people currently experience poor mental health and a suicide rateamongst the highest of any population (Mueller et al., 2017) - another reason many become a loneparent - legal recognition and the reduction ‘minority stress’ (Meyer, 2003) represents progressivechange that will enable transgender individuals to legally identify as male, female, or non-binaryregardless of assigned gender (Sommerville, 2019).42 This may allow the ‘assumptions that we make42 Wong-Kalu (2014) chronicling that ‘[o]n nearly every continent, and for all of recorded history, thriving cultureshave recognized, revered, and integrated more than two genders. Terms such as “transgender” and “gay” arestrictly new constructs that assume three things: that there are only two sexes (male/female), as many as twosexualities (gay/straight), and only two genders (man/woman) [with] hundreds of distinct societies around theglobe have their own long-established traditions for third, fourth, fifth, or more genders’.47about whose parenting behaviours are considered “mothering” or “fathering”’ to shift away, Averett(2021) progressing from harmful stereotypes. The author, in fact, argues that this may necessitate a‘reinvigoration of theorisation about mothering and gender inequality, moving these conversations inimportant new directions that decentre heteronormative, cisnormative and nuclear family models’ torecognise the diversity of lone parent or other forms of families more authentically.Capraro (2018), however, notes that the GRA review process43 ‘has been marred by widespreadtransphobia in mainstream media and false information and myths spread via social media targeting [of]trans women in particular’, whilst non-binary people have regularly been marginalised. The proposedreforms were met with hostility from bodies such as the Christian Institute (2018) and Man Friday44(2018), social commentators (e.g. Macwhirter [2018]), and socially-conservative elected officialsConservative MP David Davies (Agerholm, 2018) and SNP MP Joan McAlpine (2019). Others resisting theproposed reforms include campaign group For Women Scotland (2019) whom activist collective SistersUncut (2019) have suggested are ‘gatekeeping [...] vital survivor services [which] harms cisgender andtransgender women alike’ (see also Richardson, 2019, and McVey, 2019).45 The Dundee Women's Rapeand Sexual Abuse Centre (2018) countered claims that the ‘discourse [...] suggests that a system ofself-declaration would be a threat to women’s safe spaces,’ stating that the ‘inclusion [of transwomen]does not in any way determine the safety of that space and that to suggest otherwise would be adisservice not only to our trans service users, but to the trans women working within our sector creatingthose safe spaces every day.’ Despite the challenges, a BBC-commissioned (2022) survey conducted bySavanta ComRes (2022) found that, from a sample of 2,038 adults in Scotland, 70% of those aged 35 orunder and 63% of all women contacted supported the reforms. Given the increased likelihood of suchsupport being needed for marginalised persons - including those of minority genders and sexualities -lone parents who are, for example, transgender or non-binary, fortunately, boast the support of manyleading feminist and equalities organisations. Davis (2021) stress this, noting that the ‘dyadic,cis-heteronormative understandings of parenthood and sex/gender […] mean that trans and non-binaryparents are unable to be adequately registered on their child’s birth certificate’.Given the high divorce rate for married transgender individuals who transition in later life (Liu andWilkinson, 2018; Bischof et al., 2016), the Scottish Government’s proposed reform may have significantimpact on intact families where one parent is transgender. Indeed, as noted by Watts et al. (2017), priorto the introduction of equal marriage legislation in countries such as Scotland, transgender individualswere required to separate from their partners if undergoing transition - therein forcing situations of loneparenthood. Lowering the legal age of transition to sixteen may increase the likelihood of genderreassignment occurring earlier in life. Given young people aged sixteen-years-old and above are already45 O’Toole (2021a) defined For Women Scotland as an ‘anti-trans pressure group”’. Much of the campaign group’sclaims are deeply outdated including claims that transitioning results in sterilisation.44 Man Friday (n.d.) are a collective of UK-based women who position themselves as ‘oppos[ing] the radicaltrans-right activist (TRA) push for self-ID’.43 These reforms, Sharpe (2018) states, would ‘make it easier for trans people to have their gender identities legallyrecognised and would have no impact on existing rights of service providers to exclude trans women fromwomen-only spaces. Under the Equality Act, all trans people covered by the protected characteristic of “genderreassignment” are protected against discrimination, subject only to specific sex-based exceptions that permitdiscrimination in the context of women-only spaces where it is “a proportionate means of achieving a legitimateaim”.’48an adult under UK law and can, under current legislation, start a family, situating the legal age oftransition in line with the age of consent seems a sound argument.Failures in Current UK Birth Legislation: Late-2018 witnessed what Jackman (2018) described as'a landmark case for transgender [parental] rights,' with the possibility that a baby would have noregistered mother for the first time. At present, the Registrar General for England and Wales dictatesthat a child must have a registered mother named on the birth certificate; however, at the time of birththe lone parent was already legally male having transitioned in circa 2016 (Farmer, 2018;Hartley-Parkinson, 2018). As noted by Glass (2018) naming the father as the 'mother' on the birthcertificate constituted a breach of human rights legislation - specifically the father's 'right to private andfamily life within Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998'. Indeed, Markham QC (2018) attests thatcurrent legislation is 'no longer compatible with the changes in society, the evolvement of freedom ofexpression and gender equality and the protection of an individual’s rights to identify as a particulargender,' adding that 'the forms utilised by the Registrar General to record parent and parent identitydiscriminate against trans and intersex parents' (O'Hara, 2018). In California ‘parent' is already an optionon birth certificates (Papenfuss, 2014).Crellin (2016) and O'Hara (2018) note that, worldwide, transitioned men have often faced challenges andindeed discrimination from medical professionals. In part this aligns with Averett (2021, p.284)observation that ‘ideologies that paint women as ‘naturally’ inhabiting the role of nurturing motherwork to obscure the ways in which motherhood is socially constructed, historically and geographicallysituated and culturally variant.’ The US registered a first transgender male birth in 2008, Thomas Beatiein Arizona (Crellin, 2016), whilst the first known births of this kind in the UK occurred in 2017 - ScottParker and Hayden Cross (Jackman, 2017). Controversially, twenty-three European nations, includingFrance, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, and Slovenia, continue to 'require [forced] sterilisation in orderfor a person to be legally recognised as trans'46 (TGEU, 2016). The UK does not currently require this.Broader Queer Parenting: Averett (2021) suggested that ‘[f]eminist theorists have longlooked to motherhood and mothering behaviour as an important site at which to examine women’slives, gender inequality and the social construction of gendered institutions,’ to the extent that queerparenting has, historically, been ignored. Many studies have operated to a ‘theorisation of [that]motherhood naturalises biological sex and therefore essentialises mothering as behaviour performed by‘“female bodies”' and fathering behaviour as performed by “male bodies’’’. For Averett (2021), thisnecessitates greater recognition and interest within the academy on ‘queer parenting – particularlyresearch on gay male co-parenting, on the experiences of transgender parents and their children, onnon-white LGBTQ parents and on mothering from outside the nuclear family. This, it is suggested ‘will beespecially fruitful in moving the de-essentialisation of mothering in new directions that will furthercontest heteronormative, cisnormative and nuclear assumptions about the family’. My research hasworked towards that shared focus, ensuring the involvement of those whom the literature and theacademy has frequently marginalised.46 As outlined by Riggs et al. (2021, p.7) ‘[h]istorically across the globe, and presently in 16 countries in Europe andCentral Asia, men, trans/masculine, and non-binary people have been required to undergo sterilization to changetheir gender markers and/or to receive gender affirming medical treatment, a requirement that continues to affecttheir reproductive decisions.’49Hines et al. (2021, p.1) emphasise that ‘[i]ssues concerning reproduction for transgender people are ofincreasing importance across social, cultural, legal, policy, and medical arenas’, noting that the‘experiences, needs and rights of men, trans/masculine, and non-binary people who become pregnant’are of particular significance in the struggle for broader reproductive rights and medical support forpregnant people.47 Though official pregnancy figures for non-cisgender people are difficult to gather,Hines et al (2021, p.1) have observed ‘a rapidly increasing trend toward visible parenthood amongsttrans populations worldwide’48. The reality, however, is that - just as cisgendered people - ‘many trans,non-binary, and gender-expansive people wish to become, or do become, pregnant in intended andunintended ways, and also have abortions, miscarriages, and births during their lives’ (ibid., p.3). Asstressed by Falck et al. (2021), data on this will only grow as countries - such as Sweden, which served asthe focus for their paper - end their ‘former legal sterility requirement[s].’Failure to fully acknowledge the diversity of parenthood, families, and - for the specific purpose of thisPhD - lone parenthood today would mean entrenching inequalities relating to ‘questions of transparenthood, reproductive rights, and bodily autonomy, addressing topics such as adoption, abortion,and the perspectives of trans women and transfeminine people’ (Hines et al., 2021, p.2).4.6 Race and Lone Parent Families:This subsection focuses on the varied experiences of lone parent families from different culturalcommunities in Scotland. The intersections between race, religion, gender, and class with loneparenthood are integral to this PhD research, if it is to understand the experiences of lone parentfamilies in north Edinburgh.In the context of post-2010 austerity, many researchers have considered the precise and oftendisproportionate impact of austerity on minority communities in Scotland, the UK, and further afield(Stephenson, 2011), often focusing on the overlapping and intersecting identities of those subjected toausterity and welfare reform on multiple fronts. Among them, Emejulu and Bassel (2017) considered thespecific experiences of minority women regarding visibility and invisibility within government policy.Despite the already disproportionate impact of recent welfare reform on working class and low-incomelone parent families, many minority populations faced additional hardship (Alston, 2018), UG (2018) andWBG (2017) position minority women at an extreme disadvantage under austerity. Indeed, the WBG(2017) notes that Conservative-led UK Government austerity has resulted in ‘black and Asian womenfacing a triple disadvantage’ based on gender, income, and ethnicity. Eddo-Lodge (2018) has sinceadvocated developing new understandings of what it means to be working class in contemporary Britain,suggesting that ‘instead of a white man in a flat cap, it’s a black woman pushing a pram.’Netto et al. (2011, p.9) found that the largest minority ethnicity population in Scotland are Pakistani,Chinese, Indian, and mixed or multiple ethnicities, observing that ‘family structures differ, with morelarge families in the Pakistani and African group.’ The 2011 Scottish census demonstrated that a majority48 Hines et al. (2021) advise that ‘246 men were recorded by Medicare as giving birth in Australia between 1 July2013 to 30 June 2020’, whilst Moseson et al., (2021) engaged with 1,694 respondents for their paper exploringpregnancy amongst gender-expansive people.47 This category is taken to include ‘[women,] men, trans/masculine, and non-binary people [as well as agenderfolk] who have conceived after beginning a social and/or medical transition’ (Hines et al., 2021, p.1).50of minority communities live in the four largest cities, though there are increasing minority populationsin East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire attributed to a growing ‘middle-class’ amongst minorityethnic groups. Netto et al. (2011, p.9), however, suggests that the number of lone parent householdswithin these communities is lower than that for the overall population in Scotland. In general, theyfound that ‘Pakistani households are less likely to be one-person and more likely to be multi-family,’suggesting distinct family types exist within the various ethnic minority communities in Scotland.Furthermore, Hay et al. (2021) advise that Roma, Gypsy, Traveller, and Show People populations are notaccurately reflected within Scottish census data and, thus, accurate information on a range of minoritypopulations is currently unavailable. Given the diverse populations in north Edinburgh, such exclusionsrepresent a further area of concern to be addressed by the investigation.4.7 Struggles Named by Participants Through an Anarchist Lens:This subsection was produced based on many of the findings within the analysis and draws on literaturecentred upon activism and agency. In the sense of anarchism permitting the creation of an acceptingleftist or socially progressive society, certain debates resurface. To take the example of gender diversityand gender nonconformity amongst lone parents, and their consistent marginalisation, with the suddenemergence of a so-called ‘gender critical’ targeting, amongst others, gender non-conforming parents,there is urgent need for radical change towards practices that encompass the true diversity of moderncommunities in Scotland and the UK more broadly.As Stryker (2008) emphasised, ‘most people have great difficulty recognizing the humanity of anotherperson if they cannot recognize that person’s gender.’ Given that multiple interviewees are gendernon-conforming, non-binary, or transgender, issues of recognition become vital to the investigation.Directly addressing the connection to colonialism and contemporary British legislation on genderrecognition, Lugones (2007; 2003), Morgensen (2011), and Mignolo (2011) note the systemic brutality ofthe British Empire who sought to ‘erase’ non-binary identities during their occupation, for example,India. Observing that the British legal system ruled ‘eunuchs [locally termed ‘hijras’] as cross-dressers,beggars and unnatural prostitutes,’ Biswas (ibid) chronicled that ‘[o]ne judge said the community was an"opprobrium upon colonial rule" [whilst another] claimed that their existence was a "reproach" to theBritish government,’ with an 1871 ruling classifying the community of identity (along with others such asthe Dalit) as a criminal underclass. The colonial powers of the British Empire sought to eradicate whatMorgensen (2011) termed ‘Indigenous possibilities’ by forcing a ‘colonial heteropatriarchy.’ Furthercondemnation from British officials portrayed this non-binary, yet long acknowledged community, as‘filth, disease, contagion and deemed them a ‘threat to colonial political authority’ (Hinchy, 2019) –echoing the most concerning language used to marginalise queer identities today.49 With just short of18% of interviewees (six participants) falling within the ‘transgender umbrella’, such gender - and with itfamilial - diversity needs to become better centred within literature on family life and to challengeharmful or outdated stereotypes. Indeed, #4 Lachlan highlighted this during his interview:49 In the US, Gilley (2006) further recognises that many Native American cultures embodied ‘ideas about gender[that] did not employ the gender-binary, bodily-sex-equals-gender view commonly found in European society.’Instances of diverse gender identities were also acknowledged throughout Eastern Europe (Chuckchi in Siberia),Africa (Mamluk in Egypt, Sekrata in Madagascar, or the Maale Ethiopian Ashtime), Asia (Napalese Metis), and inCentral and Latin America (the Guevedoche of the Dominican Republic; the Travesti in Brazil and Argentina).51‘Like, John Major, in power at the time, kept speaking of, you know, “Victorian familyvalues”, saying “that’s what’s wrong with the country; the absence of the two-parentnuclear family - the mum, dad, wee boy, girl, and the family dog’.But how does this counteraction manifest in daily life? Based on significant precedent, whencommunity-founded organisations become successful, they often face two trajectories - either becomeco-opted by the state to replace previous provision (Beck and Purcell, 2021) or state-backed services willbegin signposting those in need to the grassroots organisations rather than addressing system issuesdirectly. As O’Gorek (2020) and Jun and Lance (2020) both acknowledge, this is generally done ‘without[...] acknowledging or supporting [the local bodies’50] work.’ Just as with the community-sourced andlocally-coordinated response to the Covid-19 pandemic that took place as the fieldwork ended,significant parallels can be drawn between the US contexts the authors discuss and how lone parentfamilies have sought to navigate and survive austerity over the last decade. A series of case studies onlone parent-led and lone parent-organised groups follow this subsection.‘The actions of DC Mutual Aid Network, neighborhood groups, etc., were all undertakenwithout any demands of local authorities or hope of personal gain. People saw a need,worked together through existing networks, offered help where needed, engaged indiscussions of best practices, listened to established experts, and acted in concert withone another in the interests of all.- Jun and Lance (2020)Similarly, Kropotkin (2002, pp.136–37) proposed that the purpose is to ‘develop such relations between[individuals] that the interests of each should be the interest of all,’ enabling a collaborative approach tocommunity action and survival amidst austerity. Indeed, Spade (2020) suggests that communities are‘banding together to meet immediate survival needs, with a shared understanding that the systems inplace aren’t coming to meet us fast enough, if at all, and that we can do it together right now’, preciselythe circumstances many lone parents face under austerity. On this, Malatesta (1974, p.29) argues thatsolidarity ‘is the only environment in which [someone] can express [their] personality and achieve [their]optimum development and enjoy the greatest possible wellbeing’, whilst Goldman (1998, p.118)‘contends that individual freedom is strengthened by cooperation with other individualities [whilst] onlymutual aid and voluntary cooperation can create the basis for a free individual life.’Though the full extent of these theories of action will be explored in the Discussion chapter, these issuesmanifested numerous times. Stryker (2008) suggested that lived experience of a marginalised status‘informs commitment to feminist activism,’ adding that such an ‘overlap’ and ‘kinship’ can be fosteredamongst those divergent from the heteronormative white nuclear families as fostered through a moreaffluent and middle class ideal or norm. Just as #4 Lachlan, #5 Dee, #32 Nicky, and #26 Kim advocatedduring their interviews - this understanding can foster an allyship amongst marginalised folk. The counterto this, however, could result in individual lone parent families (or other marginalised and intersecting50 Anarchist thinkers have unfailingly rejected traditional conceptions of “human nature,” maintaining instead thatindividuals are socially-constructed and that human personality is socially produced. Bakunin (1953, pp.239), forexample, argued that ‘“the real individual”—no less than “his family, his class, his nature, [and] his race”—isconstituted by “a confluence of geographic, climatic, ethnographic, hygienic, and economic influences’ and, assuch, situating this precise in north Edinburgh, specifically, enables exploration of those factors.52identities) arriving in a situation whereby they do not feel able (mentally as much as financially orphysically) to offer their support to others though very few of the participants spoke to this exhaustion.Those that did occupied intersectional marginalised positions and spoke of a multiplicity of barriers toparticipation in wider society such as #24 Pria who described the isolation she endured after she and herchild were abandoned by her husband. As West (2019) stresses, the need to feel included emotionallyand experientially allows community members to develop a sense that ‘my voice is not disparaged’ and abelief that ‘I can feel [a] part of the group here’, creating solidarity and support networks amongst thosewith shared struggles.4.8 The Case StudiesThis final subsection of the Literature Review considers contemporary examples of lone parent activismwith or for their families and demonstrates how the above issues relate to activism. In addition torecognising actions from lone parent activists which specifically in Greater Pilton through All About Me(Campbell, 2018; NEN, 2018b), where possible, parallels are drawn from other contexts. As detailed inthe preceding subsections, lone parent families have consistently been treated as a largelyhomogeneous group, and, as such, the academy has, at times, failed to recognise the abundance ofunique lived experiences. A primary purpose of this research, then, is to illustrate the diversity of loneparent actions. These case studies, therefore, aid the reshaping understandings of lone parents from‘victim’ to socially engaged political agents.OVERVIEW OF THE EXAMPLES(i) Lone Parent Activism in Scotland:(a) All About Me, Edinburgh (AAM; 2017 - Present): As a consequence of Conservative-led UKGovernment welfare reform, specifically to Housing Benefit, many families in Greater Pilton,north Edinburgh, faced eviction from their private sector tenancies when their income could nolonger match the cost of rent (NEN, 2018) as the state chose not to continue to meet the costprivate landlords demanded for renting their properties in the absence of adequate socialhousing. As noted by the Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty (2017), neighbourhoods withinGreater Pilton have been subject to a significant reduction in social housing - by as much as 70%in Muirhouse - illustrating the sustained pressures facing families living in the northern parts ofthe capital. This shortage of state-provided accommodation is not unique to Edinburgh and isreplicated nationwide, resulting in many families (including an overrepresentation of singleparent families) being forced into the private sector in what is evidently an untenable practice(Watt, 2016).Given the popularity of local community groups - many of which cater towards parents (e.g.Dads Rock, the Pilton Community Health Project, and Stepping Stones: North Edinburgh) -awareness spread rapidly that this threat of eviction was not an isolated incident, but a crisisfacing many local residents, a significant proportion of whom are lone parents and, more oftenthan not, women (NRoS, 2015; WBG, 2017; Watt, 2016). Organising collectively and aided bysupport from the Muirhouse Millenium Centre, seasoned local activists in North Edinburgh53Fights Back, local trade unionists, and other residents, the lone parents underwent a Freireanstyle politicisation and social transformation. Recognising the relevance of the critical theoryadopted in the framework, such congregations and the sharing of skill sets, insights, ambition,and resources demonstrate hooks’ (1984) ‘multi-dimensional gatherings’ in-action.51 Those withless expertise in taking direct action or other forms of protest were still able to lend their insightsand utilise their networks to aid the actions of the affected community, and, thus, fostered acollaborative environment that the members believed could achieve their goals.Though several of the members acknowledged their limited prior political engagement, theywere able to benefit from the insights and the knowledge of others with experience in localaction. The collective identified a series of targeted demands aimed at local-, national-, andUK-level institutions. The connections they made between the personal and the political can beunderstood as this Freirean transformation, a demonstration of how conscientization occurs asthe political becomes personal (Freire, 1972). A ‘live-in’ was performed at the then-ScottishConservative Party Leader Ruth Davidson’s office, whereby a reported thirteen families occupiedthe space, bringing children’s toys, prams, and other items with them (see Images #7-8). Withtheir own homes under threat, the members were able to identify a targeted individual in aposition of power - demonstrating Alinsky’s (1971) principle of incorporating both a key focalpoint for action (the eleventh rule52), but also joy (his sixth rule53) into activism through thelive-in. This becomes all the more intriguing when noting the political growth that occurredwhen a collaboratively-produced manifesto addressing each realm of power (Edinburgh CityCouncil, Holyrood, and Westminster), issuing demands based on the remote and influence thesebodies held over the families’ lives, was published. This contrasts directly to Alinsky’s (ibid)second ‘rule’ for activism, to ‘[n]ever go outside the experience of your people [as t]he result isconfusion, fear, and retreat,’ but illustrates the capacity for increased agency over one’s own lifewhen threatened by the power others boast over us.53 ‘If your people aren't having a ball doing it, there is something very wrong with the tactic’ (Alinsky, 1971).52 ‘Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. Don't try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies.Identify a responsible individual. Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame’ (Alinsky, 1971).51 Very much embodying hooks’ (1984) ‘multi-dimensional gatherings’, Winstead (2018) emphasises that activistscan lend their time and skills to others and to support causes beyond their own primary focus. In the northEdinburgh context this would previously have related to community-based initiative such as the now defunct NorthEdinburgh Time Bank.54Image #7: Campaigners performing their ‘live-in’. Image #8: Activists protesting outside said office.(ii) Lone Parent Activism in the Rest of the UK:(a) Focus E15 Mothers, London (2013 - Present): Like AAM in north Edinburgh, when facing evictionfrom the Focus E15 Hostel (a youth homelessness shelter formed of ‘210 self-contained units’[Focus E15, 2018]) after the local council closed the site’s mother and baby unit, twenty-ninelone mothers performed their own occupation of the Carpenters Estate in Stratford, close to thesite of the Olympic Village54. The women, all aged twenty-five or under (Chakrabortty, 2014), hadrejected the East Thames Housing Association’s offers of accommodation in areas such asManchester and Birmingham (the former more than two-hundred miles from London; the latteraround one-hundred-and-twenty-five miles) as accepting these relocations would have meantlosing their existing networks of support, employment, and familiarity. Through their rejections,the families were deemed to be making themselves ‘intentionally homeless’55 and no longereligible for support from the local council. Few of the members had any form of supportnetworks in either of the proposed areas and thus faced living isolated in a new part of Englandthrough what had been recognised as a process of contemporary ‘social cleansing’ (Focus E15,2018). Rallying together to act against Newham Council, the activists first occupied the council’shomelessness centre, threw a party in a show home in a recently built apartment block, andpositioned a double-decker bus outside of the then-Mayor of London, Boris Johnson’s mayor'soffice, where they played Our House by English ska band Madness on repeat. With ‘one in 25people in the London Borough of Newham [...] homeless’ (Caritas Anchor House, 2017), themothers involved in Focus E15 were far from unique in their experience, yet their status as ayoung group of ethnically diverse lone parents (all lone mothers) makes their experience andpolitical transformation of interest and relevance to this study.Prior to the UK Government programme of austerity - implemented in this instance throughNewham Council’s cuts to Supporting People fund - staff based in the Focus E15 Hostel’s foyerunit provided support via adult learning content including basic literacy, parenting skills, andemployability sessions (Butler, 2013). That support is no longer available, with local activistsarguing that the site has been reduced to merely substandard accommodation (residents citingdamp, leaks, etc. going unaddressed [Prowse, 2014; Chakrabortty, 2014; Focus E15, 2018]), withlittle to no broader support now on offer. Many of those housed or, in the case of those loneparents, previously housed by the hostel live with poor mental health or suffer from chronicdepression (Chakrabortty, 2014), demonstrating the need for support services to be availablein-house or locally to service users. Many of the activists have discussed the stress and anxietythey experienced both living in the temporary accommodation in its substandard conditions, andwhen being asked to move many hundreds of miles for housing (Stone, 2013) - stresses similarto those that faced the members of AAM in North Edinburgh.55 Butler (2013) notes that ‘homeless people who turn down an offer of suitable accommodation, even if it ishundreds of miles away, risk losing their right to be housed, and can end up homeless again’. As a result of doingso, these people are then deemed as making themselves ‘intentionally homeless’.54 The Olympic Village was built in advance of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games (‘London 2012’) hosted by the Cityof London.55The Focus E15 activists mirror many of the ambitions held by AAM including clearly articulatingtheir demands to the local council, striving for accountability, but also exercising their ownagency and capacity for action. As of 2018, these demands included:‘No more evictions from Brimstone house until safe, suitable accommodation isfound in Newham, like Carpenters Estate;To recognise that everyone has the right to refuse accommodation outside ofthe borough without being labelled as ‘intentionally homeless’ […]; [and]Stop threats from council workers to involve social services (i.e if you madeyourself ‘intentionally homeless’ we will rehouse your children but not you).’- Focus E15 (2018)As with AAM, the majority of early actions undertaken by the Focus E15 women were entirelyindependent. Whilst Chakrabortty (2014) notes that a local communist activist collective assistedin scripting the earliest petitions, the mothers undertook increasingly radical action fromhanding out leaflets to occupying the Carpenters Estate. Broader support, both in-person andonline, came later, but examples such as the communist collective’s engagement demonstratethe same collaborative and multi-dimensional approach undertaken in North Edinburgh. hooks(1987), therefore, is already demonstrably relevant to numerous community-led initiatives ingeneral, but also these lone parent-centred forms of activism more specifically. Prowse (2014)notes that, as in previous contexts (e.g. Greater Pilton and the Glantaff Farm Estate [Campbell,2018)], the Focus E15 members’ actions ‘galvanised an entire community of activists who foughtback against local evictions of other young mothers in similar situations,’ showcasing thepoliticisation process in-action and the lone parents began to individually and collectively makeconnections between their own experiences and systemic issues such as the political choices ofimplementing austerity. Following the initial acts by Focus E15, Newham Council purchased theFocus E15 Hostel in 2016, renaming it Brimstone House, and stating that in doing so they were‘helping some of our most vulnerable residents’ (Apps, 2016).Focus E15’s campaign efforts were the subject of an extensive investigation by Watt (2016;2018); however, no other researchers appear to have engaged with the group - at least in anacademic context. Watt (2018) acknowledges the shift in approach taken by the activists fromaddressing their own forced eviction to challenging the broader treatment of marginalisedcommunities experiencing housing issues, advocating ‘social housing not social cleansing.’ Thepaper considers the significance of wishing to remain in ‘our place’ and the need for supportnetworks in the immediate lived environment. Importantly, rather than portraying the Focus E15activists as merely victims of the state, rather he celebrates the ‘inspirational young women whodo not ‘know their place’ (Watt, 2016).(b) Fathers4Justice, London (2001 - Present):Rising to prominence quickly after their founding in circa 2001 - with arguably the peak of publicinterest coming following a demonstration which involved scaling Buckingham Palace inSeptember 2004 (The Economist, 2004) - Fathers4Justice (F4J) perform high profile stunts, often56in costume, to draw attention to their campaigns against current parental legislation. Aparticular priority for the group is paternal access to children in cases of divorce where thefather is not the primary carer; therein lies their relevance to this thesis’ focus on lone parents.The organisation has often fostered controversy for the level of disruption stemming from theirpublicity stunts which, arguably, is the purpose of their activism. To date, these have includedstorming a courtroom whilst dressed as Santa Clause, scaling the Royal Courts of Justice,climbing Tower Bridge, driving a military tank towards the Royal Courts of Justice, disrupting theSnooker World Championships, interrupting the live National Lottery draw and the daytime TVshow Loose Women, a short-lived hunger strike, and damaging exhibitions in public galleries(The Economist, 2004; Mulholland, 2003; Withnall, 2016). Generally, F4J have celebrated theseactions; however, in a handful of instances where overtly negative publicity was garnered, thegroup disassociated themselves from the individual actors. Despite this drive towards disruption,in more extreme cases members have been expelled. Generally, charges against the members -often for ‘public nuisance’ - have been dropped.In contrast to the two single parent-led groups detailed above, AAM (Greater Pilton) and FocusE15 (London), F4J are a formally registered charity, though notably with a single holder anddirector - Matt O’Connor. This lack of democratic ownership perhaps highlights the consistencyin approach, at least tactically, of ascribing blame on the state and individual actors. As with theprevious examples, F4J have sought to exert political influence; though a stark difference is thatrather than articulating the changes the membership wish to see (e.g. welfare reform,construction of social housing, etc.), F4J have demanded the resignation of those they deemresponsible for the perceived inequality for paternal access. Past examples of this includeadvocating the resignation of then-Minister for Children, Margaret Hodge and throwing flourbombs at then-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair during a live-Prime Minister’s Questions (White,2004).As a result of their prolonged period of activism, F4J exists fairly extensively in academicliterature primarily through Jordan (2013; 2018); whereas AAM are only present in my ownresearch produced prior to commencing the PhD. In her initial examination of the group, Jordan(ibid.) advised that the activists sought to ‘highlight[...] the existence of “bad mothers”’ asjustification for their approach. Jordan (2013, p.83) further suggests that organisations such asF4J ‘have been characterised by some feminist academics as part of an anti-feminist “backlash,”’responding to a perceived crisis of masculinity through a problematic politics of fatherhoodaimed at (re)asserting control over women and children.’ Jordan (2018) later re-examined theorganisation, considering the father as carer and its implications for masculinities. Given theirdirect contrast to the other lone parent activist groups detailed earlier, this indicates both adistinctly gendered approach to practice, but also a culture of blame rather than a drive towardsachieving systemic change. This latter aspect is showcased through the manifestos that each ofthe former organisations produced (see AAM, 2016; and Focus E15, 2015).(iii) Single Parent Activism in the European Union:57Image #9: Members of UAWO (2012) demonstratein the streets of Athens to raise awareness of theirmarginalisation.Image #10: UAWO (2019) hosting the second BlackFeminist Workshop, running an event with CaroleBoyce Davies.The United African Women’s Organisation (Οργάνωση Ενωμένων Γυναικών Αφρικής; Greece)The United African Women’s Organisation (UAWO) are a women’s collective in Greece actively workingwithin existing political structures, but who are distinct in that these parents have largely accepted thatin their own otherness - imposed culturally - they may never be accepted as part of the Greek identity(Zaphiriou-Zarifi, 2019). Instead, since their formation in early 2005 by Loretta Macauley (born in SierraLeone), activists have focused their efforts on gaining societal acceptance for their children, a majority ofwhom were born in Greece. However, at the time of Zaphiriou-Zarifi’s (2019) research, their childrencontinued to be denied Greek citizenship - a situation increasingly common across Europe as right wingpolitics (much of it not dissimilar to F4J) continues to gain trajectory (Boatcă, 2017). Most of the womenwere known to be lone mothers.As with AAM and Focus E15, UAWO have worked to a series of collectively fostered and explicitly statedaims and objectives. As of 2018, these are:‘1. To create awareness of various issues concerning the African women and theirchildren living in Greece;2. To support and fight for the rights of especially our second generation and at all levels;3. To create mutual bonds of solidarity between Africans and our host the Greeks;4. To explore and incorporate the rich African woman heritage into the rich Greekheritage; [and]5. To work hand in hand with various social, NGOs and other Organizations that stand forjustice, non racial and friendly society for all.’- UAWO (2018a)Formed exclusively by women who had migrated to Greece from throughout Africa, members initiallycreated the UAWO as a space in which they could, Zaphiriou-Zarifi (2019) observes, exist as Africanswithout the sense of ‘otherness’ imposed on them when sharing space with the majority white Greek58population. Zaphiriou-Zarifi (2019) notes that the activists often created publicly accessible events,inviting members of the wider population to share in the spectacle of these pan-African events. This wasrecognised as simultaneously serving to educate and include white Greeks in elements of Greek-Africancultures, yet, Zaphiriou-Zarifi (2019) suggests, the spectacle may have further reinforced the women’sotherness given the distinctly non-traditional Greekness of the events. Despite the cultural exposureintended to reduce community tensions, issues remained.The group has gained international trajectory in recent years, with delegations sent to conferencesabroad including a refugee camp in Leece (Italy; UAWO, 2018c) and the European Network for People ofAfrican Decent conference in Cologne (Germany), where they participated in a series of workshops withpeer activist networks from England, the Netherlands, the US, Spain, and Belgium (UAWO, 2018d).Correspondingly, UAWO’s reputation has intensified, with US Marxist and Civil Rights activist AngelaDavis meeting several ground members, as well as those of other domestically-based women’scollectives, in Athens during March 2019 to discuss ‘the abolition of the prison industrial complex, rightsof migrant[s] and refugees [to the] the lack of support for self-organized migrant-run organizations, [and]the fight for citizenship for children born in and/or raised in Greece in migrant families’ (UAWO, 2019).Thus, the depth of the activists’ political consciousness(es) has become ever better articulated and - likeAAM and Focus E15, but in contrast to F4J - the group continues to draw upon and learn from otheractivists’ experiences as they challenge existing discourses.In addition, as with other activist collectives such as Focus E15, the forms of political literacy andengagement demonstrated by the UAWO members have extended beyond their original remit. Whilstthere remains a concern that the focus on access to Greek citizenship from those with personal historiesconnected to the African continent is too specific, and, arguably, unachievable within the currentpolitical context of rising xenophobia and hostility towards ‘the other’ (Zaphiriou-Zarifi, 2019). Suchconcerns dissipate, however, when UAWO have been seen engaging as an organisation in hooks’multi-dimensional gatherings as supporters, lending their support numerically, in terms of solidarity, andsharing their skill sets to other groups - just as has occurred via Focus E15’s street stalls. Examples of themothers lending their support include in the aftermath of Zak Kostopoulos’ murder in a homophobic actin September 2019 (UAWO, 2018b) and co-hosting the Black Feminist Skillsharing Workshop (UAWO,2018d).4.9 SummaryThis exploration of the literature has illustrated an abundance of research into lone parents’ lives,challenges, and treatment within policy. The case studies afforded an opportunity to consider how theseunderstandings manifest in-practice, showcasing a range of differences in motivation and ambitionwhich were largely distinct based on lines of gender and intended outcomes. Though the same or similarissues are no doubt present throughout Scotland, the UK, and elsewhere, the limitations of academiccoverage (e.g. Watt [2016; 2017] on Focus E15; Campbell [2018] on AAM; and Jordan [2013; 2018] onF4J) meant that the possibilities for reflections on lone parent activism and struggles for justice inconnection to the core theoretical framework outlined earlier (e.g. from Freire, Alinsky, hooks, etc) aresomewhat limited to the single researchers and the organisations themselves.59These historic - and contemporary - problematic perceptions of lone parents (particularly, lone mothers)are, as Isola et al. (2020) note, consistent across Europe. Their study of lone mothers in Finland foundthat the state believed the ‘most valuable function for lone mothers […] along with surviving monetarypoverty was raising their children as good citizens’, demonstrating sustained harmful perceptions, yet, asoutlined in the terminology subsection, gendered and even religiously-influenced categories remain.Intriguingly, this comes despite the persistence of lone parent characters across major religious texts.Alongside this, there are an abundance of pathways to lone parenthood ranging from the breakdown ofrelationships to the loss of a partner, and conscious decisions to become a lone parent, yet there are alsomany situations (incarceration, deportation, and working overseas) that create circumstantial loneparent situations. In addition, the literature has helped dismiss historical notions of employment as aroute out of poverty, whilst detailing shifts in how lone parents are accepted or excluded acrossideological spheres. Building on this understanding, the following chapter explores how themethodologies deployed were enacted to counter the victim portrays of lone parents, and afford themopportunities to make these Freirean-style connections in their own words.Amongst the core findings from this extensive literature review section were the specific (in)visibilities ofdifferent forms of lone parenthood – echoing the majority (even typified) experiences of lonemotherhood (emphasising the gendered and, frequently, racialised issues; Hirsch, 2019; WBG, 2017),often with multiple children, and the ways that this had historically intersected with precise genderedand classed identities; as well as a condensed overview of how lone parents are conceptualised by boththe state and academia. Further, it offered acknowledgment of several lesser researched ‘pathways tolone parenthood’ (Walker, 2013; Bailey, 2017) such as circumstantial lone parenthood (e.g. due to longterm illness, incarceration, or overseas employment; Ezzeldine, 2011; Taylor, 2020a) and recognition oflone parents who are not the primary carer – often male identifying parents (Weir, 2013). Overviewswere also provided of how the state’s current approach to garnering population data have createdambiguities over the number of lone parents (ONS [2017] versus OPFS [2018]), whilst a range ofquantitative investigations have demonstrated the inaccuracies of stereotypes surrounding lone parents(e.g. regarding age, with less than 2% understood to be teenagers, for example; Gingerbread, 2015).When synthesised with the qualitative research, these have emphasised the challenges that many youngparents experience with regards to accessing secure employment and long-term housing (see e.g. Carterand Coleman, 2006; and WBG, 2017), as well as the ways these factors entrench numerous forms ofpoverty (OPFS, 2018; JFR, 2018; Armstrong, 2017). As it progressed, overviews were offered ofcontemporary debates around access to parenthood and the forced sterilisation of transgender parentsor would-be parents (TGEU, 2016; Falck et al., 2021).605. MethodologiesIntroduction:‘The fieldworker is wholly and helplessly dependent on what happens... one must becontinually prepared for anything, everything—and perhaps most devastating—fornothing.’- Mead (1975, p.25)This chapter outlines the research methods including a detailed discussion of Biographical InterpretiveNarrative Method (BINM), exploring how the dialogues can answer the research questions:(i) What does it mean to be a lone parent in austerity-Scotland?;(ii) How have lone parent families in north Edinburgh sought to navigate post-2010austerity?;(iii) What capacity have lone parents in north Edinburgh had to mitigate, resist, or challengeausterity?; and(iv) What relationships and networks have been established in north Edinburgh to supportlone parent families in this age of austerity?It includes a Lone Parent Families in Greater Pilton subsection that allows for a more nuanced andlocalised approach to establishing effectiveness of the (i) Interview Method & Proposed DiscussionPoints; confirms (ii) The Interview Process; and examines the process of (iii) Creating the InterviewEnvironment in greater detail than would otherwise be possible based on the broad understandingsoffered during the Literature Review. Primarily concerned with understanding the needs of theinterviewees, ensuring adequate levels of privacy for discussions of a possibly sensitive nature, andavoiding becoming overly prescriptive with the interview questions, the following reflections draw uponexisting literature regarding BINM in-action (Ross and Moore, 2016; Jones et al., 2013; Wengraf, 2004),and acknowledges concerns around qualitative methods when conducted by insider or partial-insiderresearchers.5.1 Conceptualising the Research ProjectIn undertaking a qualitative research project, the manner in which participants will be engaged with andhow trust is fostered are central to conducting the project effectively. Though the relationship betweenresearcher and the researched-community is paramount to conducting the project, the participants’stories are the very foundation upon which any and all findings are built. Thus, it becomes necessary toestablish how notions of ‘truth’ may be understood within the experiences of some of those enduringthe most severe impacts of contemporary UK Conservative-led austerity in the UK. The project iscommitted to the BINM proposed by Ross and Moore (2016) in that it takes the individual’s experienceof a given socio-political phenomenon (austerity) as authentic and valid in shaping their lived experienceand drive towards taking actions as they deem necessary. These descriptions are taken as truthregardless of any concerns over validity or contradictions to any particular policy or welfare practices, forexample. The experiences of the respondents are taken as their truth, therefore, regardless of whetherelements within their narrative conflict or run contrary to official statements and guidelines issued by61organisations such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Job Centres, foodbanks, etc.. Truth,therefore, stems from the individual, and their experiences, insights, hardships, and any other aspects oftheir responses are taken as the true impact and ‘misery’ of austerity (Alston, 2018), rather than reportsfrom the UK Government. The Literature Review, thus, addressed numerous examples of such reports;however, in this hyperlocalised context, the lone parent participants occupy a distinct space where theirtruths become gospel for the purposes of this investigation. Stahl and King (2020, p.26) contest that, inits broadest sense, '[q]ualitative research is uniquely positioned to provide researchers withprocess-based, narrated, storied, data that is more closely related to the human experience.'An essential component across social science research, interviews frequently utilise a pre-prescribedseries of questions which respondents address in-turn. Working to break from such a hierarchical modelwhereby the researcher directs the flow of conversation, I adopted a dialogically-driven approachthrough which only a single starting point is offered - referred to as a ‘Single Question for InducingNarrative’ (SQIN) within BINM (Ross and Moore, 2016) - which serves to frame the discussion upon theresearch topic. Beyond this, the interviewee directs the discussion, taking it down whichever paths theysee fit for as long as they would like to or feel comfortable doing so, on the understanding that theresearcher may ask them to return to a topic again in the second stage of the discussion. Whilst theconversation has a particular lens, given the premise of the research, the free flow approach permits fargreater autonomy than traditional qualitative methods. There are, certainly, risks to this approach, inthat the researcher no longer occupies their traditional position of power as director of the conversationand may, therefore, face challenges in identifying commonalities across interviews. With participants,arguably, retaining authority over their own stories that would ordinarily be denied, the approach maybe considered challenging. However, the practice aligns well with the Freirean theoretical framework,given that Freire (1972) recognises the political connections and transformations that occur – in thisinstance, via their everyday actions and experiences as lone parents.‘Truth’ In & Out of Context:An increasingly common critique of institutionally-based researchers conducting hyperlocal researchconcerns whether the intervention that occurs when inserting the researcher into a given context merelyreproduces colonialist approaches to understanding an issue - in essence, shining a light on topics thatshape the everyday lives of the researched-community that were previously unknown to the academybut a reality for the participants. Generally framed as ‘understudied topics’, the justification forconducting many past and contemporary research projects stems from an often well-placed intention tobring marginalised issues into more mainstream and institutionally-managed conversations (TuhiwaiSmith (2012), however, concerns are raised on multiple fronts such as the relationships (or lack of)between the researcher and the researched-community, including what happens when theseconversations are removed from the contexts in which they occurred. The community profile was, thus,intended to ground the research, whilst my own relationships to the area and its communities - asdetailed from the professional, academic, and personal perspectives - served to demonstrate how Ioccupy a unique position from which to undertake the project whilst still embedding local knowledge,experiences, and politics into the final output. My insider, or partial-insider, position and understandingof local issues through these forms of life experience afforded me a privileged position that others would62not have access to, whilst the profile offered the reader an immersive overview of the area asdemonstrated through existing qualitative and quantitative data sets.With the core focus of this thesis centred on identifying a ‘truth’ to the experience of lone parentfamilies in north Edinburgh as a consequence of austerity, questions regarding the stripping away ofcontext are addressed thanks to these direct relationships and the community profiles. Prior toundertaking this research, I was already known to many within the local community through a sharedlived experience of the area, through comradery with other members of anti-austerity campaigns, andthrough my community-based practice. Such shared aspects to our identities offered opportunities tocollaboratively explore intimate insider issues beyond merely theoretical components. However, risksalso inherently arise when the researcher asks people with whom they share their lived community toreveal intimate aspects of their personal struggles and share information about themselves which were,as yet, largely unknown - perhaps even by these immediate neighbours. Thus, it became essential torecognise the challenges this brought and to justify why the selected primary research method of BINMwas prioritised. Indeed, several other approaches have informed or influenced the selected approach,among them Neutralisation Theory and Small Stories, both of which are detailed briefly below.(i) Neutralisation Theory: Primarily stemming from criminological studies, Wortley (1986, p.254) advisesthat ‘neutralization theory, [as] advanced by Sykes and Matza (1957), contends that offenders are notmorally committed to their crimes, and generally share the values and legal proscriptions of the widercommunity.’ This came in response to historical depictions whereby those outside a minority populationwere seen as deviants, diverging from expected social or behavioural norms as depicted by society ortheir immediate social groups (see e.g. Cohen, 1955; and Sykes and Matza, 1957). This concept, Wortley(1986, p.255) explains, permits the ‘offender [...] to periodically “drift” from conventional morality byinvoking a variety of excuses prior to acting illegally, which serve to portray [their] behaviour asessentially non-criminal and an exception to the usual rule.’ This was an overview questioned, in part, byThurman (1984) who suggested that perpetrators generally maintain a knowledge of expected moralstandards in their given social context regardless of the misconceptions other groups may have of them.In this context, the misconceptions concern lone parent families and, within this doctoral research, thetheory could also be applicable to how others might judge the behaviours necessary for survival in aharsh context such as austerity. There are, thus, instances of morally questionable behaviours (e.g. lying,theft, off-the-books work, etc.), though it is a useful framework through which to temper any suggestedreasons participants became lone parents when issues often associated with divorce and child custody(i.e. blame, manipulation, or other overtly negative characteristics) are raised solely in relation to theformer partner and the separation process. Regardless, under the BINM approach, the participants’responses are to be taken as valid and recorded for precisely what it shared (Ross and Moore, 2016),dispelling with historic judgements and prejudices.(ii) Small Stories: Proposed by Bamberg and Georgakopoulou (2008, p. 377) as ‘antidote to canonicalnarrative studies,’ small stories propose that brief narratives can provide vital insight into the identity ofan interview participant. Together, Bamberg and Georgakopoulou (ibid.) co-formulated a five-step modeldesigned to aid the researcher in ‘navigating between the two extreme ends of fine-grained microanalysis and macro accounts.’ The small story approach - understood as ‘the [stories] we tell in passing,in our everyday encounters with each other’, Bamberg (ibid., p.2) states, ‘theoretically andmethodologically enrich traditional narrative inquiry — not in a peaceful, complementary fashion, but by63more radically re-positioning big story approaches as grounded in dialogical/discursive approaches suchas small story research.’ In this sense, the subtleties and intimate details provided by researchparticipants within interviews centred on specific moments or events are acknowledged as key tocollectively establishing new understandings of a topic - those emergent ‘big stories.’ These can, thus,contribute to the efforts to reshape contemporary understandings of lone parent families conducted andcould be considered a key component of the BINM approach.(iii) Further Considerations: Whilst transcripts provide evidence of specific direct quotes frominterview participants, Bamber (ibid.) has emphasised that the ‘transformation of bodily interactions intowritten texts is an issue of theoretical and methodological importance’ in that additional details ofsignificance during the physical interview process can provide vital additional insight. As centred above,this includes aspects such as the trust (or lack of) between participant and researcher but also comfortwithin the interview environment, tone of voice, and factors such as the speed or flow with which astory is told. This, Freeman (2017) suggests, results in a ‘narrowness of the dialogical situation’ with anembodied, emotional, and real-world process reduced only to what was said and ignoring the diversityof other factors. Yet, whilst much of what Bamberg (2004) suggests is correct, his solution that a ‘newpass at a new transcript [be] backed up with the real visual images [so as to] keep a close eye on thestrategies employed by all participants (including the moderator)’ is problematic on a number of fronts.Were these to be included, it puts the anonymity of the participants at risk, and, if acted upon during theinterview, it may also draw unwanted attention to the interview processes, putting the participant in astate of unease, or discomfort, and risks them feeling outed by becoming a public spectacle in what wasintended to be a participant-identified safe space in their local community.In addition, whilst many incredible stories were shared during the interviews undertaken for this PhD,Bamberg’s (2004, p.3) suggestion that participant responses are ‘only [made] possible against the socialmatrix of known or imagined possible life narratives’ is essential to understand. This is because theresponses offered during the discussions are presented specifically in response to the question of ‘[w]hatis it like to be a lone parent family in north Edinburgh during these “hard times”?’ Had the openingquestion been framed differently, centring perhaps on the opportunities this family type presents incontemporary society or asking about the stigmas lone parent families face, the answers may have takena very direct turn to a different route, therein radically altering what would be presented. Certainly, ‘thedegree of trust one has in the person telling the tale has much to do with the degree of trust attributedto the telling’ (Stahl and King, 2020, p.26); yet, the validation BINM seeks to afford research participantscould be claimed as more committed to expressing individual truths in the sense that the respondentdirects the entire discussion rather than a pre-prescribed series of questions pushing conversation inunnatural, but expected, directions.That is not to claim that the analysis process is more straightforward, as Bamberg (2004, p.3) notes that‘[s]electing episodes for the purpose of commenting and reflecting back on aspects of a lived life [...]requires the ability to cull these stories and bracket them out of the original social settings in which theyhave been socially shared.’ In part, this can be addressed through the dual community profiles offered incontext setting and the retrospective bias placing of participants’ experiences under the samesubheadings. Bamberg (2004, p.3) does, however, add that ‘the subject that is created in thesesocio-cultural practices is a reflective subject [...] that is able to step back, choose from all those that aretellable episodes, and organize them into some form of an overarching theme that gives (more or less)64coherence.’ The five subheadings (political, social, economic, artists, and connections) attempt to doprecisely that.5.2 Interview Method & Key Discussion Points:Inspired by Ross and Moore’s (2016, p.253) proposed qualitative interview method of BINM - a processwhereby the researcher aims to ‘elicit and interpret narratives for qualitative analysis and evaluation; toexcavate historically situated subjectivity and to compare “the lived life” and the “told story” by focusingon discrepancies between self-understanding and behaviour - this dialogical method was selected for theresearch process. I chose to utilise four thematic discussion points rather than an extensive series of setinterview questions, as would be required for many other qualitative methods. This, I believed, wouldaccord greater freedom to the participants dialogically, and centre it within a broader Freirean approach.Describing the benefits of the BINM, the authors advised that the method ‘exposes a raw subjectivity in[...] agency and motivation which may not be fully invoked in traditional interview approaches [...]allow[ing for] the articulation of wider social relationships’ (Ross and Moore, 2016, p.450). This createswhat Tedder and Biesta (2008) term the ‘vulnerable self.’ Suggesting that ‘a narrative approach is neededin order to reflect the contradictions and nuances of human motivations and experience,’ Ross and More(2016, p.253) stress that ‘[w]ithout this sensitivity, the story and, therefore, the analysis are incomplete’and devoid of context. Had the doctoral research investigated a wider environment (e.g. across thewhole of Edinburgh), much of this subtlety may have been lost. Utilising biographical research methodsand specifically BINM should, Chamberlayne and King (2000) suggest, allow the research participantsspace to reflect upon and explore their lived experience under post-2010 austerity without coercion viare-enforced hierarchical power dynamics.The BINM process, Ross and Moore (2016, p.253) advise, traditionally involves a three-part-process ofopening the interview with a single thematic point, the SQIN, to which the researcher actively listenswithout interrupting this initial response. This may last just a few moments or require minimal promptsto encourage conversation, but, in other instances, can last for easily fifteen to twenty minutes (asdemonstrated during the fieldwork given the range of periods of time different participants spoke forinitially). When this flow dies down, the researcher follows up with a series of identified key points fromduring that initial uninterrupted response, with the researcher then ‘cu[ing] the respondent back toparts of the overall story that are clearly evocative’ (Ross and Moore, 2016, p.253). Described as‘Particular Incident Narrative[s]’ (PINs), these subsequent points prompt the interviewee to focus onspecific, incidents, or feelings which the researcher believes to be significant, though the respondentmay or may not wish to further explore these further. When that is the case, the participant is, onceagain, able to exert their power within the democratised interview process by choosing whether to sharemore details or reiterate what was already stated. The final stage of the interview involves more specificquestions, where the interview may move to a more semi-structured format of thematic prompts. Thiswould enable the researcher to address any final desired points. The semi-structured stage aligns theresearch method more closely to dialogical forms of oral history (Portelli, 1997); however, the openingSQIN ensures that the interview process is non-prescriptive and limits risk of the researcher directing theinterviewee towards responses they may believe the researcher wishes to hear based on pre-planned -and, in many instances, pre-shared - questions.65On this, Portelli (1981, p.100) argues that ‘[t]he significance of oral testimony may lie in its divergencefrom facts, where imagination, symbolism, [and] desire break in.’ Given that the research interests lie inunderstanding the ways in which lone parent families have experienced and, at times, resisted post-2010austerity, providing this open space for monologued oral histories from the interviewees may permitsTedder and Biesta’s (2008) ‘vulnerable self’ to emerge naturally during the course of the conservations.Thus, by offering a condensed single-session version of BINM: an initial platform is offered forexpression; the researcher then follows-up by responding directly to elements identified by theinterviewee; with the option to close with a more traditional semi-structured interview if of benefit toparticipants less comfortable with the free form approach. This, therefore, creates a methodologicallypluralistic and non-prescriptive process that produces an authentic and non-coerced narrative.Within this research, such authenticity is achieved through what Holtet (2019) termed ‘inddragelse’ - aDanish research practice whereby research interviews are participant-led - thereby avoiding recreatinghistorically ‘unethical, individualistic practice of research that [...] often rewards researchers for tellinghalf-truths or downright lies, that misrepresented [the participants’] world, and that gave authorityabout [the researched-community] to academic researchers’ (Tuhiwai Smith, 2012, p.xi). As such, theBINM -style approach allows ‘free range to the individual and idiosyncratic voice of the contributors [inthis case, the participants] within the bounds of [the] negotiated theoretical scope, rather than riskingthe kinds of compromise and “ironing out''’ that, Giroux et al. (1996, p.vii) suggest, ‘sometimes attend[s]collaborative authorship [when] predicated on a quest for “univocality.”’ hooks (1984, p.NO) similarlyargued that ‘[c]onservative discussions of censorship in contemporary university settings often suggestthat the absence of constructive dialogue, enforced silencing, takes place as a by-product of progressiveefforts to question canonical knowledge, critique relations of domination, or subvert bourgeois classbiases,’ arguing that, as a consequence, ‘[t]here is little or no discussion of the way in which the attitudesand values of those from materially privileged classes are imposed upon everyone via biased pedagogicalstrategies.’Post-interview, a three-track analysis usually occurs with (i) Biographical Data Analysis (‘how the personexperienced something at that point in their life course – their biographical story’); (ii) Subjective PhaseHypothesis (‘why the respondent thinks things happened as they have’); and (iii) Thematic Field Analysis(‘the feeling and telling of the told story’) each addressed in turn (Ross and Moore, 2016; Corbally andO'Neill, 2014; Jones, 2017). This process, the various authors suggest, would traditionally be conductedby a panel, however, whilst I have engaged in discussions with the supervisory team, the supervisorswere not involved during transcript analysis. This variation on the multi-session BINM model pushes thegiven researcher to ensure each interview is effectively reflected upon and that themes are identified ina manner which authentically reflects the experience of the lone parent participants consistently andthat can withstand academic scrutiny without betraying that trust.Utilising the condensed version of BINM, after ensuring that the interviewee is aware of the format ofthe interview, consents to be audio-recorded, and signs a participation agreement, the interviewscommenced with the SQIN. Leading with “tell me what your life has been like as a lone parent family…”,the interviewees were encouraged to talk to the question for as long as they felt comfortable, with onlyminor prompts of encouragement to continue to share their stories. No questions were asked at thisstage, nor did I push the respondents to go further into any topic that they did not voluntarily divulge. Asrecommended by Ross and Moore (2016), I prepared follow-up prompts that then guided the66interviewees back towards topics that they mentioned during their monologue. Again, at this stage noset questions were asked to ensure that my own social and political standpoints did not influence orpressure the participants towards particular answers. Once a handful of subjects had been revisited, itwas only at the final stage that I could ask the pre-prepared points on the three themes of “what does itmean to you, to be a lone parent family here [in north Edinburgh]?” (designed to prompt discussion ofsocial networks and support mechanisms where this had not come up already); “have these ‘hard times’impacted you and your family?” (establishing the specific circumstances arising out of the economic andwelfare reform); and finally “did you feel positioned to challenge the circumstances you experienced?”(addressing forms of mitigation, active citizenship and acts of protest, as well as barriers to and capacityfor resistance).5.3 Creating the Interview Environment:Given the central demographic of this PhD project, duties of care and employment commitments areamongst the factors which had to be accounted for when proposing participation during the fieldwork.MacDonald and Greggans (2008, p.3124) advise that ‘[c]reating a safe environment is essential forqualitative research,’ believing that ‘[p]articipants are more likely to open up and communicate if theyfeel safe, comfortable and relaxed’ - all key components in facilitating sincere dialogue. Fundamentally,participation in research projects such as these must come at the absolute minimal detriment to thelone parents and their families, occurring at times and in locations which best suit the interviewees. Abrief in-person, email, phone, or social media discussion with prospective interviewees made it possibleto gauge their work commitments, however, accounting for the potential status of sole care provider forone or more children held by many lone parents, the preparation stage also required addressing thepossible presence of young children during some of the interviews - particularly those with primarycarers. On this, Kisker and Ross’ (1997) found that, in the US, ‘[m]ore than half of the children in familiessupported by welfare are under age six, and another third are in grade school,’ advising of the challengesmany parents face in identifying appropriate care providers. They further state that ‘[m]any [parents]require care for infants and toddlers, care at odd hours, and care in poor neighborhoods - all of whichare scarce’ in order to participate in many other facets of life (e.g. employment, socialisation, and - in ourcase - to participate in research). Furthermore, Sandstrom and Chaudry (2012) emphasise the challengesmany parents with limited English language proficiency face in accessing such childcare facilities, addingthat many face barriers in identifying appropriate care for children with additional support needs.The demographic information for north Edinburgh outlined that lone parent families constitute circa9.9% of all households in Edinburgh North and Leith and roughly 7.7% in Edinburgh West (NRoS, 2012) -north Edinburgh cutting across the two UK parliamentary constituencies. Carlin (2017) suggests thatsome neighbourhoods in north Edinburgh, including Pilton, feature as many as 17% lone parent familiesamongst all family types. In an area that also boasts a very young population, with around 25% of allresidents estimated to be aged sixteen or under (according to the latest demographic data available atthe time of writing;56 NRoS, 2012), a significant proportion of lone parent families are likely to containseveral dependent children. Further evidence from the 2011 Scottish Census (NRoS, 2012) and the AreaProfiles (CEC, 2016; NRoS, 2015) suggest that an above average number of these lone parent families arelikely to be from within minority ethnic or minority religious communities, an issue intimately connected56 The 2021 Scottish census was postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.67to the frequency of lower overall incomes for many minority communities (Cheshire, 2007; Corlett, 2017;and Scottish Government, 2019). North Edinburgh, however, also boasts an above average percentage oflone parent families to the comparatively lower cost of living in an area of multiple deprivationcompared to the rest of the city (Tunstall et al., 2013). Platt (2007) and Clark and Drinkwater (2007) areamong those to have described this, in part, as the result of an ‘ethnic penalty,’ whereby ‘ethnicminorities are on average 40 per cent more likely than white UK people to be in income poverty’ (Garnerand Bhattacharyya, 2011, p.9). In addition, around 15.4% of households in Edinburgh North and Leithuse a language other than English at home, with the 8.1% of households in Edinburgh West doing so -still more than double that 3.9% average throughout Scotland. This correlates to 18.1% of residents inEdinburgh North and Leith and 8.3% in Edinburgh West who were born outside of the UK or the Republicof Ireland, respectively, compared to 6.6% nationally (NRoS, 2012).Accounting for the possible sole carer status of some lone parents, a number of situations wereenvisioned whereby I worked to ensure adequate provision was in place for scenarios in which eitheryoung children were present or the interviewee would like support in caring for their dependent(s). Laing(1971) as well as Uphold and Strickland (1989) suggest that having family members present influencesthe capacity for disclosure of sensitive information, and indeed advise that members of the family mayinternalise the witnessed actions or responses of others. This, however, risks long-term negativeinfluence resulting from the interview process if challenging or sensitive topics are broached. Duncan etal. (2009), and Gardner and Randall (2012) further warn that research participants may be concernedabout relatives hearing their responses; however, limited reflection has been given to the precise risks ofchildren overhearing their parent(s) or guardians describing hardships. That Taylor (2008) found ‘[o]nlyone in three social housing tenants is in full-time employment’ - again, an increased likelihood of suchdomestic situations given the geographical context or this research and the targeted community of loneparents - suggests that many of those meeting the eligibility criteria for a research project, such as thisthesis, may ordinarily need to have their children present by default based on financial reasons. I,therefore, endeavoured to minimise risk of harm and distraction to the participants. The following points(a-c) outline how several alternative options were considered:(a) Family Support: It was possible that some participants prefer to leave their child or children witha friend or relative. Bryson et al. (2012, p.2) describe this as 'informal childcare,' suggesting thatthe term encompasses 'childcare provided by non-parental family and friends (e.g. bygrandparents or older siblings), and childcare provided by unregistered childminders,unregistered nannies or babysitters' (see also Baydar and Brooks-Gunn, 1998; Blau and Currie,2004; Dench and Ogg, 2002; Wheelock and Jones, 2002). Their investigation found that, in 2008,circa ‘30 per cent of children under the age of 15, had been looked after by an ‘“informal”childcare provider,’ observing that, more often than not, this care was provided by older siblings.Much of the need for accessing informal childcare stems from the ‘shortcomings of formalchildcare available to parents: including cost and affordability; availability; opening hours; andcatering for special needs’ (Bryson et al., 2012, p.7). Understanding this issue is replicatedthroughout the UK, Garner and Bhattacharyya (2011, p.4) suggest that ‘having well functioningsocial networks [...] counteracts the benefits of moving away to access employment, andencourages a culture in which mobility beyond a certain point is seen as either too expensiveand/or generating more problems than would be solved [e.g.] accessing childcare, friends andfamily, local organisations.’ This was the most affordable option for my own research, though the68research budget provided by the Macqueen Scholarship enabled me to offer to cover the costsof childcare for some of the participants where social support networks were not a viableoption; though in many instances additional care was not necessary as the discussions tookplace whilst the children were at school.(b) Childminder: Perhaps the costliest option for the research, hiring a childminder (selected by theinterviewee) was an alternative option. The Julie-Ann Macqueen Scholarship provided a £750research costs grant (UoE, 2019), and it was assumed that the majority of this would beallocated to fieldwork costs during the second year of the PhD. An online search indicated thatchildcare costs in Edinburgh are extremely high, with Bradley (2017) noting that a month ofplacing a child into nursery can cost as much as ‘43 per cent of the average Edinburgh take homesalary.’ The EEN also (2012) indicated that childcare costs in Edinburgh were amongst the highestin Europe, advising that ‘families on low incomes [...] simply [d]on’t earn enough to cover theirchildcare bill as well as living costs.’ Harding et al. (2017, p.9) reported that, whilst ‘Scotlandoffers 600 hours [free childcare] a year, which is equivalent to 12.5 hours per week over 48weeks,’ with weekly childcare costs (taken to mean 25 hours per week) averaged out at £111.37per week for under two-year-olds in a nursery, and £106.16 per week for children aged two yearsold or over. The same report placed after-school care with a childminder at £62.22 per week or£55.71 for after school clubs (ibid.). A further caveat here, however, given that the six-hundredhours free childcare entitlement only applies ‘for two year olds from families claiming certainbenefits, or who are looked after by the local authority’ (ibid.). In circumstances where a relativedoes not live locally, is unavailable, or the lone parent would not be comfortable leaving theirchildren with a relative, a childminder was identified as an appropriate alternative.(c) Community Activity: Finally, it was also possible to arrange the interview at a time when thewould-be participants’ children were at social activities (e.g. sports or art groups). The NorthEdinburgh Arts Centre, local community centres (e.g. the Muirhouse Millennium Centre, theDrylaw Neighbourhood Centre, and the Royston Wardieburn Community Centre), and localsports groups such as the Spartans Community Football Academy offer regular activities, manyof which last between one- and two-hours (SCFA, 2019; MMC, 2018; DNC, 2018; and RWCC,2019). Noting that research from, amongst others, Vandermeerschen and Scheerdera (2017) andCollins and Kay (2004) suggest children in areas of multiple deprivation do not participate in therecommended weekly amount of physical activity, understanding the emotional, physical, social,and mental benefits of physical activity (Molnar et al., 2004; and Tanha et al., 2011) - as well asthe practicality of using this time alone with the lone parent participant - offering to pay thesessional fee for a class or training session was considered a positive offering. This option wouldalso have been significantly cheaper than accessing formal childcare provision.The unexpected intimacy I described in my first publication to come out of this doctoral research(Campbell, 2021) addressed the shift that occurred between myself and the participants as we wereexposed to each other's home environments due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Participants’homes have been a setting which had actively been de-emphasised when negotiating where in-personinterviews would take place. That intimacy article re-iterated concerns over who would be withinearshot when sensitive topics were raised (even more so when homeschooling become commonplace),but practitioner lone parents, such as #3 Lindsay, who remained in-post, were frequently tasked with69offering over-the-phone support to their service users, risking breaches in confidentiality whenflatmates, family members, or others might be present. As such, following brief initial exchanges, it wasagreed that home environments were suitable for a majority of the latter stage interviews.5.4 Ethical Issues:Within the University of Edinburgh, the School of Social and Political Science (SSPS; 2015) state that‘good ethical practice is a cornerstone of all our research,’ emphasising that it demonstrates ‘a mark ofour commitment to professionalism, including our care for our research participants, our colleagues,collaborators, and research partners, as well as the data produced in our research.’ As outlined in theintroduction, this PhD occurs within the SSPS and, consequently, the ethical considerations containedwithin the school website form the central component of this subsection. Once ethical approval wasgained, two pilot interviews were conducted to ensure that the interview process ran smoothly and thatthere was minimal ambiguity within the questions whilst remaining true to the BINM approach detailedby Ross and Moore (2016).‘While some participants in sociological research may find the experience a positive andwelcome one, for others, the experience may be disturbing. Even if not exposed toharm, those studied may feel wronged by aspects of the research process. This can beparticularly so if they perceive apparent intrusions into their private and personalworlds, or where research gives rise to false hopes, uncalled for self-knowledge, orunnecessary anxiety.’- British Sociological Association (1999)(a) Ethics Approval Considerations:Applications to the SSPS Research Ethics Committee at the University of Edinburgh are reviewed basedon five key factors:- ‘The level of risk, or potential for harm, to the researcher.’ (p.2)- ‘The level or risk, or potential for harm, to the research subjects.’ (pp.2-3)- ‘The sensitivity of the topic being investigated and the information being sought.’ (p.3)- ‘Whether the project is engaging with people who may be considered to be particularlyvulnerable.’ (p.3); and- ‘The capacity of the potential research subjects to freely give their informed consent toparticipate in the research process.’ (p.3)This subsection demonstrates how the research takes each into account and addresses these specificpoints.(i) ‘The level of risk, or potential for harm, to the researcher.’: Advising that 'most researchprojects carry little risk' (p.2), the SSPS guidelines stress the significance of considering the positionalityand, indeed, safety of the researcher during the project. A 'difficult' situation envisioned whilstconducting fieldwork was that some of the research participants may be known to the researcher. Assuch, existing relationships had to be considered via a detailed process of reflexivity and positionality.70Any notions of physical danger, it was imagined, would come only through entering into private orisolated spaces with people who were previously unknown to the researcher. All research interviewswere intended to take place in public spaces such as the North Edinburgh Arts Centre or the cafe area ateither of the two local Morrisons Supermarkets - spaces that the prospective participants had identifiedas safe locations. Covid-19, however, became a significant risk to the research process with physicalproximity recognised as a major factor in spread of the infection.(ii) ‘The level or risk, or potential for harm, to the research subjects.’: Though acknowledging theunlikelihood of risk of any physical harm involved in a majority of social science research projects, theSSPS guidelines prompt reflection on the potential 'social, legal or psychological harm[s]' that may occuras a consequence of engaging in research. Issues envisioned within this element of the project weretwofold. Firstly, as the project considers the impact of austerity on lone parent families in the northEdinburgh areas being asked to recount the impact welfare reform has had or continues to have on one'sown family may cause some distress. To combat this, participants were reminded regularly of their rightto withdraw from the project at any time, and I was cautious not to pressure the respondents on topicsthat appeared to be invoking a particularly distressing emotional reaction, ensuring to receive verbalconsent to continue discussing challenging or sensitive topics. In addition, the participant consent formprovided to all interviewees contained a list of external support available by topics including CitizensAdvice Bureau57 for financial or housing advice, Samaritans58 for mental health concerns, and WomenSupporting Women59 for a local gender-based form of aid.60The second issue, however, was that acts of resistance undertaken may hint towards or explicitlydescribe actions which may be illegal (Olah, 2019). The research required reflection on action (past,present, and potentially forthcoming). Any notion of future action in particular creates ethical issues ifthere are hints towards illegal activity (e.g. further occupations, vandalism, etc.). This dimension of theresearch was a risk given that, even where responses are anonymised, participants could be more easilyidentified than in regional, nationwide, or international data sets; however, participants were madeaware that their identities would be protected to the best of my abilities. Thus, to be sincere to theapproach, the researcher should not pass judgement on the actions, or indeed the inaction, of theresearch participants. As noted in the chapter on reflexivity and positionality, my own experience as aworker, community activist, and local resident in the north Edinburgh area had to be recognised toaddress any potential impact on how the discussions proceeded. Questioning the responses of researchparticipants for further detail or clarity was to be desired, however, at no point were the participants tobe made to feel judged for their actions, decisions regarding their family, or how they have experiencedpost-2010 austerity. Banks (2012, p.177) suggests that professionals involved in social work are60 Edinburgh Crisis Centre, Penumbra, EdSpace (managed by Health in Mind), LGBT Health & Wellbeing, ScottishAssociation for Mental Health, and Saheliya.59 Part of Pilton Community Health Project, Women Supporting Women is ‘a local women's project with a choice ofsupport services including one to one sessions, groups, monthly drop-ins and Peep sessions’, and ‘offer a safe,confidential, flexible service for women who are experiencing isolation, anxiety, emotional or mental health issues,abuse, violence, relationship and family difficulties’ (PCHP, 2019).58 Samaritans (2019) are a charity ‘dedicated to reducing feelings of isolation and disconnection that can lead tosuicide’.57 Citizens Advice (2019) are a ‘network of independent charities offer[ing] confidential advice online, over thephone, and in person, for free’.71‘influenced and circumscribed by societal norms, public opinion[, and] the law,’ yet, the ambition in thisresearch was to sincerely recognise and communicate the participants’ authentic selves.(iii) ‘The sensitivity of the topic being investigated and the information being sought.’: Relatingdirectly to the aforementioned distress austerity as a research topic can cause for some participants,'sensitivity' concerns both the emotional dimension and tact required, as well as the danger ofmalpractice with particular data collected. Potentially sensitive data collected covers gender identity,sexual orientation, religion, country of origin, the reason the participants found themselves in a loneparent family, and the austerity-related activities the individual has been involved in post-2010.Particular elements (e.g. gender identity, country of origin, sexual orientation, and religion) can beanonymised by the participant themselves and therein only identifiable if the participant indicates theirstatus during the discussion; however, many of the dialogues were explicit. The other factors, such asany specific activities the individual has been involved in post-austerity, however, risked revealing someparticipants due to their shared experiences in anti-austerity activities or other communal activities innorth Edinburgh.As far as possible, therefore, mirroring the Equality Network (Walker, 2013, p.5.) in their Pathways toLGBT Parenting guide, this thesis sought to provide ‘space and respect to [the] many beautiful stories ofcourage, of liberation, and of love.’ Thus, despite the challenging nature of the information garnered, Iendeavoured to remain as true as possible to the shared stories without betraying the trust placed in meas a researcher. This was particularly true for the groups marginalised within past research into and onthe lives of lone parents and has included queer lone parents; as Walkers noted, ‘all too often the storiesof LGBTI parents are not fully told’ - a situation mirrored across many other marginalised groups.Hubbard et. al. (2001, p.125) recognised this issue, stressing that ‘whilst we [as the researcher] areinterpreting the data, we should acknowledge that the respondent’s account is, ‘shrouded inemotionality’ and will be ambiguous and contradictory’ - echoing Ross and Moore’s (2016) emphasis onthe need to accept the participants’ stated lived experiences as their authentic truth.(iv) ‘Whether the project is engaging with people who may be considered to be particularlyvulnerable.’: The extent to which research participants were subject to or actively resisted the UKGovernment's austerity programme, in part, dictated how vulnerable some people were during theresearch process. Other concerns related to sensitivity regarding residency status, learning disabilities,and linguistic barriers. Whilst children were not participants in the interviews, given that lone parentswere participating, there existed a likelihood that children would be present. As noted, whenconsidering the research environment, their presence could have influenced the responses someparticipants felt able to provide whilst their families could hear their answers. Physical disabilities weresought not to be a barrier to participation as the venues selected for conducting the interview weredirected by the interviewees and, thus, would be accessible for any given need (e.g. street-level accessfor wheelchair users). Where the participants had mobility issues or severe anxiety when entering publicspaces, amendments were to be allowed so that, if absolutely necessary, I would visit the participant intheir own home. Again, this changed based on the sudden urgency around Covid-19.(v) ‘The capacity of the potential research subjects to freely give their informed consent toparticipate in the research process.’ (p.3): Regarding the ability of interviewees to agree to participatebased on their ‘informed consent’ (p.3), all research participants chose to engage on a voluntary basis.72Efforts to recruit interviewees occurred through contacting public and Third Sector organisations basedin north Edinburgh, from posters positioned in public spaces or posted to Facebook and Twitter, and viaword-of-mouth referrals between local residents, workers, or the interviewees themselves. All forms ofcalls for participants contained a project brief, an explanation of what becoming involved entailed for anywould-be participants, and contact details for myself. Participants were asked to sign a consent form (aprinted copy), whilst a second version was handed to the interviewee to keep for their personal records.The form explained the potential uses of the data gathered during the interview, whilst I also confirmedverbally once the audio recordings began that the interviewee was providing their full consent toparticipate in the research. Where English was not the native language of research participants, asappropriate, a professionally translated version of the consent form was to be supplied to the researchparticipant and supporting services contacted.5.5. Analytical ApproachAnalysis of the fieldwork occurs through a Freirean approach, predicated on generative themes(understood via Peckham [2003, p.231] as ‘a theme that elicits interest from participants because it isdrawn from their lives’ rather than imposed externally based exclusively on the literature reviewed.Commonalities across the thirty-four transcripts were identified via a process of codification inspiredby Kirkwood and Kirkwood’s (2011) step-by-step guide developed in grounding Freire’s (1972)ambition to fostering meaningful approaches to taking social justice action for and with communitiesof practice. In Kirkwood and Kirkwood’s (2011) case this was intended as a means for developingeducational curricula for adult learners, yet, the premise remains consistent across a range of researchand practice contexts given the ultimate focus remains on developing new knowledge andunderstanding rooted in participants’ lived experiences.The process required identification of consistencies across the diverse stories garnered during theinterviews, thus, by repeatedly listening back through the audio recordings to gauge emphasise,demeanour, and emotion – aspects that less readily render themselves tangible when exclusivelyre-reading verbatim transcripts – become increasingly visible through the identification ofcommonalities across their different intersections. Colour codification was conducted in the firstinstance, initially identifying elements that aligns with the themes explored during the LiteratureReview. These quotes related to number diverse – but similar - experiences of marginalisation,generating clustered of quotes concerning the relationship struggles experienced by non-primarycarers, or queer lone parents finding their own communities of trust. For example, the latter stagetheorisation communicated in the Literature Review of the lone parent participants’ direct action formutual aid aligned with the commentary from Kropotkin (2002, pp.136–37) that the purpose of thissupport should be to ‘develop such relations between [individuals] that the interests of each shouldbe the interest of all’ was identified as directly aligning with #5 Dee’s talk of her financial strugglesaround childcare leading her to co-establish a mutual aid care network. Participant #13 Cally alsoformed her own network, thus, demonstrating how sections of the transcript relating to theseexperiences and forms of action could be clustered together based on early readings and listens forsubsequent analysis.73The sustained immersion in the interviewee texts enables these codes – that is recognising ‘[i]ssuesthat have become invisible due to their ubiquity’ (Beck and Purcell, 2010, p.189) – are revisited in anewly co-constructed dialogical space within which the participants had been able to articulated theirexperiences, (un)met needs, and their deeply situated understandings within the hyperlocalised focusof the research. Such immersion fostered an intimate familiarity with the interviewees’ responses tothe singular thematic issue as promoted via the BINM approach regarding the interviewees’experiences as lone parents, as the aspects that had led to any number of forms of action (socialactivism, protection of self or the family unit, etc.) verbalised. As such, participants were able to‘speak to the social, political, and economic conditions’ (Cammarota and Aguilera, 2012, p.493) thathave shaped their lives as lone parents during the concerned period of investigation. The SQIN hadhelped keep the focus set rather than risking immersion in the data from interviews #1 and #2 (thetrailed examples) which could have overly influenced latter stage interviews as, from atime-management perspective, data was already analysed as the subsequent interviews were takingplace. This set line of entry to the interviews helped avoid bringing new biases to the futureinterviews, beyond pre-existing relationships and assumptions created by the referral process (e.g.one participant knew me through a given context which shaped a latter dialogue), thus, whilst theprocess became more refined simply through practice and increased familiarity with the BINMprocess, predetermined remit aided the consistency of the process.746. Fieldwork:IntroductionHaving outlined the urgency of conducting the research in an ethical and compassionate manner, thischapters outlines the fieldwork process – specifically the recruitment practices – before offering insightinto the participants’ lives. Rudimentary characteristics are noted (e.g. age, gender, and country of birth),whilst the profiles provide core information about each participant. Though key commentaries from theinterviews are included as extracts during the analysis sections, information on who participatedproduces an immersive body of data that illustrates the diversity of relationship types, sexual and genderidentities, and recognises cultural factors that shaped how each participant considers lone parent life.6.1 Participant Recruitment:I contacted organisations working in north and north-west Edinburgh to gauge understandings of thelevel of lone parent engagement with services in the researched-community. This involved creating adatabase of one-hundred-and-seven organisations operating locally (either entirely or with an office inthe area), including sixty-eight instances in which I identified a named contact (e.g. a current member ofstaff, volunteer, or trustee) whom I could direct my enquiries to. The ambition with these generalenquiries was that workers within each of these organisations were positioned - regardless of whetherthey have a small group of ten services users or several hundred people within their clientele - to alsoutilise any existing mailing lists to contact subscribers when the recruitment process commenced. Even ifonly a small percentage of people responded, this could have resulted in a significant number ofwould-be research participants. Local nurseries, primary schools, and high schools could have potentiallyalso provided new contacts and referrals where existing relationships were not already in place. Generalenquiries requested that anyone within my compiled mailing list forward the email and recruitment flyerto their own contact networks, where appropriate, in the hope of creating a cascade or ‘snowball’ effectwhereby eligible people who are perhaps two or three steps removed from my networks might beidentified for possible inclusion in the research.Other possibilities included pinning the flyer on community notice boards in local supermarkets withinthe identified postcode areas as well as GP services and dental practices. Integral to the participantrecruitment process was implementing an effective advertising process and I considered a mix oftargeted online advertising, part-page advertising in local print press outlets, and pinning flyers in GPpractices, community centres, and sent to local schools. That the 'community participation process canbe both time- and cost-effective if consideration is given to a variety of methodological and logisticalissues'; whilst a wealth of community-based researchers have noted the problems in recruiting aresearch participant sample that accurately reflects broader society either locally or nationally (Becker etal., 1992; and Arcury and Quandt, 1999). Given my ambition of addressing past failures to includemarginalised communities within research into lone parents, an effective recruitment process wasfundamental to its achieving this.In addition, Gavaghan (1995) and Curry and Jackson (2003) each note the need to, at times, adaptrecruitment materials to ensure marginalised or vulnerable communities - which, for this PhD, may have75included non-native English speakers, those with low-level digital literacy, or those living in temporaryaccommodation (Cohen et al., 1993; Hough et al., 1996) - are encouraged to engage in the researchprocess. These types of obstacles have been described by Ejiogu et al. (2011) as 'known barriers.' Levkoffand Sanchez (2003) have, therefore, stressed the need for researchers to 'recognis[e] and understand[...]the culture of each ethnic minority community' - an ethos echoed by the likes of Stahl and Vasquez(2004), who consider effective models for ensuring such marginalised communities are not ignoredwithin the research process.The recruitment flyer featured bitly.com (shortened) links to versions of the flyer in other languages, itwas hoped that non-native English speakers and non-English speakers would feel able to becomeinvolved. The 2011 Scottish census (NRoS, 2012) revealed that 9.1% of residents in Edinburgh Northernand Leith and 3.4% in Edinburgh Western ‘use[...] a language other than English at home.’ Consequently,the flyer shows these shortened links next to the flag of the country from which that language originated(e.g. the Tricolore [the French flag] for French language or the Tricolorul [Romanian flag] for theRomanian language). The translations were provided by professional translation service Elite Linguistswith whom I had a pre-existing relationship.The flyer advised that childcare support would be available including daycare costs and entrance fees forcommunity activities, and advised that the interview would take place in a public space (envisioned as,for example, the local community centre, or even a play park with a public bench if an open space waspreferred). The terminology regarding alternative venues for the interview was intentionally vague, withthe option of conducting the interview in the participants’ home or of performing the interview over thephone not mentioned. This, it was hoped, would encourage the prospective interviewee to consider oneof the named options in the first instance (at a community centre, in a public cafe, or at an activity fortheir children). In addition, the inducement of a £20 Morrison’s supermarket voucher is noted late in theleaflet to ensure that interest is first sparked based on the topic of the research rather than by theprospect of financial compensation. In addition, I considered posting flyers through doors in the relevantpostcode areas. Doing so would have increased the democracy of the recruitment process as only asubsection of lone parents will be involved in any given local community groups. It was hoped that thisprocess would, perhaps, allow some of the most marginalised lone parents the opportunity to engage inthe research. However, some of the venues and organisations supporting the research were targeted asa priority to increase the chances of reaching the desired demographics previously ignored within theliterature. With a total of thirty-four research participants, the other blanket practices were not required.Pitching the Research to Would-be ParticipantsThe manner in which the purpose, and potential impact, of the project was pitched to would-beparticipants, naturally, shapes how they understand and consider it. Concerning what benefit the PhDresearch might have for them and their families, I relayed that this could include enhancingunderstandings of the lived impact that UK-wide austerity politics and welfare reform has had on loneparent families living in north Edinburgh, thus aiding and informing future practice (including withorganisations they already knew). I ensured to also stress the broader relevance, stating that theinformation gathered may serve local organisations supporting all individuals and families in northEdinburgh based on the expressed needs and ambitions of local people where the findings are notspecifically centred on the participants’ lone parent identity (as much as that may intersect).76Furthermore, they were advised that, given the introduction of Social Security Scotland, informationsuch as that gathered for this thesis could feed into identifying what additional support mechanismscould be put in place to support this demographic should the organisation be willing to engage with myfindings. In addition, the research ambition, I advised, sought to reposition lone parents from currentcorporate media and social media portrayals of lone parents as well as poor and working classcommunities as victims of circumstances, scroungers, and subjects of yet more ‘poverty porn,’61 insteadpresenting a case study of active participants, citizens, and members of the local community fighting tonavigate the hardships around them. This narrative may prove particularly important in an area such asGreater Pilton which has a rich history of social activism (e.g. Power to the People, the North EdinburghSocial History Group, the Muirhouse Anti-racism Campaign, AAM, and the Muirhouse division of theEdinburgh Living Rent Campaign).Qualifying ‘Lone Parents’ (Eligibility)In establishing the qualification criteria for who should be considered eligible for the study, there wasalso a need to consider, given the often-temporary nature of lone parenthood status, how far back couldresearch participants have been a lone parent - and how long should they have held this status- for thepurposes of this research? Anyone who has been a lone parent since the 2008 global economic recessionmay have been subjected to a number of these welfare reforms prior to any change in their own maritalstatus or other state qualifying criteria. Just as lone parents with non-dependent children as of 2018 mayhave up to a decade of relevant lived experience of navigating the social security system, otherindividuals may have many years of experiences of activism or resistance since 2010 yet might now bemarried and, thus, no longer a lone parent. This left a conundrum of sorts - should these people still beconsidered for inclusion in the research project? This matters as at any stage during the researchprocess, or between writing up and publishing, any or even all research participants could,hypothetically, have lost their lone parent status if they were to enter a marriage or civil partnership,etc.. Ultimately, a decision on this front was made to qualify those who had been a lone parent for atleast three of the last five years (between 2013-2018 when the research started). This could have beento young children or to those who were already entering their late teenage years but who were stillclassed as dependents under the state criteria outlined during the Introduction.Analysis: The consented audio recordings from each of the interviews (thirty-four interviews lasting anestimated twenty to sixty minutes in most cases) were transcribed by the researcher before an inductiveanalysis approach commenced. Influenced by the situatedness of grounded theory (Charmaz, 2000),standpoint theory (Harding, 1993), and theories of narrative inquiry (Denzin and Lincoln, 1998), theanalysis process involved manual coding as themes are identified within the transcripts. These followed aFreirean-style of codification whereby a loose clustering based upon, for example, a topic, experience,event, or reform constituted a code that permits the researcher to bracket together sections (e.g. activecitizenship versus being subjected to state decisions). Furthermore, the volume of interviews permittedme to establish consistency of topics mentioned, thus demonstrating gaps or absences within someaccounts.61 ‘Poverty porn’, Jensen (2013) suggests, is ‘a subgenre of British reality television programmes that emerged in thesummer of 2013 [which] individualise poverty, blaming and shaming the poor for their circumstances.’77Research Funding: The use of funding was a straightforward process, with the second-handDictaphone purchased at CEX (£45) and the continued use of supermarket vouchers as compensation forthe participants’ time meaning that no unexpected costs were incurred as the researcher for thefieldwork process. When the fieldwork was conducted, however, the use of more than one supermarketfor purchasing vouchers was an adaptation made to the intended exclusive use of Morrison’s due to theproximity of different supermarkets to where the participant either lived or worked. Both factors hadinfluenced where the interviews took place. This opportunity for choice, thus, increased the level ofautonomy granted to the participant and ensured that they were compensated for their time in amanner that best suited their lives (e.g. vouchers for the supermarket they may go to after work ratherthan imposing the retailer selected by the researcher based on an assumption over where they live),whilst still adhering to the ethical procedures and requirements of the funding provided by theUniversity of Edinburgh. In addition, some interviewees asked to utilise alternative proposals for thecompensation. Interviewee #6 Griff initially rejected the compensatory payment, advising that he wascomfortable financially as is, and, therefore, happy to participate in the research without the promise ofthe voucher. Following a brief discussion, it was agreed that the Morrisons voucher would be donated tothe charity which his business had previously partnered with during a food drive ahead of Christmas2019. Others, including #29 June, #17 Meg, #9 Frank, and #18 Carol asked that the money be donated tofoodbanks or LGBT charities.Ultimately, some of the research participants were recruited through existing community networks viathe named contacts in which I am or had been involved with (e.g. #1 Nick; #3 Lindsay; and #4 Lachlan) orreferral from another participant (e.g. #2 Lawrence) or the targeted organisations working with queercommunity members or migrant groups. Though these turned out to be the only required approachesgiven the funding limitation, I also considered the ‘backpacking it home’ method advocated by Mckesson(2019) whereby contact is be made with local schools, nurseries, and other care providers who, if willingto support the investigation, could enable contact to be made with lone parents via their school-agechildren. The drafted letter would have been sent to such care or education providers for the attentionof their respective managers or headmasters. Some of the participants offered to encourage the otherlone parent families they knew who might be interested in engaging to get in touch. These individualswere given contact details which were to be used to signpost interested parties to my student emailaddress and project-specific burner phone (purchased second-hand exclusively for this project).Impact of Covid-19 & Charting Proximity: Although the recruitment phase of the research wasalready underway before implementation of lockdown guidelines, the closure of many institutions (e.g.schools, nurseries, and youth clubs) and the strict regulation of entry into other spaces (such as medicalcentres, supermarkets, and local libraries) threatened to limit opportunities to identify would-beparticipants. Stemming from several years-worth of lived, professional, activist, and academicexperiences in north Edinburgh, I produced a three-part diagram to indicate my professional andpotentially emotional distance from each participant, thereby helping to address concerns of bias as aresult of sustained proximity and pre-existing relationships. As illustrated through Figure #1: ChartingProximity Diagram, the researcher was placed at the centre of the smallest circle, with three stages ofseparation indicating. Figure #2 demonstrates the results of how each interviewee was situated in regardto myself as a researcher.78(i) Known: Those already known to some extent via one of the form aforementionedidentities I hold in relation to north Edinburgh;(ii) Referrals: Those who were referred via professional, personal, or academicconnections but where the individual was not already directly known; and(iii) Unknowns: Those with whom no direct relationship was held.Figure #1: Charting Proximity Diagram Figure #2Despite fears that access to would-be participants who were unknown prior to the pre-investigation maybecome increasingly limited due to the reduction of opportunities to recruit folk via in-personattendance at community groups due to Covid-19, the diagram demonstrates that the majority of(particularly latter stage) interviewees were still identified from out with the Known and Referral groups.The need to strictly adhere to healthcare and community safety guidelines during the Covid-19pandemic meant approaches had to be made through social media channels where lone parents may bepresent. This largely meant recruitment occurred through advertising in relevant Facebook Groups -always posting only after permission had been gained from community leaders and administrators (oftentermed ‘gatekeepers’ by those in the academy). Identified groups included digital spaces designed forlone parents in Edinburgh, several Facebook Groups specifically created for residents in the north of thecity (e.g. #23 Pam), and two groups for queer parents (e.g. #15 Sasha). Additional approaches, met withmixed levels of success, were made to spaces catering for parents living with disabilities in Scotland anda variety of groups for those in Edinburgh with a migrant background where members advised duringour discussions that they were often not involved in more mainstream parenting groups hosted onFacebook for a variety of personal, cultural, or institutional reasons (e.g. #10 Rona; #24 Pria). In severalinstances, this was a unique challenge in that I had to go through several steps of gaining access to theseFacebook Groups given that I was not a member of the centred community. In each instance, I opted toonly remain a member for two weeks after making my recruitment post before departing these groupsand thanking the identified gatekeepers for permitting my access.79A Change in Dynamics: Several months were spent formulating a comprehensive plan toensure would-be participants felt comfortable in an interview space, and that the environment(including time, setting, and location) would be understanding of the circumstances lone parents mayexperience in relation to childcare, work, education, and other commitments. Though early interviewstook place in community centres (e.g. #1 Nick and #2 Lawrence), public cafes (e.g. #11 Louise), and in theinterviewee’s workplace after hours (e.g. #3 Lindsay and #6 Griff), the interviews involving participants#10 - #34 took place online utilising either video or audio facilities on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger,or phone calls with the discussion recorded (once consent had been gained) on the Dictaphone. Theintended approach of conducting the interviews in neutral venues was designed to avoid confusion orblurring the distinctions between neighbour, practitioner, and academic researcher, whilst alsosupporting local businesses by purchasing coffee for both myself and the participant whilst utilisingthese local facilities. Fortunately, the original ethical approval application had included opportunities forwould-be participants to express a preference for over-the-phone interviews where this was preferredover in-person discussions, and consequently no adaptations were required from an ethical perspectivewhen this became the only safe option.The shift to utilising video technology drastically altered the interview dynamic as both the researcherand the interviewee now found themselves presented, at least partially, with the other’s home, bringingwith it (or perhaps risking) exposure to their family members, home decor, and often amusinginterruptions from pets (mostly on my end) which was not desired given this possible blurring. So too,however, it brought additional research challenges, of which the physical distance was perhaps the mostsignificant. When participant #4 Lachlan broke down momentarily at the commencement of hisin-person interview due to the nature of his ‘pathway to lone parenthood,’ it was possible for me tobring him a tissue from the interviewee’s kitchen; however, when participant #25 Aiden needed tointerrupt the interview to compose themself, it was still easy enough for me to give them a momentalone by pausing the recording. Although it was possible for embodied sympathy to be conveyedthrough the digital mediums when video technology was the preferred medium, the physical distanceseemed to extend into the emotional. This was emphasised by two instances in which participantsrequested audio-only interviews during which moments of silence and attempts to offer emotionalspace may just as easily have been misunderstood as merely waiting for the participant to resumetalking, or worse - concern that the phone call had been cut off or I was unaware of what to say. Thoughthere is certainly further consideration to be given to the impact of bearing witness to each other’sappearance and the impact this has (e.g. perceived dress code, tattoos, piercings, etc.) in-person or overvideo, the primary conclusions here must acknowledge the struggle to comfort participants at a distance(either visually or audibly).6.2 Participant BiographiesAs is often the case with such research projects, those that deserve the most thanks for their time andcandour are the anonymised participants. Without their honesty and willingness to engage in what is, formany, an emotionally demanding and sensitive topic (Lee and Renzetti, 1990; Dickson-Swift, 2008; Gray,2008), this research paper, its insights, and indeed the larger investigation, would not be possible. Theopportunity to engage with the research participants is something I will forever be grateful for. This issignificant as the Addressing Poverty with Lived Experience Collective (2020, citing ONS, 2020a) advised80that “‘in 2018 there were still 5.3 million adults in the UK [an estimated] 10.0% of the adult UKpopulation” who are non-internet users’ (see also Ravensbergen and VanderPlaat, 2010). Consequently,save for two participants (#24 Pria and #8 Mercy), those residing in north Edinburgh without digitalliteracy or access to the appropriate hardware (or without a friend or relative involved in one of theseFacebook Groups) could not be reached for the purposes of this study. It is hoped that a futureinvestigation post-PhD may be able to address this unfortunate impasse.In recognition of their unique lived experiences, this subsection provides a brief biography of eachparticipant serving to further immerse the reader within the research context. Precise details areincluded in order to illustrate the distinctiveness of their own experiences, whilst aspects of theirpathways into lone parenthood help demonstrate the ways that some of the participants framed theirexperiences.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#1 (Pilot) Nick Male Heterosexual 55-64 Scottish OneA white Scottish man in his fifties, Nick has lived in north Edinburgh his entire life. Following a lengthy custody battleduring which he successfully represented himself in court, Nick has been primary carer for his son since 2012. Hisson has autism which resulted in a severe struggle to integrate at school, leading to Nick supporting him with findingwork (including within Nick’s through own projects). Nick uses a mobility aids, but finds north Edinburgh to be ahighly accessible space - something he credits to the understanding of local community organisations that a largenumber of people in the area are living with one or more disabilities. Although he briefly attended university, Nickdropped out of his programme following a brief stint in prison. He advised that he is committed to focusing onsupporting his son and that he actively distances himself from people or situations that could lead to a furtherperiod in custody or a second sentence.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#2 (Pilot) Lawrence Male Bisexual 25-34 Scottish OnePrimary carer to an infant daughter, Lawrence is a white lone father originally from Glasgow (Scotland). He grew upin a lone parent family, moving around various parts of east coast during his primary school years, and brieflyattended high school in the Scottish central belt. He was in a long-term relationship with the mother of their child;however, their relationship broke down before the daughter turned two, due to violence from his partner. He’s livedin north Edinburgh for close to eleven years at the time of our interview, and volunteers with a youth group,co-organises a community market, and used to offer sporting sessions around various parts of central Scotland.Lawrence found that his lone father status often meant he was sidelined by other parents, stating that he had facedsignificant stereotyping by medical and care practitioners in the early years of being a lone parent.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#3 Lindsay Female Bisexual 25-34 Scottish TwoA low-paid support worker to those with lived experience of substance addiction and homelessness, Lindsay is81mother to two children - a teenage boy and a girl in upper primary school. Whilst the children each have contactwith their respective fathers, Lindsay has been the primary caregiver throughout both children’s lives, with littlesupport from her relatives - including her late-mother whom she found to be highly judgemental of Lindsay’s loneparent status despite two once-committed relationships with each of the children’s fathers. Isolation and thestruggle to financially justify re-entering the workforce compared to living on social security after the cost ofchildcare (including after school clubs and sports sessions) were the core themes that emerged from Lindsay’sinterview. Given her bisexuality, Lindsay also revealed that she’d encountered a lot of childism from other women inthe queer social and dating scenes.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#4 Lachlan Male Heterosexual 55-64 Scottish OneHaving become a lone parent when his daughter was just four-years-old, Lachlan lost his partner to rapidly advancingcancer. A community worker by trade, though now a professional photographer and part-time educator, Lachlanstructured his paid practice around raising his daughter. He advised that comrades within his political party oftenaided his experience and enabled him to continue his professional practice by volunteering to assist with childcare sohe could document and archive political demonstrations knowing his child was safe. Lachlan identified the rarity ofbeing a male lone parent as isolating, whilst he also shared his fears about raising a child in a rounded manner owingto a highly gendered parenting experience. Becoming a lone parent through circumstances that demanded heperform as carer for both his parents, partner during the latter stages of her life, and his daughter meant he’d neverhad a sincere opportunity to grieve until after his daughter had left the family home.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#5 Dee Female Pansexual 25-34 Latin American OneDee stated that her life is entirely centred around her young daughter. Having just started her PhD when she fellpregnant, Dee struggled to balance childcare with continuing her education, in part because her family worked inanother city. Having spent much of her teenage years and early twenties as a dedicated social activist amongstanarchist movements, Dee has sustained her activism where possible - bringing her daughter to demonstrations,feminist art collectives, and trans-inclusive support groups. Having established a queer support group that is now herfound family in Scotland, Dee struggled by herself for the first two years of her daughter's life and continues toendure a complicated relationship with the violent ex-partner who still lives in Latin America.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#6 Griff Male Heterosexual 45-54 North American/ EuropeanTwoA local business owner, Griff runs his own creative space whilst looking after his children on weekends. Havingco-founded a different art space with his former partner more than a decade ago, Griff's ex-wife cares for their twokids most of the week, though the financial success of their co-founded studio ensures that neither parent strugglesfinancially with their care responsibilities. Raised by his father whilst his sister lived with their mother, Griff was usedto non-nuclear family types and now endeavours to support local charities involving low-income families includinglone parents (e.g. by running a foodbank drives). Griff spent several years crafting his art in mainland Europe before82meeting his partner, but has become heavily involved in the Scottish independence movement - advocating for aPeople’s Republic of Scotland - though his own politics are a combination of extremes.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#7 Cathleen Female Heterosexual 35-44 Scottish TwoCathleen had endured a significant period of chaos and difficulty in her life during the years running up to ourinterview. This included the deaths of both of her parents coming in quick succession to the deaths of her formerpartner’s parents. This meant that despite both parents undergoing what Cathleen termed the most challengingperiod of their lives, she found herself de facto primary carer for their children even prior to the separation. Herformer partner, she explained, found family life too challenging amidst the grief, leaving the family permanentlyshortly thereafter.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#8 Mercy Female Heterosexual 35-44 Scottish TwoA lone mother to two children, Mercy separated from her partner two-and-a-half years prior to our interview. Alifelong resident of Granton, she has been involved in several key local services. For the most part, Mercy already feltthat she was raising her children by herself as her ex-husband struggled with alcohol addiction and was rarelyinvolved with childcare - in part because Mercy could not trust him to be sober around their dependents. Aftercurtailing her work life to ensure she was present for as much as possible of her kids’ lives, Mercy is now working toestablish her own healthcare practice. She expressed a deep appreciation of local breakfast clubs and after-schoolcare for making this possible, though she emphasised that she believes her own experience was far more fortunatethan many others who similarly endured the breakdown of a marriage. Mercy revealed that she often takesadvantage of running her own practice by bringing her children to the centre rather than relying on others forsupport with childcare. She did, however, recognise that in most instances where a lone parent is an employeerather than the boss, they would likely not be able to bring their children to work as she does.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#9 Frank Male Heterosexual 35-44 Scottish OneA deeply Christian individual who credits rediscovering his faith with his current sobriety, Frank grew up in in thenortheast of Scotland, enduring a deeply abusive childhood at the hands of his mother. Amidst an adolescenceplagued by drink and drug abuse, a woman Frank had recently become involved with fell pregnant. Following aturbulent relationship with this partner, she moved to the south of England, taking their daughter with her. Frank'saddictions subsequently became far more harmful to himself and those around him, resulting in a significantdistancing occurring between him and his daughter. Reaching a crisis point, Frank moved into a rehabilitation centrein north Edinburgh. Over time, he got a handle on his substance abuse and worked to rekindle his relationship withhis daughter. The complicated and intermittent line of communication with his ex-partner has led Frank to makeseveral attempts on his own life, including one after the ex-partner assaulted him whilst visiting with their daughterat New Years. Frank’s decision that evening, he revealed to me, was largely motivated by realising that his daughterhad witnessed the incident as he related this to his own childhood trauma. Frank’s identity largely centres around hisfaith and being a lone parent - existing in that gap within the literature of lone parents who are not the primary carer83for their child(ren).ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#10 Rona Female Bisexual 45-54 Scottish FourAs someone who has lived with multiple lifelong disabilities and degenerative conditions, Rona’s life has been madefar more complicated by the fact her family were involved in a UK-based cult. It was not until her honeymoon withan ex-partner whom she was coerced into marrying that she first began to question her upbringing. Though it wouldbe many years until she escaped from the cult, Rona had already birthed two children and fostered a third, whilstalso caring for an adult with significant support needs. A further short-lived relationship, again with a male partner,led to a third biological child, meaning that, when this partnership ended, Rona was now a lone mother to fourchildren. A deeply scarring and traumatising experience with the DWP has meant that Rona struggles to trust socialsecurity systems despite being largely unable to work. This means that she lives in extreme poverty and strives tomanage on an income drastically below what she understands she would be entitled to if she could bring herself toface a welfare state that she blames for much of her suffering.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#11 Louise Female Heterosexual 25-34 Scottish OneAt present, Louise runs a foodbank in the community in which she grew up. Her own struggles with poverty andalcoholism have given her a great deal of empathy for other people living in precarious circumstances. She creditsthis with motivating her to gain a degree in Community Education and to become involved with her local communitycentre. Louise falls within the ‘never married’ demographic, but stresses that she was never interested in a long-termrelationship with the biological father of her child. Instead, she focused on building a career she was interested in(one entrenched within her local community), and in raising her daughter ‘right.’ Louise does not have family nearbyanymore.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#12 Kelly Female Heterosexual 35-44 Scottish TwoA major concern for Kelly has been how to achieve some form of work-life balance whilst raising her children. Whilstshe praised technological developments for making some aspects of her life easier (e.g. online shopping foressentials), she has struggled with managing her finances due to precarious work (including successive short-termcontracts). After losing her only secure employment contract (a part-time role), Kelly was forced to sell her car.Though she praised how comprehensive the Edinburgh bus network is, she explained that the time it takes to travelbetween employment opportunities and those who can support her with childcare leaves her feeling uneasy,likening this to another form of debt.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#13 Cally Female Heterosexual 35-44 Scottish / Two84EuropeanMigrating to Scotland from the Republic of Ireland some fifteen years ago for work, Cally opted to prioritise raisingher children in north Edinburgh as this was where most of her social network reside. Fostering an informal childcarenetwork, Cally and her friends frequently take turns looking after each other’s children, allowing other groupmembers (four-of-the-five being lone parents) to undertake work opportunities, arrange medical appointments, andpractice self-care without stressing over whether they can find affordable and trusted childcare. She credits her ownexperience of being raised within an extended family as a motivation to create a similar network in her new Scottishhome.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#14 Kathy Female Heterosexual 25-34 Scottish ThreeWith two kids before the age of eighteen, Kathy was highly conscious of the assumptions others made about her.Whilst she briefly downplayed her role, telling strangers who passed comment that she was just the nanny, she feelsthis was down to public perceptions, rather than anything she sincerely felt. Describing herself as ‘highly competent’at parenting, she now finds that many people approach her for parenting advise. She remains concerned about herability to provide secure long-term housing for her children, advising she they have spent close to three-years(aggregated) in temporary accommodation. She is now active in several housing rights campaigns.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#15 Sasha Non-Binary Pansexual 35-44 Rest of the UK OneA lone parent from the day they discovered their pregnancy (their partner was an anonymous one-night stand),Sasha has spent six years raising their son independently. A non-binary and queer parent, they stumbled across aqueer parenting Facebook Group and have established several vital relationships since then within their foundfamily, though many of the members live outside of Edinburgh. As an openly-queer parent, Sasha has found life verychallenging in north Edinburgh as they boast a largely androgynous appearance. This, they stated, has caused someissues for their child, Sasha stressing that tensions have come from their gender identity rather than theirEnglishness which they ‘naively’ believed would be a likely source of tension when first arriving in Scotland.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#16 Michael Male Heterosexual 45-54 Scottish OneHaving separated from his partner when their child was just aged three, Michael moved around nearby in Englishmidlands towns seeking work, but would later relocate to Scotland in 2012, returning to Muirhouse - the area inwhich he grew up. With his ex-partner and their young child remaining in England, Michael travelled south often,initially each weekend, though the cost incurred rapidly became prohibitive, meaning that he feared his child maybelieve he had disappeared from his life. Accessing financial support through the university after starting a degree,Michael was able to re-enter education, but required paid-work to continue travelling to visit his son. This came viaworking night shifts most evenings and spending his annual leave travelling south where his son and ex-partnercontinue to live. Parenting from a distance, Michael advised that he never saw himself as a lone parent until his sonmoved to Edinburgh aged sixteen to work and study near his father. Michael informed me that his son moving to85north Edinburgh was the first time he was able to rest mentally since the year prior to the separation.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#17 Meg Female Homosexual 35-44 Scottish TwoHaving birthed two children with the support of men in their social and work circles, respectively, Meg (who carriedboth children) and her girlfriend endured a complicated relationship for several years, with the ex-partner continuingto live in Meg's home for two-and-a-half years after they separated. When we conducted our interview, Meg was sixmonths into a new relationship and works part-time as a landlord managing several properties. This is the first timeshe had returned to what she considered ‘proper work’ after taking time out to care for her children. A volunteercommunity worker, Meg involves her children in much of her community work, each having attended her youth workgroups since she first started volunteering. More recently, Meg has focused her emotional energy on integrating hernew partner into her family unit.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#18 Carol Female Homosexual 35-44 Latin American /EuropeanTwoBorn in Latin America though also holding EU citizenship, Carol spent eighteen years living in the south of England,marrying the man who fathered both of her children. After enduring an abusive relationship for many years, Carolescaped and met the woman who has since become her long-term partner (in essence a second mother to Carol'schildren). Having re-entered education on a part-time basis, Carol began to run parenting groups in England, beforerelocating to Edinburgh with her children and her current partner some five years before our interview. Carolexplicitly advised that she feels she suppressed her sexuality for many years, and that the ex-partner used violence tocoerce her into committing herself to him - something she believes has been deeply damaging to her children’semotional development. She now runs several queer women's groups, youth work support services, and otherpublic events.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#19 Dan Male Heterosexual 45-54 Scottish ThreeA lone father to two different families, Dan has a son and a daughter from his first family whilst he has a daughterthrough a second family. Both of Dan’s ex-partners remain in Edinburgh, the latter living in the same block of flats -meaning their daughter is able to live between the two households. Dan was candid in his interview as a result ofbeing involved in numerous criminal activities in his younger years, though he stressed that he has re-enterededucation in order to improve his circumstances. He believes that the proximity to his second ex-partner has allowedthem to co-parent with some ease, though he noted there have been many major clashes over parenting styleswhich have seen the former partner refuse to permit their child to visit him. When the first family split, Dan’s soncame to live with him with the daughter moving in with her mother. Dan believes himself to be ‘an accomplishedfather’ and expressed his desire to enter independently into politics in the future. Issues of central concern of himinclude the legalisation of marijuana, increasing legal protections for single fathers, and challenging what he believesto be a ‘fascistic party’ in the SNP.86ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#20 Nina Female Bisexual 45-54 European OneNina arrived in Scotland 2002. She has found the absence of a support network to be a significant challenge, thoughshe describes a 'hopefulness' that lone parenthood is becoming more socially acceptable in Scotland. However, if shedid not have a shared custody agreement, she explained that she would likely move to Germany with her son whereshe has family. Though she first moved to the UK to become a care worker (something she believed would afford herthe opportunity to travel), she decided to become a stay-at-home mother. Post-split, she re-entered work, but statedthat the debt she accrued due to low-wages and then subsequent reliance on her parent for an ‘allowance’ meansshe is still working towards a health financial position many years later.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#21 Edina Female Heterosexual 45-54 European OneArriving in Scotland eighteen years ago, Edina worked as a social worker for many years before entering a short-livedrelationship with a Caribbean military officer who was stationed briefly in the UK. The ex-partner had alreadyentered a new relationship by the time Edina discovered she was pregnant, though she says she is happier as atwo-person family unit than she imagines she would be if having to negotiate how to raise her daughter. Currentlystudying on the same programme as a fellow interviewee, she spoke of enjoying the space to independently parentalongside other lone parents. She also stated that she feels far more settled in Scotland than she did living elsewherein the UK and believes that she is able to provide a higher standard of living, here, for her and her child.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#22 Nomi Female Pansexual 25-34 Rest of the UK OneAfter ten years in a heteronormative relationship with her former partner whom she now understands to be asexual,Nomi began to question her own sexuality. By the time she broke off the relationship, Nomi had a three-year-olddaughter and immediately became the primary carer without any debate between the two parents upon their split.Having explored her sexuality through polyamorous relationships, Nomi has now settled into a primary relationshipwith another woman though both partners practice an open relationship. Nomi's child is now seven-years-old andhas developed positive relationships with several of Nomi's partners. Despite the unusual nature of an openrelationship, Nomi believes she is demonstrating to other parents that this type of family dynamic can work when allparents understand the urgency with which the child must be prioritised.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#23 Pam Female Heterosexual 35-44 Scottish OneThough she split from her son’s biological father when their child was barely a year old, Pam spent four years in alive-in relationship with another man whom her child ‘essentially experienced to be his father’. It was not until thissecond significant partner in her life was ‘sent to prison for selling weed’ that Pam believes she truly felt that she wasa lone parent. Struggling socially, she established a social space online for single parents in the east of Scotland and87explained that she believes that she has benefited from the advice and guidance of others with similar livedexperiences.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#24 Pria Female Heterosexual 35-44 Asian OnePria was raised with the distinct expectation that she would ‘give’ her parents grandchildren. After moving toEdinburgh where her partner had relocated to for work, Pria discovered that her husband - whom she met throughan arranged marriage - was cheating on her and living with his mistress. Turned out onto the street with a toddler,Pria struggled with the English language but was eventually able to access temporary accommodation through theCity of Edinburgh Council. After spending several years in a high rise flat, deeply frightened by the frequency withwhich she observed ‘drug deals’ and ‘violent altercations’, Pria was able to access alternative accommodation.Though she remains socially isolated and experiences significant cultural stigma living as a minority religion singlemother, Pria is grateful to organisations like the Multicultural Family Base for their work helping people like herintegrate into Scotland.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#25 Aiden Non-binary Pansexual 25-34 Rest of the UK OneOriginally from the south of England, Aiden is a queer parent with a five-year-old son. Raised in a lone parent familythemself, their mother died whilst their son was two-years-old. Consequently, Aiden has worked to establish theirown broader ‘family of support’ - including several other queer parents - which has allowed them to re-entereducation due to informal agreements of providing each other with free childcare. They have struggled with alcoholaddiction, yet they’d achieved several months of sobriety by the time that our interview took place. Aiden believesthat there are many difficulties for their son at school when it comes to relationship education as polyamorousrelationships generally retain a social stigma. As such, they suggested there is still much progress to be made in howschools educate children about relationships, but fears that their son is likely to face hostility if he speaks about hisparent’s partners.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#26 Kim Female Heterosexual 25-34 Scottish OneKim has a young daughter aged two-and-a-half years old. Due to the complicated separation with her formerpartner, her daughter didn’t see the father for the first two years of her life, though they are currently working toestablish an approach to shared custody that would allow him to see their daughter infrequently without the needfor court intervention. Kim stated that she had incredibly negative experiences of custody battles during her ownchildhood, with her father frequently breaching the conditions of the state-imposed agreement. As best she can, shewould prefer to co-create something that avoids extending a similar trauma to her child.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children88#27 Winnie Female Heterosexual 45-54 Scottish FiveA long-term resident in north Edinburgh, Winnie is mother to five children - the eldest of which was a teenager atthe time of our discussion. Her partner struggled for years with alcohol addiction and is no longer part of their livesdue to violent behaviour whilst under the influence. Winnie has found a major sense of support and community inher church (Protestant), where she advised there are many other lone parents who have endured similar struggles.Her children have enjoyed attending church-run youth clubs, though through witnessing the last decade of cuts,Winnie stated that she sees ever decreasing provision at the local level to support families. Having relied on thegoodwill of others to aid her in raising so many children by herself, she fears that they will struggle going forward.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#28 Lucy Female Heterosexual 35-44 Scottish OneAs someone who from a young age had been advised by medical professionals that she would be unable to havechildren, Lucy never had any doubts about becoming a lone mother when she discovered that she had fallenpregnant. Based in north Edinburgh, though working city-wide, Lucy has struggled on a personal level to marry upstriving to provide the best life she can imagine for her daughter with the emotional distance working so much putsbetween them (her child was in early-to-late daycare most days). Having grown up in a blended family and feelingfamiliar with the different relationships this creates between the range of family members, Lucy has never had anyconcerns over how others would treat her due to her lone parent status.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#29 June Female Heterosexual 45-54 Scottish TwoA seasoned community activist, June became pregnant when she was just sixteen-years-old. Following a strainedrelationship with the father of her first child, she moved to the west of Scotland for the birth and early years of herdaughter’s life. Returning to Granton, June struggled to balance her work and education ambitions with childcare,undertaking late night security work. Some years later, following the birth of her second daughter as her first wasleaving the familial home (and, again, experiencing the father walking out on her upon discovering the pregnancy),June undertook community development training and eventually completed a related degree programme. She wasfundamental in establishing many organisations that continue to practice locally including a local community centre,a Minor Injuries Unit elsewhere in Scotland, and a residents’ housing association.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#30 Marie Female Heterosexual 25-34 Scottish ThreeThough she has a small social circle, Marie stated that she is quite comfortable with her life and that her child-lessfriends have actively encouraged her to bring her children to social events. One of the friends who regularly hostsmovie nights has adapted her spare room to accommodate the young children. Marie advised that she inherited herflat from her grandfather so is no longer anxious about her long-term accommodation needs, nor does she feel adesperate rush to find stable employment. Instead, she picks up creative jobs as and when opportunities arise.89ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#31 Jenny Female Bisexual 16-24 Scottish OneRaised in foster care, Jenny had her daughter, ‘Jay’, when she was just fifteen-years-old. Her biological family weredeeply religious, devout in their Catholicism, and insisted that Jenny marry the father of her child on her sixteenthbirthday - this being despite the father being some twenty years older than her. When her child was two-years-old,Jenny discovered that Jay was deaf in one ear and only partially hearing in the other. Following three surgeries, herchild is now classed as hearing and manages to socialise more effectively. Since a young age, Jay exhibited manybehaviours typical of young girls despite being assigned male at birth. After accessing support through local services,Jenny is now supporting Jay to live as her acquired gender. Upon the discovery that they may have a trans child intheir family, Jenny's blood relatives became violent towards both her and her daughter, with Jenny's grandfatherbreaking into Jenny's home to shave Jay's long hair off. As a result of their violently transphobic behaviour, Jenny hascut all ties to her family and strives to live as independently as possible.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#32 Nicky Female Homosexual 25-34 Scottish OneHaving endured an unstable heteronormative relationship with an unfaithful partner and left to raise her daughteralone. Nicky later came out as a lesbian (circa five years ago at the time of our interview). A significant issue in herlife has been a sense of shame she has endured over her sexuality, heightened after having been raised in centralScotland as part of a deeply racist and homophobic family. Presently, Nicky is working to establish her own businessafter studying via a distance learning course. She has struggled to explain the split with her former partner to herdaughter, and has found romantic relationships difficult since the separation. She has attended counselling for manyyears for support in managing her autism though she is very conscious of her capacity to present as what she termed‘high functioning’. Nicky has also struggled socially as she feels out of place both as a lone parent and as a lesbian,however, she holds a deeply socialist philosophy and remains committed to practicing ‘radical leftist politics’whenever she can. She attributes her experiences as enabling her to foster ‘a great sense of empathy’ for thestruggles of others, including the marginalisation and persecution facing trans people and people of colour inScotland today.ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#33 Sasha Female Heterosexual 25-34 Middle Eastern OneMarried in 2010, Sasha and her then-husband left the Middle East just before the beginning of the Syrian civil war.She advised that she has endured many cultural anxieties as she moved northern Europe whilst trying to make her‘already failing marriage’ work. Thanks to her friendships with a lawyer, Sasha was able to access free legal aid duringher divorce, allowing her to leave a situation she feared she might be trapped in for life. Her experiences inScandinavia led her to believe that there are many alternative approaches to how the state supports families thatwould greatly improve the experience of parents in the UK. Though she was raised to believe that families shouldfind ways to make their relationships work for the benefit of their children, Sasha suggests that there have beenmany modernisations within Middle Eastern cultures that would make her status as a lone parent more sociallyacceptable little over a decade later.90ParticipantNumberCode Name Gender Sexuality Age Nationality Children#34 Jay Non-binary Pansexual 18-24 Scottish OneJay stated that their gender identity has long been a contentious issue for their parents, though both have becomehighly supportive in the aftermath of Jay’s separation. They stated that their parents continued to refer to them as‘their son’ and, as such, they worry that the same identity struggles their parents generate within them may bereplicated in their child as intergenerational trauma. Jay spends as much time out of the family home as possible, buthas been unable to hold down long-term employment. Their former partner invited them to move in together whenshe fell pregnant, however, the relationship broke down within six months and, when the child was less thantwo-months-old stated she wanted ‘nothing to do’ with Jay or the child. Jay, therefore, moved back in with theirparents out of necessity, but expressed an interest in returning to education in the near future.Participants Gender Sexuality Average Age Nationalities Average No. ofChildren34 Male: 7Female: 24Non-Binary: 3Heterosexual: 21Homosexual: 3Bisexual: 5Pansexual: 538.4 Scottish: 24Rest of the UK: 3Latin American: 1.5North American:0.5European 3:Asian: 1Middle Eastern: 11.65917. Analysis of Fieldwork: Overview & Emerging ThemesINTRODUCTIONThis chapter is dedicated to examining the PhD fieldwork, identifying consistent themes betweenparticipant responses, making connections to the core theories outlined within the Literature Reviewchapter, and signposting towards the new understandings detailed in the subsequent chapter,Theoretical & Practical Findings. It opens by (i) Assessing the BINM Approach In-action to assess howentering the field without a pre-prescribed set of questions fared; a conversational, dialogue-oriented,and participant-led approach influenced by Freire (1972), Fielding (2001), Mezirow (1990), Ross andMoore (2016), and Socratic methods (Gose, 2009; Delic and Bećirović, 2016; Wells, 1999) having beenfavoured. After assessing how effective the BINM was in fostering an environment for effectivediscussions, a series of (ii) Emerging Themes are examined; e.g. notions of control; treating the family asa single unit; and gendered social struggled), before attention is redirected to the (iii) Identification ofCore Themes - those that occurred in direct link to the four thematic discussion points. Finally, (iv) EarlyConcerns About the Pandemic are briefly acknowledged, demonstrating the situatedness of this researchnot only in geographical terms, but also with regards to its timing. The temporal nature pertains to the‘age of austerity’, but recognises that this work was also conducted immediately prior to and as theimpacts of the Covid-19 Coronavirus pandemic began to be felt.Questions over how authentic the perceptions of what lone parenthood and broader life in northEdinburgh is, what it has constituted, and the suggested hardships reported in the previous academicliterature as presented in the Literature Review are critically reflected upon. The presentation of thisanalysis is, therefore, offered under the same framing approach used for ‘Community Profiling’ aspresented earlier. As such, it addresses, in turn, the same three subsections - (i) North Edinburgh as aPolitical Community; (ii) North Edinburgh as a Place to Live; and (iii) North Edinburgh as an EconomicCommunity; with two further sections developed (iv) Transport Links within North Edinburgh; and (v)Artistic Responses to Life in North Edinburgh based on significant findings during the dialogues. Adoptinga systematic method were proposed by Christakopoulou et al. (2001), with my own two additionsintended to encompass a further practical element (transport links, both past and present) and creativeaspects to life in north Edinburgh (artistic responses). Each aspect either served as a focus during theinterviews or was, at least, touched upon enough to justify their addition. Furthermore, the analysisoffered under each subheading aspects signposts - where appropriate - to the in-depth analysis offeredon the range of emergent themes.Rather than merely a redrafting of the earlier Community Profile, this edition allows a richer, bettersituated, and, indeed, more intimate understanding to emerge. Moving away from the objectivestatistically-evidenced and historical account of the earlier chapter, the synthesised subjective responsesof the participants permit new knowledge that builds on the localised studies on north Edinburgh (e.g.Carlin, 2017; Greene, 2007; and Erskine and Breitenbach, 1994).(A) Revisiting the Community Profile:(i) North Edinburgh as a Political Community: As outlined during the Community Profile, northEdinburgh is, largely, understood locally to be an economically deprived but deeply politically consciousarea. Residents have formed an abundance of collectives and associations including the North Edinburgh92#SaveOurServices to AAM and the Muirhouse Anti-racist Campaign (Campbell, 2019); whilst in majorelections, a significant proportion of the electorate voted to secede from the UK, to remain in the EU,and have regularly voted to the left of the British and Scottish political spectrums. Much of this wasechoed across the fieldwork with regular mentions of voting for the SNP, Labour, and occasionallynaming the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP),62 as well as name-dropping particular politicians including localrepresentatives such as former-MSP Malcolm Chisholm, MSP Ben MacPherson, Councillor Cammy Day,and MP Diedre Brock. Several looser mentions were offered of then-Scottish First Minister NicolaSturgeon, then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, MSP John Swinney,63 and several former partyleaders such as former leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson, as well as Theresa May andDavid Cameron (both former British Prime Ministers). Similarly, those who have held positions ofrelevance to lone parent family lives or who currently hold relevant ministerial positions such as AngelaConstance (Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities, 2016-2018) and AileenCampbell (Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government, 2018-2021) featured in severaldiscussions. Numerous participants also outlined their roles in or relationships to aforementioned socialmovements centring on hyperlocalised issues - #1 Nick being amongst the most prominent members ofNorth Edinburgh #SaveOurServices - whilst others had been present during the Muirhouse Anti-racistCampaign (#4 Lachlan), had created tenant groups (#29 June) or boasted aspirations to enter intoelectoral politics (#19 Dan).The overall impression I was left with following the thirty-four discussions was that the participantcohort largely considered electoral politics in one of two ways: (i) by recognising and prioritising localpolitics and accountability (e.g. challenge Day, MacPherson, and Brock); or (ii) framing politics through anational lens of achieving independent Scottish statehood as a means for implementing social change.The latter frequently engaged in an anti-Tory and anti-cuts rhetoric, often as a suggested means forenabling an end to austerity - a sentiment redeployed during many elections both prior to and followingthe 2014 Scottish independence referendum. This observation will be further explored in subsectionconcerning Lone Parenthood as a Politically Transformative Experience, with numerous participantsemphasising how their status as sole provider and carer influenced their personal politics, increasedtheir consciousness and awareness of the relationship between the welfare state and parenthood (e.g.#10 Rona), hardened their beliefs in the British union or Scottish secession (particularly amongst maleparticipants such as #6 Griff, #9 Frank, and #19 Dan), or fostered newfound empathy for numerousminority or marginalised groups (including people of colour, transgender people, those living withdisabilities, and refugee populations; e.g. #11 Louise, and #32 Nicky).(ii) North Edinburgh as a Place to Live: The fieldwork discussions reinforced the understandingsuggested in the initial Community Profile that, contextually64, lower rent prices were a major drivingforce for many residents moving to or remaining in north Edinburgh - particularly for those who didn’talready boast family histories of living in the area (e.g. #21 Edwina, #9 Frank, #5 Dee, #20 Nina, and #25Aiden - each of whom cited this as a key factor). For many, raising their families in north Edinburgh was,64 ABC Finance (2018) placed Edinburgh amongst the cities with the highest costs of living in the UK.63 Swinney was mentioned with regards to his role in children’s education.62 It’s worth noting that the Scottish Socialist Party have not stood independently for election since 2011 when theylast fielded candidates on the regional list accruing just 0.2% of the vote (8,272 votes) - significantly fewer thanScottish Senior Citizens Unity Party, the United Kingdom Independence Party, or the British National Party(Doleman, 2011). Voters in north Edinburgh were offered the opportunity to vote for RISE - Scotland’s Left Alliancein 2016 which the SSP were a part of, though they won less than 0.5% of regional votes (CommonSpace, 2016).93therefore, as much - if not more – of an economic decision as social factors and affordability. What Uysaland Jurowski (1994; though the field of Human Geography and Sociology more generally) term ‘push andpull factors,’ however, were not the sole reasons that resulted in participants finding themselves living innorth Edinburgh. For example, #2 Lawrence arrived through his EdIndex application; whilst #24 Pria wasplaced in the area (initially on a temporary basis); and for #18 Carol, it was the only affordable area inthe capital for her when she left her previous partner.Consequently, whilst those from outside of north Edinburgh - though particularly from outside ofScotland - spoke of trying to reduce their costs of living though maintaining manageable commutes totheir places of work65; participants with multi-generational histories such as #4 Lachlan, #2 Lawrence,and #16 Michael66 regularly highlighted the benefits they experienced through proximity to friends andfamily who were in a position to assist the participants with childcare indicating accuracy within theliterature. #30 Marie and #13 Cally were amongst those who have built their own social and supportnetworks in the time since they moved to the area – relationships which now serve as a reason to stay.The evidence collected by Third Sector organisations (OPFS, 2017, 2018) that emphasise the importanceof familial support for lone parent families - at least for those who maintain a relationship with theirrelatives (#32 Nicky, #10 Rona, and #31 Jenny who stressed the absence of this form of support due tofamily relationship breakdowns) - was also echoed.Several concerns were also raised about life in north Edinburgh, though much of it relevant to allresidents as opposed to specifically affecting the lives of live parent families. Fears around antisocialbehaviour from local young people with recent examples mentioned including a letter sent to all parentsof students attending Craigroyston Community High School; the blanket ban (with threats of arrests) onall youths from the designated ‘dispersal zones’ set up for Bonfire Night 2020 which included anyone inparts of Muirhouse and West Pilton (Happs, 2020; Hislop, 2020); and the ongoing issues aroundmotorbike theft (EEN, 2016). Similarly, mentions were made of the several young people who have beenarrested in relation to racist attacks (verbal and physical) in recent years - including against Polish,Chinese, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi residents (see NEYPF, 2014; Muslim Engagement & Development,2017).Something that was not considered within the Community Profile - receiving only a minor explicitmention during the interviews but that has been observed personally during my time residing in northEdinburgh - is that on the day of Edinburgh’s Pride Marches local buses were full of, primarily, youngadults sporting rainbow, bi-, pansexual, or transgender flags, and adorning make-up or face paints. Giventhat many hate crimes based on gender identity and sexuality have occurred locally in recent years (asnoted above) - alongside anecdotal accounts from many residents (including myself and several of thelone parent participants including, #10 Rona, #32 Nicky, #31 Jenny, #15 Sasha, and #22 Nomi) of beingsubjected to homophobia or other queerphobic behaviours. For such prominence to be given to queerlives and queer politics locally, even if it is from those generally leaving the area to take part in activitieslocated more centrally, is worthy of mention. Though there are certainly arguments and discussions to66 The high percentage of male participants who grew up locally noted familial support with childcare contrastedwith the several female participants who spoke of ‘going it alone’ (e.g. #21 Edwina, and #10 Rona).65 #21 Edwina cited this as the biggest reason she has never considered relocating despite her financial situationmeaning that she sleeps in the living room of her flat so that each of her teenage children may have their ownbedroom.94be had regarding the mass commercialisation and, therein, the depoliticisation of Pride (see e.g.McVeigh, 2009; Conway, 2022, Murray, 2022, understanding that such actions constitute (for the mostpart) informed choices to make oneself known in situations that, at times, risk physical harm, thesebecome deeply political decisions.67(iii) North Edinburgh as an Economic Community: Amongst the participants, a handful spoke ofcurrently owning or co-running their own businesses (e.g. #6 Griff; #32 Nicky; and #8 Mercy), with othersadvising they had a great degree of freedom to bring their children to work (#17 Meg). Many more,however, described their struggles with long term unemployment (e.g. #11 Louise; and #1 Nick),precarious contracts (#18 Carol68; #9 Frank, and #4 Lachlan), and the challenges of trying to create apositive work-life balance (#3 Lindsay; #16 Michael, #9 Frank, #13 Kelly, #26 Winnie, #7 Cathleen, and#33 Sasha) - though others such as #5 Dee suggested they’d achieved a decent balance between thetwo. Even amongst those more fortunate financially, with the intention to open up their own businesses(e.g. #32 Nicky with her optometry), such participants were generally unable to do so due to theCovid-19 pandemic. Though she was far from alone in her experience during the pandemic - withdocumented instances of similar struggles throughout the UK available from Bellis (2020), Rust (2020),Clinton (2020), and Murray (2020) - her lone parent status and singular reliance on her own income lefther in a particularly precarious financial position. As with the above two sections (the political and thesocial), the series of interviews afforded greater intimacy and insight into the economic lives of loneparent families in north Edinburgh.Given the rapidly increasing impact of Covid-19 on the lives of the lone parent participants, thoseinvolved within their own businesses or enterprises demonstrated significant self-awareness of theirfortunate positions of economic privilege. Participant #16 Michael, for example, stated that the informaleconomy would keep him afloat, stating ‘I can’t image they’re likely to police spaces like car boot salestoo heavily. I’m sure me and my lad can keep that going.’ However, as noted throughout the economicsection of the earlier Community Profile, unemployment has, historically, been higher in northern areassuch as Granton, Muirhouse, and West Pilton than in other parts of the Scottish capital. Concerns aboutsustained unemployment as well as access to education or training programmes were repeatedlyexpressed, indicating that the quantitative data largely aligns with the accounts shared via the qualitativeresearch. The participants involved in short-term contract or precarious work (including those involved increative spaces such as #30 Marie) projected that they might endure increased hardship depending onhow challenging distance working proved to be.(iv) Transport Links within North Edinburgh: A history that I’d been completely oblivious tobut that became apparent during the discussions was that of north Edinburgh’s former railway lines.Whilst the bus network (generally operated by Lothian Buses) was praised for its comprehensiveness by#16 Michael, #9 Frank, and #11 Louise, amongst others, it was, however, critiqued for the length of timeit takes to travel between points of the city (e.g. #12 Kelly who had been forced to sell her car after68 #18 Carol had already lost her job due to the cessation of the groups she ran for a local queer charity due to thepandemic. In contrast, #9 Frank was already classed as a Key Worker by the time our interview took place.67 Similarly, though it took place after the fieldwork was completed, many people of colour based in northEdinburgh - along with supporters of racial justice, equality, and accountability (including several interviewees) -were witnessed heading towards Holyrood Park (EH8 8HG) for the static and socially distanced Black Lives Matterprotest in June 2020 (Salmond, 2020; and STV News, 2020).95losing her job). Though the interviewees never experienced these train lines when they were still inoperation, several of the routes remain open as walkways. North Edinburgh once boasted several railwaystations, with stops at Granton, New Haven, Trinity, and Davidson Mains, yet these gradually ceased ascommercial lines during the 1950’s, 1960’s, and 1970’s. Of particular interest was the Leith - Granton linewhich closed permanently in November 1925 (Quick, 2002), with several interviewees mentioning thatthey lived in north Edinburgh but needed to find work in other parts of the city - the relationshipbetween travel times, care responsibilities, and work was a key concern for parents though especiallylone parents without support networks that could assist with out-of-hours childcare. This issue wasfurther highlighted when #12 Kelly and #3 Lindsay spoke of direct conflicts between the costs of privatecar ownership, reliance on others to accommodate or adhere to the lone parents’ transport needs,online access and the cost of delivery services, and navigating public transport with (potentially) severalyoung children and any goods purchased.(v) Artistic Responses to Life in North Edinburgh: Art was an element that didn’t really featureduring the discussions and, consequently, is perhaps an aspect of life in north Edinburgh that could bedirectly explored in future research. Though the cafe space in the local art centre (North Edinburgh ArtsCentre) served as the location for several of the initial interviews, creative arts – save for with #30 Marie- were only mentioned in relation to the participants’ children (e.g #2 Lawrance, #17 Meg, and #5 Dee).#2 Lawrence did run his own weekly youth club prior to the pandemic and #17 Meg led several youthgroups, yet, in this example, the art centre served as the venue for the sports class rather thannecessarily being related to their purpose. The conversations that did veer towards the arts primarilycentred around the interests of participants’ children (e.g. #2 Lawrence sharing his daughter’s drawingthat he kept in his wallet), with the occasional mention of opportunities offered through local youthclubs. Beyond this, several youth groups and community choirs do operate locally (e.g. Tinderbox, andthe Ama-zing Harmonies Community Choir), whilst the arts centre also hosts a recording studio.(B) Assessing the BINM Approach In-action:The selected research technique of BINM was chosen due to the freedom it afforded participants to takethe fieldwork discussions in whichever direction they felt was most appropriate based on the SQIN (thatinitial prompt), therein presenting their lived biographies in their own narrative terms and with whateverstructure worked for them. Though the earliest interviews occurred as intended, with both actors(interviewer and interviewee) sat in a secluded location within pre-identified community spaces (e.g. theNorth Edinburgh Arts Centre cafe) or another venue at the participant’s request (e.g. their workplaceafter hours), the Covid-19 Coronavirus pandemic and subsequent phases of lockdown implemented bythe Scottish Government (2020a; 2020b; 2020c) and UK Government (2020a; 2020b) required significantadaptations to the setting in which interviews occurred. As I chronicled in Campbell (2021, pp.574-575):‘[t]hough early interviews had taken place in community centres (participants #1 Nickand #2 Lawrence), public cafes (participant #11 Louise), and in the interviewee’sworkplace after hours (participants #3 Lindsay and #6 Griff), the interviews involvingparticipants #10 - #34 took place online utilising either video or audio facilities onWhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or phone calls with the discussion recorded (onceconsent had been gained) on a Dictaphone. The intended approach of conducting theinterviews in neutral venues was designed to avoid confusion or blurring the distinctions96between neighbour, practitioner, and academic researcher, whilst also supporting localbusinesses by purchasing coffee for both the participant and the researcher whenutilising these local facilities. Fortunately, the original ethical approval application hadincluded opportunities for would-be participants to express a preference forover-the-one interviews where this was preferred over in-person discussions, andconsequently no adaptations were required from an ethical perspective.The shift to utilising video technology drastically altered the interview dynamic as boththe researcher and the interviewee now found themselves presented, at least partially,with the other’s home, bringing with it (or perhaps risking) exposure to their familymembers, home decor, and often amusing interruptions from pets (mostly on theresearcher’s end). So too, however, it brought additional research challenges, of whichthe physical distance was perhaps the most significant. When participant #4 Lachlanbroke down momentarily at the commencement of his in-person interview due to thenature of his ‘pathway to lone parenthood,’ it was possible for the researcher to bringhim a tissue from the interviewee’s kitchen; however when participant ##25 Aidenneeded to interrupt the interview to compose themself, it was still easy enough for theresearcher to give them a moment alone by pausing the recording. Although it waspossible for embodied sympathy to be conveyed through the digital mediums whenvideo technology was the preferred medium, the physical distance seemed to extendinto the emotional. This was emphasised by two instances in which participantsrequested audio-only interviews during which moments of silence and attempts to offeremotional space may just as easily have been misunderstood as merely waiting for theparticipant to resume talking, or worse concern that the phone call had been cut off.Though there is certainly further consideration to be given to the impact of bearingwitness to each other’s appearance and the impact this has (e.g. perceived professionaldress, tattoos, piercings, etc.) in-person or over video, the primary conclusions heremust acknowledge the struggle to comfort participants at a distance (either visually oraudibly).’What became obvious through these online dialogues was that witnessing each other's homes andunintentionally encountering members of their family created an unintended intimacy betweenresearcher and participant. These discussions no longer exclusively involved the narration offered by theinterviewee, but several respondents likened the space offered by the BINM and its dialogically-informedapproach to a counselling session in the way they were permitted to speak openly and uninterrupted(#21 Edina, #26 Kim, and #32 Nicky amongst them). Others stated that they welcomed the opportunityto converse with another adult due to the social isolation they had already endured in the earliest stagesof the Covid-19 outbreak and the imposed lockdown. In addition, though a wealth of accommodationswere intended to permit the research interviews to take place at the time and day which best suitedparticipants (generally when their children were still at school or at after-school clubs), the pandemicresulted in an unexpected range of responses with the plan of controlling my identities as an academic,activist, and local resident no longer possible due to the home environment setting.Unexpectedly, in several instances, the lone parent participants encouraged their children to wave to thecamera and occasionally - such as with #18 Carol and #21 Edina - they asked their child to tell me about97their experiences of having only one parent or indeed how they navigated having multiple families. Oneparticularly joyous moment occurred when a young boy, at his mother’s prompting, nervously showedhis painted red nails to the camera, enabling me to display my own varnished black nails into the camera,bringing a massive smile to the child’s face. With several of the early interviews having taken place whilstchildren were in school, the aforementioned intimacy created by home-to-home video dialoguesresulted in numerous positive moments between the researcher, the interviewee, and (at times) theirfamily, which would never have taken place within the approach of entering neutral spaces.Though the central actors within this PhD are the lone parent participants and without their interest,candour, and cooperation, the research would not have been viable, the following is produced largely asan autoethnographic account of several of the interview sessions, documenting key moments or changes(voluntarily or forced) that took place as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Written in a first-personnarrative so as not to impose or project my own thought processes onto the research participants, theintention here, with its emphasis on the emotional, physical, and other sensory experiences, is to offeran immersive take on the fieldwork experience by taking account of aspects that may otherwise havebecome lost in the analysis69 (Hedican, 2006; Geertz, 1973; Caretta and Jokinen, 2017). Hedican (2006,p.17) is amongst those to stress the importance of such considerations, stating that ‘despite theimportance […] of experience in fieldwork, there nonetheless is a dearth of critical or analyticaldiscussions of it in the literature, aside from the various descriptive accounts of this phenomenon.’Arguing that this absence ‘suggest[s] that the importance of experience as an epistemological factor inqualitative research should be a matter of greater concern in the qualitative methodology literature’,Hedican (2006) encourages social science researchers to sincerely engage with elements that havehistorically been better addressed within feminist, queer, and intersectional approaches to qualitativeresearch (see also Young and Lee 1996, and Caretta and Jokinen, 2017).Others, such as Hubbard et. al. (2001, p.120) term this type of understanding as ‘emotionally-sensedknowledge’ whilst suggesting that this account might be termed ‘confessional tales’ from the field - atechnique that Sparkes (1992) suggests is ‘distinguishable by their [its] personalized style that emphasizeand elucidate the researcher’s point of view.’ Thus, if we accept the emotional components withinfieldwork apply not only to the ‘risks’ incurred by raising ‘sensitive topics’ during the interview (Lee,1993) and acknowledge that both ‘[t]he emotions of the respondent and also those of the researcherare likely to influence and inform our understandings of the topic under investigation, then [... b]ydiscussing the role of emotion in research we [can better] explore some of the ways in which emotionimpacts on our understandings of the data’ generated by the current fieldwork (Hubbard et. al., 2001,p.121). Furthermore, the same researchers suggest that the emotional componence to practice involvesthree distinct but non-separable phases:‘First, there is the ‘emotional labour’70 (Hochschild 1983) of a researcher. For instance,during fieldwork the researcher may encounter emotionally disturbing situations, [and70 ‘[D]efined as the type of work that involves feelings and may be contrasted with physical or task-oriented labour’(Hubbard et. al., 2001).69 ‘Researchers are not just situated on the margins of the community life that is studied; they are also an integralcomponent of the knowledge that is gained and processed. As such, the researcher’s inner experience of thisendeavor is an important facet of how it is that we come to understand understandings not our own’ Hedican(2006, p.23).98therein] find themselves in situations where emotional support for the respondent iscalled for. Through encounters and experiences in the field, a researcher may also reflecton their own lives and personal situations which in turn, may induce feelings about theirsense of self. Second, there is the role of ‘emotionally-sensed knowledge’ [stemmingfrom Hanyano, 1990] in the research process. This refers to the epistemology ofemotion, where emotion contributes towards understanding and knowledge. Theresearcher uses their emotion in the field, in discussions with colleagues, duringpersonal reflections and when analysing the data, to gain insight and give meaning totheir interpretations of the subject that they are investigating. Third, there is a sociologyof emotion [whereby] a researcher may describe the types of emotion that respondentsexpress and they may also interpret the nature of the rules that govern the presentationof feelings, which are subject to these rules, within particular social settings.’Consequently, the interactions with the participants considered below were selected in order to conveya diversity of settings, sensations, and sounds as I experienced them in my role of researcher during theinterviews, whilst also providing greater context to the physical settings in which the fieldwork tookplace.Hedican (2006, p18) has proposed that self-reflection and communication enable the researcher to‘connect the personal to the cultural,’ adding that ‘an important aspect of the introspection process thatwould serve to illuminate more fully the ethnographer’s personal experience [via] a focus on theemotional aspects of qualitative research.’ To an extent, this has been noted in other sections of thethesis when describing interactions such as #2 Lawerance asking whether he could show me hisdaughter’s drawings or when #4 Lachlan provided a tour of the awards and trophies his daughter hadwon through her sporting prowess. These elements would ordinarily not have appeared in the transcriptbut would be more commonly expected within an ethnographic investigation or fieldwork diaries(Owton and Allen-Collinson, 2013). They do, however, tie into concepts of ‘role performance’ (ibid.)which may stem from either the capacity in which the participant and I were engaging or may be a directbeneficial consequence of creating a space which provided the participant with an opportunity to talkfreely about their children; indeed, a more emotionally settled #4 Lachlan looked proudly upon aphotograph of his daughter competing and stated gently ‘she’s the reason I do it’. Whether he meanthow he found the motivation to strive on after losing his partner, or if he’s re-focused on the politicalcomponents of building for a better society is unclear. The pride, however, shines through. Hedican(2006), however, is far from alone in this hypothesis, with Ellis (1991, p.45), for example, proposing that‘sociological introspection provides a way to look at the lived experience of emotions, but it requires thatwe [also] study our own emotions’ by connecting sensory and non-verbal communications to thetranscribed dialogues - therein creating a more holistic representation of the fieldwork interactions andenabling a ‘richer’ analysis.As noted in Campbell (2021, p.575) ‘[t]he intended approach of conducting the interviews in neutralvenues was designed to avoid confusion or blurring the distinctions between neighbour, practitioner, andacademic researcher, whilst also supporting local businesses by purchasing coffee for both theparticipant and the researcher when utilising these local facilities.’ For example, during the interviewwith #1 Nick, we met in a local cafe space within the arts centre and were, therefore, surrounded bynoise, families eating, friends catching up, or colleagues grabbing a quick chat over a coffee. Ordinarily,99this would, perhaps, constitute an environment that may not necessarily have been ideal for such anintimate and personal discussion, but it was, nevertheless, a setting that the participant themself hadproposed. Whilst the space was filled with noise, the Dictaphone was close enough to #1 Nick to pick upeverything he shared. Yet, when we compare this to the interview with #4 Lachlan, he and I met in hishome, surrounded by his own artworks, photographs, and furniture, accompanied only by the cyclicalsound of his washing machine. It was a deeply private setting, and though similar topics were addressed,the atmosphere was far more intimate, silent at times, and openly upsetting when the conversationturned to his late partner (something less likely to occur in a public space). Others, such as#5 Dee, and#24 Pria have been selected for the below sampling to convey the differences in dynamic and context ofbefore and after social distancing guidelines came into place, requiring the use of digital communicationmethods - be that over-the-phone discussions whilst children were at school, in the middle of thechildren’s dinner, or after they were tucked up in bed.Phase #1: The In-person Interviews (Public and Private Settings)#1 Nick: Though we’d know each other for several years, almost since I first moved to north Edinburgh,#1 Nick and I had rarely spoken one-to-one on topics beyond our shared political interests, beliefs, andactivism - particularly at the local level. Though I was aware of his status as a lone parent, the revelationsand experiences he was kind enough to share during our discussions conveyed a far less confident,uncertain, and even anxious side than I'd been afforded sight of previously. This became particularlyapparent when he spoke of his younger self and the build-up to the successful (from his perspective)court case, in which he represented himself, that saw his son start to live with him instead of the child’smaternal grandmother.71 Until this point (that is, our fieldwork discussion), his demeanour and actions asa community leader, an articulate spokesperson ready to challenge the City of Edinburgh Council, and anall-round activist, formed almost my entire impression of him - the exception being that we encounteredeach other infrequently during one of my degree course placements whilst #1 Nick was running acooking class for local parents. Yet, it transpired that the ways he has matured as an individual, how hehas come to understand his personal struggles with depression and substance abuse, as well as engagingin low level criminality following separation from the mother of his child, are the very ‘events’ thatfacilitated this growth into the person he is today. Based on our dialogue, the older Nick - the one I'venow come to now know in a new light - is, I believe, entirely deserving of his social standing as arespected community leader, possessing lived experiences mirroring issues many people across northEdinburgh have benefited from or endured, affording him a unique position locally. These insights rangefrom receiving an education at the local college to accessing - then volunteering - with severalcommunity-based services, and his various encounters with the local police, whilst his capacity tomotivate and rally others to the causes detrimentally affecting his community suggests many others seehim in a similar light.Meeting in a community space that we were each familiar with72 created a sense of comfort for both ofus as hoped for when preparing for fieldwork that centres on such potentially distressing and sensitive72 Something McConnell-Henry et al., 2014, p.3) describe as essential in prompting researchers to ‘offer[...] a safeand comfortable setting in which to “open-up”’.71 This having been the case since the child’s mother (Nick’s former partner) had been hospitalised and eventuallysectioned due to her poor mental health.100topics. Our pre-existent peer activist relationship73 seemed to create an atmosphere of ease as wegrabbed a seat at the far side of the cafe. No children were in the play area so, despite the busyness ofthe cafe, we were able to hear each other quite clearly from around a metre apart. #1 Nick wasappreciative of the offer of a coffee and, as we settled down to begin the interview, he appeared tocode-switch a little from the casualness of five minutes earlier when we greeted each other to a morebusiness-like demeanour - as if intent on sharing serious insights and experiences relating to his life as alone parent during our chat given the uniqueness and contest of this encounter. Knowing thethoroughness with which he prepared his previous statements addressing the City of Edinburgh Councilduring previous campaigns (several of which we have both been involved in), I would not have beensurprised if #1 Nick had taken a notepad out of his bag, listing key points he had identified following myinitial explanation of the PhD project over-the-phone a few days earlier. I believe my observations of theseriousness with which he was engaging in the project are validated by the fact #1 Nick was the onewho, already rising to grab his walking stick, proposed that we relocate to a quieter part of the buildingto continue the interview after a few more families entered the cafe to have lunch. Though I’d neverused it previously, #1 Nick led me to the elevator as we moved to a more private space on the first floor.Sitting almost directly across from each other, just off-centre at our circular table - seemingly at the onlyseating area upstairs - #1 Nick was more familiar with the upper level than me. I’d only been in this partof the building once before when meeting with a former colleague who’d started a job with a charityinvolved in an office-share a little further along the brightly lit corridor. Every member of staff whopassed our table acknowledged us both. With the exception of the centre manager and a young personto whom I was once their youth worker, #1 Nick was certainly more familiar with them, telling me theirnames and providing a rough outline of each person’s role or the community groups that they attended.We were left largely in peace for the duration of our interview and, as if to illustrate both how wellconnected he is socially and the seriousness with which he took the discussion, he led me round twoseparate tables in the cafe, introducing me to other lone parents (of which #2 Lawrence immediatelyoffered to be interviewed there and then). Ever a community leader, and eager to help #1 Nick suggestedthat we use the same table upstairs for this second interview.#4 Lachlan: Like #1 Nick, I’ve known #4 Lachlan for a while - circa four years at the time of our interview.Perhaps slightly hot-headed when he believes someone is acting disrespectfully towards those whom hecares about - an issue he raises regarding the first time he witnessed men on the street objectifying hisyoung daughter (who was aged thirteen in the story he shares), but also something that has occurredwhen incidents of a racist, sexist, or homophobic nature have taken place in his presence - he’s been acommitted activist, and always seemed a driven individual. Now, seemingly matured andpolitically-seasoned, he is increasingly calculated in the battles he chooses, both politically and socially.This is something that credits to his age. Now with an adult daughter, I’m fortunate enough to know bothof them quite well, though, once again, as with #1 Nick, the majority of my previous interactions with #4Lachlan had occurred in a very set context of political and social activism. I would suggest, however, thatof the thirty-four research participants, #4 Lachlan is the one with whom I came closest during thefieldwork to navigating what Owton and Allen-Collinson (2013) term ‘the dual researcher-friend role.’7474 Tillmann-Healy (2003) argue that some researchers and interviewees ‘come and stay together primarily throughcommon interests, a sense of alliance, and emotional affiliation; in friends, we seek a gamut of elements such as73 McConnell-Henry et al. (2014, p.2) identify such familiarity as a deeply under-researched area arguing that the‘effect this prior knowledge may have on the research and the researcher’ demands consideration.101From the times he’s voiced his opinions, proposed points of action, or chosen to speak out againstothers’ conduct within our usual shared spheres of interaction, my experience is that his actions aregenerally based on principled dissent and his conscience. I also became increasingly aware during ourdiscussion that his beliefs stem from how he understands issues as affecting others in his life (streetharassment, sexism, racism, transphobia, the asylum process, etc.). He’s someone whom I would, for themost part, align with quite readily on most issues, however, this was the first time that I had entered intowhat had been his family home even prior to the daughter’s birth. Entering the building, therefore,constituted a choice to blur the boundaries of our previous exclusively political dynamic - demonstratingthe capacity Ellis (2007), Tillmann-Healy (2003), and Owton and Allen-Collinson (2013) highlighted forresearch to forever alter any pre-existing relationships. This concerns those I've termed in Figure #1 as‘known participants.’ Owton and Allen-Collinson (2013) go as far as to suggest that these ‘overlappingrelationships in the research may make loyalties, confidences, and awareness contexts much moredifficult for all [involved] to negotiate,’ though they also stress that ‘the research encounter mightconstitute merely a brief and relatively unimportant episode in an ongoing deep friendship oralternatively may require long-term commitment to the project, involving the revealing of intimate,personal information.’ Every step, therefore, was taken to contextualise the interview and promiseconfidentiality during initial contact with would-be participants, at the commencement of our sessions,and a reminder was stated afterwards.#4 Lachlan grew up in Muirhouse and - with the exception of his now adult child - his entire extendedfamily remain in Greater Pilton. Most of our social and cultural references for north Edinburgh overlap,though it becomes clear that there are an increasing number of buildings in other parts of the area thathave been repurposed or demolished since #4 Lachlan last visited without a set purpose of specificallyseeing his mother or uncle. Though around two decades apart, we both worked across many of the samevenues in Muirhouse and East Pilton, though the tumultuous nature of community projects and theprecariousness of funding means that several of the organisations or projects #4 Lachlan was onceinvolved and now go by different names or have been replaced by incredibly similar projects whenfunding needs dictated rebranding or reimagining. I’m conscious that to have acted as if I understood #4Lachlan’s north Edinburgh of some twenty years ago and longer would have not only been disingenuousbut also have failed to heed Smith et al.’s (2009) warning of being ‘wary of assuming[, perhaps, over]commonality of experience’ with my participants75 despite an already apparent abundance of overlapsor assumptions several participants had regarding my own knowledge of events, locations, or peoplefrom - sometimes significantly - before I moved to the area.Though the majority of Pilton and Granton features multi-storey flats, #4 Lachlan’s semi-detached housein the west feels as though it could just as easily be located down a side street in Granton or DavidsonMains. Everything from the garden to the fencing feels familiar, well-tended to but not pretentious. Thisis the first interview to take place in a participant’s home rather than a community centre, workplace, or75 Similarly, and perhaps of greater relevance, is Owton and Allen-Collinson’s (2013) concern that, in dealing withsensitive issues such as grief, that our participant ‘wants our sympathy’. The reality of interviews, like with #4Lachlan, are that these events happened many years prior, and the interviewee has dealt (or not) with them intheir own way.trust, honesty, respect, commitment, safety, support, generosity, loyalty, mutuality, constancy, understanding, andacceptance’.102coffee shop and though we know each other well enough, I’m highly conscious that #4 Lachlan’s reactionto the topics raised during the interview could have gone down possible extremes that would, arguably,otherwise not be as great of a risk when chatting in a relatively neutral venue like the arts centre. Giventhe comfort of his own home, there were opportunities to refer to specific items he had to-hand thatrelated to the stories he shared, or to take space as he needed it without any awkwardness of theparticipant stepping out of a coffee shop to stand alone. There was, however, also the risk that such aprivate setting and the significance of it to him could easily cause the themes of our dialogue orquestions for clarity to feel like an intrusion into his life - as if breaching what ordinarily served as a safespace, a personal retreat, by bringing a non-family member into it. I also know that despite our ‘intimatefamiliarity’ (Hanyano, 1990, p.100), the circumstances of his ex-partner’s passing are something I’venever heard him openly discuss. Fortunately, through a combination of our participant agreement, thetrust exhibited in agreeing to take part,76 and a pre-existent mutual respect created an easy atmosphere.We took breaks as necessary, and grabbed a coffee in his kitchen later midway through the interviews toallow distance from particularly emotional topics whilst he showed me the flowers he’s been growing.When the interview was over, #4 Lachlan caught the bus back into town with me and our conversationreturned to much the same topics we’d usually discuss. All seemed well.Phase #2: Covid-19 & Digital CommunicationAs noted above, over-the-phone and video call interviews were always intended to be offered as optionsfor would-be participants. At the onset, the hope was that a majority of the fieldwork would beconducted face-to-face using neutral venues so as not to overstep particular boundaries betweenresearcher and participants. In part, this was due to the complexity of insider-research positionalitygiven my own residency in north Edinburgh, bringing with it the reasonable assumption of regular futureencounters whilst we went about our own daily business when highly personal information may havebeen shared during the interview. The onset of the Covid-19 Coronavirus pandemic brought about arapid halt to face-to-face discussions, and it was decided when the first recommendations came from theScottish Government (2020) in mid-March 2020 that, for the protection of all parties, utilising alternativemeans of communication would constitute best practice physically and ethically. ‘[I]nterviews involvingparticipants #10 - #34 [therefore] took place online utilising either video or audio facilities on WhatsApp,Facebook Messenger, or phone calls with the discussion recorded (once consent had been gained) on adictaphone’ (Campbell, 2021, p.575). However, as noted in Campbell (2021, p.571) ‘[t]he subsequentclosure of many community-based institutes through which recruitment had been intended to take placerepresented a significant challenge to completing the investigation.’ The following examples, thus, offeran indication of the differences between the in-person interviews, as described above, and the distancemethods or those that took place during the Covid-19 period.#5 Dee: In the first over-the-phone discussion to take place, the initial wave of physical distancingguidelines and the early indication of the impending social lockdown was not held fully realised. I felt76 FitzGerald (1995) argues that this is ‘paramount to the participant opening up and sharing their experiences’,stressing that an ‘understanding of their situation’ - that is lived, social, economic, and political context of an area -can help facilitate this. McConnell-Henry et. al. (2014, p.3) similarly propose that ‘when the researcher andparticipant have a pre-existing relationship the stages of rapport building are rapidly accelerated’. Explicitlyopposed to situated relationships, however, Hammersley and Atkinson (1983) attest that ‘the researcher shouldaim to develop an empathetic rapport with the participant while concurrently preserving social and intellectualdistance’.103fortunate that I loosely knew the participant, #5 Dee, having met her perhaps twice previously, includingonce with her young daughter. As such there was a small degree of familiarity. Though it was not much, Ifelt it afforded me an easier first non-face-to-face interview than launching into what was a plannedoption for participants, but the circumstances of a suddenly impending global pandemic meant manypeople were already feeling uncertain. I want to thank #5 Dee for her understanding as we workedthrough minor language barriers without the opportunity to witness each other’s body language -something Hochschild (1983, p.32) raised when stressing that ‘we infer other people’s viewpoints fromhow they display feeling[s].’ Though the transcript demonstrated a less dense conversation than severalother interviews, the slower pace of this dialogue was a vital practice in navigating difference. Theconversation took place once #5 Dee’s daughter was asleep, enabling a free flow of conversation withoutconcerns that the child may hear information that were not privy to.#24 Pria: This is the only participant to advise that, regardless of the social context and physicaldistancing required by the Scottish Government 2020), she was only interested in taking part viaaudio-only phone call. This, she stated, was down to the cultural stigma around lone parenthood shedescribed within Indian culture and the social anxiety she felt as a result of the abandonment she andher son had been subjected to by her former partner, the child’s father, who - as stated in the ParticipantBiographies section - started cheating on her some months before she and their son joined him inEdinburgh. As a result of her preference for an audio-only discussion, #24 Pria’s interview was, beyond afew issues regarding my accent, amongst the most straightforward and easy-going digitally-conductedsessions during the fieldwork stage conducted during the pandemic. She was eager to avoid any risk ofbeing recognised in the street after our interview, which she stated was down to her difficult andemotionally sensitive history. As she expressed during the conversation, it is unlikely that she would haveagreed to take part had she not been in as secure, safe, and settled a position by the time of ourinterview.A topic addressed in the first publication to stem from this Ph.D., Campbell (2021, p.575) advises that:‘The shift to utilising video technology drastically altered the interview dynamic as boththe researcher and the interviewee now found themselves presented, at least partially,with the other’s home, bringing with it (or perhaps risking) exposure to their familymembers, home decor, and often amusing interruptions from pets (mostly on theresearcher’s end). So too, however, it brought additional research challenges, of whichthe physical distance was perhaps the most significant. When participant #4 Lachlanbroke down momentarily at the commencement of his in-person interview due to thenature of his ‘pathway to lone parenthood’, it was possible for the researcher to bringhim a tissue from the interviewee’s kitchen; however when participant #25 Aidenneeded to interrupt the interview to compose themself, it was still easy enough for theresearcher to give them a moment alone by pausing the recording. Although it waspossible for embodied sympathy to be conveyed through the digital mediums whenvideo technology was the preferred medium, the physical distance seemed to extendinto the emotional. This was emphasised by two instances in which participantsrequested audio-only interviews during which moments of silence and attempts to offeremotional space may just as easily have been misunderstood as merely waiting for theparticipant to resume talking, or worse concern that the phone call had been cut off.104Though there is certainly further consideration to be given to the impact of bearingwitness to each other’s appearance and the impact this has (e.g. perceived professionaldress, tattoos, piercings, etc.) in-person or over video, the primary conclusions heremust acknowledge the struggle to comfort participants at a distance (either visually oraudibly).’(C) Establishing Themes:The BINM approach enabled me to develop a sense of whether the themes shown in the transcriptsreflected the understandings of lone parenthood within the related literature, as well as in the diverserange of intersecting identities and lived experiences more broadly. During this analysis phase, (i) Desirefor Control Over Immediate Environment; (ii) Parenthood as A Politically Transformative Process; (iii)Family Becoming a Singular Unit; (iv) Relationship to Work; (v) Broader Social Support; (vi) GenderedStruggles; and (vii) Discussing Lone Parenthood with Child(ren), were overtly consistent themes andconstitute a similarity in lived experiences, to some extent, amongst the thirty-four participants. In orderto fully understand the significance and nuances of these seven emergent themes, it’s vital to ensurethat the reader engages with them in-context. As such, the following paragraphs provide immersivecontextualisation through the responses of the participants, highlighting particular concerns orcomments.Like with Riggs et al. (2021, p.10) ‘key themes were developed through a process of repeated readings ofthe initial data, and developing codes into coherent thematic groupings.’ When combined with regularre-listens of the audio-recorded interviews - a format that allowed for a more intimate experience of theemotions and intonation of the discussions than could occur through exclusively re-visiting thetranscriptions - the humanity of the participants remained intact in a manner that would otherwise havebecome lost. McNeill (2021) is amongst those to have stressed that social science research frequently -in essence - steals people’s stories as it ‘simplifies, flattens and distorts them [in] ways that […]alienates, marginalises and excludes people.’ The limitations of the doctoral submissions mean that,precisely as with Riggs et al. (2021), ‘the quotations included in the results are indicative but notexhaustive of each theme,’ but rather ‘representative.’In his investigation of the lives of lone fathers in California (US), Jones (2021) adopted a similarly analyticapproach which, generating eight themes: ‘(a) societal stressors, (b) the aftermath of separation fromchild’s mother, (c) the reason for separation from child’s mother, (d) hands-on work in raising a child andaccomplishing chores, (e) economic stressors, (f) help in caring for a child, (g) motivated by own child todo better, and (h) developed ‘resilience’.7.1 Desire for Control Over Immediate Environment:A desire for control was observed amongst those who had experienced all manner of ‘paths to loneparenthood’ and, generally, involved working to establish a sense of security and stability for the loneparent and their child(ren) after divorce, death, separation, or after a decision to ‘go it alone.’ This wasparticularly prominent in situations of risk and trauma concerning the primary caregiver, their child(ren),or both parties (including coerciveness, violence, or abandonment). For several participants (including #3105Lindsay, and #12 Kelly), a lack of financial control and the perceived removal of agency to challenge theircircumstances was a major source of anxiety and stress. This extended to those with experiences of lifein refugee centres and emergency accommodation, ostracization from relatives (either via abandonmentor active exclusion from family events, for example, relating to sexuality and entering new romantic orsexual relationships).Such stress also manifested when participants spoke of trying to address harms from situations involvingabuse of power. In some instances, this stemmed from sexual abuse and financial exploitation duringprevious intimate relations (though not exclusively involving the co-parent or former partner77),drastically impacting many participants’ self-perceived capacity to build trusting relationships duringwhich another adult may come to assume partial responsibility for the child’s welfare. In other cases,however, this desire for forms of control (arguably inclusive of financial or housing security) resulted inradical individual transformation with examples ranging from a participant’s capacity or desire to returnto or enter work, training, education with a view to improving the life circumstances of their family (e.g.#20 Nina, #16 Michael, #28 Lucy, #29 June, and #12 Kelly), to the opposite choice, whereby otherparticipants chose to remove themselves from work commitments, as far as possible, to allow more timewith their children (e.g. #3 Lindsay, #4 Lachlan, #33 Sasha, and #17 Meg). At times this requiredremoving themselves from their children temporarily or longer term (e.g. #33 Sasha), though in otherinstances (such as #1 Nick, and #16 Michael) such transformation meant becoming the primary carer.Others detailed their ambitions to implement larger scale change, such as #19 Dan who intended toenter politics to challenge social attitudes towards fathers (relating to the following subsection). #33Sasha’s decision to encourage her son to move in with his father and step-mother to enable her tore-enter education for her personal and professional development was an approach she, herself,believed to be highly unusual, but necessary.‘It wasn’t so much a discussion, rather I told him [her son], you're going to live with your dad andstep-mummy now. Mummy need some space to work on herself for a while’- #33 Sasha#17 Meg also raised this idea of control and fostering a sense of agency in her kids, stating that her olderdaughter (aged sixteen) wanted more say in which of her parents she stayed with each night (herbiological mother, biological father, or the mother’s ex-partner who had also raised her). Whilst notarticulated in the same explicit manner, the younger daughter (aged ten at the time of our interview)was struggling - prior to #17 Meg’s current partner coming into her life - with what was for her the firstparental split she’d known. #20 Nina communicated similar ambitions, but contextualised them inrelation to her financial precarity:‘Money was always tight. I mean, I came across to the UK to be a care worker, but, at the time, Iwas a bit… I don’t know… young and dumb. I mean, I don’t regret my kid at all. I'd alwayswanted babies. But, I probably would’ve stayed together with him [the ex-partner] for longer tolook after the kid, but it was a bit of a relief when we broke up. I’d been a stay-at-home mumsince we moved to Edinburgh and when he revealed that he’d met someone else I got my life77 As had been the case for #23 Pam who stated she had ‘never really felt like a lone parent’ until separating fromthe partner she had been with for the first four years of her child’s life.106back on track and - tough as it was - I got myself into work. If it happened today and I was in thesame situation, when I know how tight money is, I would definitely have moved back toGermany. It would have made the housing situation much easier.’Her financial struggles not only fostered an intense level of what she termed ‘comradery’ with other loneparents, yet, even with her knowledge that trading childcare was helping out other lone parents, shecommunicated what I can only describe as feelings of guilt when others were caring for her children. Shesaid that though she ‘hugely appreciated others taking [her] kids for the weekend’ when she had examsafter returning to education, she could never shake the feeling that her children eating others’ foodmight be harming the caregivers' own tight budget.7.2 Parenthood as a Politically Transformative Process:The majority of participants had, themselves, been raised in north Edinburgh, with others migrating tothe area in later life - some before the birth of their children. There was a distinct understanding of northEdinburgh (more specifically what was Greater Pilton) as an area of, in many respects, severe multipledeprivation - in-keeping with the indicators within the SIMD (2016) – with various mentions of variouslocal issues during the discussions. These included perceptions of antisocial behaviour by local youths;and a lack of prioritisation by the state. Several interviewees, however, noted progressive initiativeswithin the local community (e.g. #11 Louise; #8 Mercy; and #17 Meg), whilst others praisedself-sufficiency via a group identity and a do-it-yourself approach (e.g. #29 June; #2 Lawrence; and #1Nick) where state provision was deemed to be failing. Several participants – including #1 Nick, #31Jenny; and #29 June) suggested that democratically elected representatives (at local council,Holyrood, and Westminster levels) rarely held authentic understandings of life in areas such as WestPilton, Muirhouse, and Drylaw. As such, some of the participants had taken it upon themselves either topresent evidence during consultations at the City Chambers, or had chosen to stand for positions astrustees on local community-based services. Often this was the direct result of a desire to protectexisting services and, by extension, members of the local communities from the ‘violence of austerity’(Cooper and Whyte, 2017). Occasionally this was supported by long-standing local services - aswitnessed with AAM and the North Edinburgh #SaveOurServices campaign (Di Marco Campbell,Forthcoming), whilst elements of this anti-austerity activist mentality were also seen historically in workfrom North Edinburgh Fights Back and the Muirhouse Anti-Racism Campaign (SEE, 1993).A significant number of the interviewees spoke explicitly about their personal politics, openly describingthemselves as ‘socialist’ (e.g. #26 Winnie, #4 Lachlan, #17 Meg, #9 Frank, and #32 Nicky), ‘socialdemocrat’ (#6 Griff), ‘anarchist (#5 Dee) or otherwise socially-inclined. For many, this manifestedforemost in significant efforts to self-educate on both the circumstances and political ideologies that hadled to their various situations (as occurred with the lone parent collectives AAM and Focus E15) andabout other people’s social, emotional, and political struggles (taking place through a combination oflearning from peer actions, engagement in electoral democracy, and witnessing or participating in socialmovements or protests; e.g. #6 Griff, #7 Cathleen, #1 Nick , #4 Lachlan, #9 Frank, and #8 Mercy). Indeed,political struggles around race, the politics of ethnicity, migration, gender, disability, and sexuality werefrequently raised organically during conversations - with participants either treating the topic in isolationor considering them explicitly as intersectional.107Political party allegiances and affiliations to a range of social movements emerged through acombination of discussions around familial values (generally those of their own parents) and lifeexperiences; however, very few participants perceived their becoming a lone parent as a transformativemoment in their politics in isolation. Instead, many participants detailed the impact of this status (e.g.having dependents whilst relying on a single source of income) as creating the circumstances throughwhich their education occurred organically. These experiences of being a lone parent - particularly forthose living in sustained poverty - repeatedly demonstrated an intimate understanding of social security,support systems, and the welfare state – each learnt by necessity or, as with #10 Rona – avoided entirely.In addition, the time that some of the participants had spent with local community organisations, usuallyfirst encountering them as service users (e.g. #1 Nick), offered exposure to the inner workings of theScottish Third Sector and its relationship to state funding. The presence or absence of support services(including bookbug groups, parent and toddler groups, information hubs, etc.) and the shiftingavailability of these mechanisms where they had previously existed created a tangible understanding ofthe impact of a politics of austerity at the societal level - even amongst those depicting themselves as‘less politically conscious’ than they perceived an average member of the electorate to be (e.g. #16 Kellyand #21 Edwina). Others such as #31 Jenny who was dealing with both familial transphobia and assaulton her, as well as being a young lone parent, felt it was their duty to become politically active in order tochallenge the forms of hate crime their families endured. In #31 Jenny’s case, her family had enactedextremely transphobic behaviours upon her and her child. Their own experiences, many intervieweesadvised, had fostered newfound empathy or sympathies towards individuals and communities inprecarious or insecure circumstances. Public struggles mentioned in several cases involved themarginalisation of trans folk and systemic violence towards black and other people of colour.Whilst perhaps not generally explicit in reshaping an individual’s openly stated values, the politics ofbecoming a lone parent were embodied or illustrated by certain actions or moments in the participants’lives. Participant #1 Nick, for example, described his experience of the courts whilst he sought custody ofhis son, citing this as the reason he learnt how to articulate himself, therein fostering a new confidencethat he has carried into his political activism in later life - including through campaigns such as NorthEdinburgh #SaveOurServices (NEN, 2019). #9 Frank, on the other hand, felt that his experience of thejustice system had been deeply discriminatory, motivating him to advocate for co-operation, wherepossible, between the parents post-split, to act in the best interests of the child(ren):‘Ah used to really believe in that, you know, Fathers4Justice approach, but the more Ilooked into it, the more I’m like “naw, you cannae do it that way. You’ve got to work withboth parties, work with the mother cause you’re both - ideally - after supporting thewee one.” The legal intervention and the solicitor should only be the last stage, so ifyou’re big enough, and strong enough, and daft enough to have a child then you’ve gotto be ready to engage in that and dedicate yourself to it. Otherwise, you’re really nomature enough to be a dad’.- #9 Frankhooks (1984), however, has countered suggestions that the process of ‘becoming’ (taken to meanexperiencing Freire’s [1972] realisations through conscientization and shared struggle) is, by default,politically transformative for individuals, their peer groups, or their communities. Rather, she suggests108that the reduction of - in this thesis’ context – a ‘family’ to a heterosexual two-parent household, has, attimes, resulted in the reinforcement of performative norms of gendered identity and patriarchalstructures (regardless of the gender of the lone parent). She cites the additional domestic and employedlabour (premised on the ‘norm’ being a two-parent household), along with the emotional and physicaldemands as central to many lone mothers deciding it is easier to passively accept gendered stereotypes(e.g. boys playing with police and military styled toys - guns, knives, etc.) than to challenge societalexpectations. This issue of particular toys being marketed towards young boys is demonstrated in mybelow photograph, taken of the window display at a newsagents in Muirhouse (on 12th April 2020) inwhich mock assault rifles, handguns, and handcuffs are promoted as ‘boy toys’. The support of suchstereotypical gendered behaviours, hooks (1994) suggests, extends to the clamping down on atypicalbehaviours in a child such as the disciplining of overly effeminate boys or particularly rowdy girls toconform more directly with historic norms, and was an issue raised by multiple lone parent participants(including #2 Lawrence; #4 Lachlan).Image #11: My own photograph of children’s toysdisplayed at a Muirhouse newsagents.Whilst some individuals such as #1 Nick underwent radically transformative experiences with regards topersonal confidence, literacy, and their desire to engage in broader community-based action, otherdiscussants struggled with diverging from expected behaviours (e.g. #4 Lachlan, #9 Frank, #13 Kelly, and#21 Edina). Amongst them, #4 Lachlan, for example, spoke of his fear that raising a girl by himself withhis perceived lack of female role models in his daughter’s life (despite the sustained involvement of thechild’s paternal grandmother) would lead to overtly masculine behaviours and could impact her latersense of self, her sexuality, but also how other children interacted with her during her adolescence.1097.3 Blended Families or Becoming a Singular Unit / Broader Social Support:Many of the interviewees readily advised that they now enter new relationships (be that romantic,sexual, or social) with an attitude that both they and their child(ren) must all feel comfortable in thepresence of any new partner - or partners in the case of polyamorous participants such as #22 Nomi and#25 Aiden. In several instances, participants recounted occasions when they had either consulted orsought counsel from their child(ren) about how the new relationship was going, stressing that theywould readily end any new relationship should the child(ren) feel anxious or express concerns about theemerging dynamics. At times, particular moments of breaches of trust - ranging from minor lies tomanipulative behaviours and sexual exploitation between the adult partners - had severely impacted theparents’ willingness to readily bring new adults into their child(ren)’s lives.This conscious decision meant solidifying the one-parent family as a singular unit rather than continuingtowards any form of traditional parenting partnership due to social pressures. In light of this, though byno means a universal experience, several participants advised that they were settled in their identity as alone parent, with no desire or inclination to actively seek out a new partner (#5 Dee, #21 Edina, and #19Dan). On occasion, those with older children stated that they had, in essence, put their own romantic orlove lives on hold to focus on raising their children (e.g. #4 Lachlan). However, postponing a personal lifehad frequently meant also delayed the interviewee from allowing themselves to experience the grief oftheir loss (#4 Lachlan; #7 Cathleen).In almost all instances where the participant was currently the primary caregiver, their role was generallyassumed and had rarely been an issue open to debate where a split had occurred between the birthparents. As such, all life plans were made either as or with a collective unit of the lone parent and theirchild(ren) in mind - often with any ex-partner uninvolved in core decision-making processes, though thiswas a source of conflict for non-primary caregivers such as #9 Frank and #19 Dan. Indeed, duringmultiple interviews, participants highlighted the bonds their central unit had formed, referring to theirchild(ren) as ‘their best friend(s).’ This was generally stated during the latter stage interviews withparticipants advising that they believed their kids were the best people to be experiencing the Covid-19lockdown with.hooks (ibid.) states that within heteronormative two-parent families, what she terms ‘mother love’ hasbeen largely unconditional. Naturally, there are many exceptions to this based on accounts offered offamily life generally, though also through biographical narratives of life within single parent households(e.g. Hunter, 2019). The breakdown or absence of such nuclear family types results, hooks (2004)suggests, in struggles amongst the father figure (where present) as they are often unable to create a lifefor themselves and the children in their care that aligns with the historically male-dominated patriarchalfamily archetype, noting the frequently arising frustrations with work and family life they endure. Sheadds, however, that such understandings are, largely, the result of white middle class forms of feministthought, arguing that women of colour had long documented the lives of working class and ethnicminority men who faced similar struggles and dissatisfaction facing those men who do not occupy peakpositions within white and middle or upper class led ideals, yet continue to ascribe – or are sociallysubjected to – these expectations.110One story #21 Edwina cited as a particularly emotive moment that caused a shift in her perspective overcare roles went as follows:‘Not long after he [her son] finally started going to the nursery, I came in to pick him upand he was bawling. I asked to the teacher “what happened? Why is he crying?”, andshe told to me that “it is because I wouldn’t allow him to paint.” I asked her why, and shesaid “because they were making Father’s Day cards and he doesn’t have a daddy.” Forme that was devastating! She just made me so angry that she deny to him [sic.] thisopportunity to paint. In the 21st century why, she doesn’t allow him to paint? She askedto me, “who would he make the painting for?” so I told her that he can give it to mebecause, in his life, I am everything for him; I do everything for him. In every way thatmatters, I am the daddy’.Unfortunately, this was not the only occasion that #21 Edwina’s son has been subjected to exclusionarypractices. Indeed, one teacher asked which country he was adopted from – owing to his mixed-raceheritage and #21 Edwina’s whiteness. On another occasion, a volunteer from an early learning groupdenied him entry to the group because, in her words, ‘she made it clear to me that she believed amixed-race child being taken to a group by a white mother demonstrated in he wasn’t “vulnerableenough” to need access to their group for struggling parents.’ Our discussion of the matter revealed that#21 Edwina’s understanding was that the volunteer believed that the child’s parents must still betogether. Despite the father’s absence from their lives, she tries to keep her son in touch with thiscultural heritage by exposing him to traditions from Scotland, Malta, and St. Lucia through variousmigrant-run community organisations.There was a range of blended family models involved in this study, bringing with it an abundance ofdifferent assumptions over what constituted ‘normal’. #17 Meg, for example, had had one daughter by amale ex-partner, while the younger daughter was a in co-parenting agreement with a friend. Both stillhave a relation with a later long-term female partner whom the children stay with two nights a week:‘[S]o, like, I am [the] primary carer though the kids are away usually two nights a week. I do thinkmy situation is probably a little more complicated that most families - even those that areseparated but still have both parents involved. Not in a bad way, just that with me being gay, Ithink it’s a tad complicated, especially with the kids having different dads and my ex-partner andme. My youngest daughter has a relationship with her dad so does stay there, and that’s beenthe case for two years, but, as I say, my ex-partner [female] did continue to live with me for quitesome time after we broke up. During that period, I was fortunate enough to have a spare room,so we had our own spaces. Had been rough with different living arrangements for each of thekids with so many parents involved and now I’ve got a ‘new’ partner; but, in all honesty, I thinkthat being a lone parent, for me, has truly been the easiest time of my life. No morecomplaining, less conflict, and no underhand behaviour.’111By comparison, #18 Carol’s ex-wife (a transwoman from the south of England78), is involved in their twochildren’s lives, though Carol and her wife are the primary carers. What these accounts demonstratethen, is that the range of participants boasted many unique family models, defying social norms, notonly of a nuclear family, but also as to how a lone parent family operates in-practice.7.4 Relationship to Work:Several of the interviewees discussed the dilemma they faced between living on a lower income (eitherthrough part-time employment or via reliance on social security) versus taking on full-time employmentwhich would mean losing time with their young children. For most who raised this issue, having to spenda significant proportion of their income on the additional childcare expenses was akin to an overall loss(e.g. #3 Lindsay; #5 Dee, #29 June, and #8 Mercy). This was particularly prevalent for those with noimmediate family nearby whom the parent could rely on - a situation faced for a variety of reasonsincluding physical distance due to migration and, therein, social isolation (#13 Cally, #5 Dee, and #24Pria), family breakdown (#31 Jenny, #8 Mercy, #10 Rona, and #32 Nicky), and loss or bereavement (#7Cathleen, and #4 Lachlan). Others, however, felt their financial capacity was greater than the primarycarer for their children, stating that, even with the additional cost of care, they believed they wouldprovide a better standard of living if their child resided with them instead.‘Free education has given me a lot more opportunities in life, but when you think aboutmy daughter who lives down south, I think a lot about her mother’s financial hardship. Ihonestly don’t think that she [daughter] would be living in that same hardship if she’dstayed up here with me.’- #9 Frank#9 Frank and his ex-partner were both teenagers when his then-partner fell pregnant. He spoke of theirdifferent life trajectories and the opportunities they had living in their respective nations. Their on-offrelationship meant that they never lived together, however #9 Frank believed that he had benefited fromopportunities available in Scotland-only (e.g. financial support in accessing higher and furthereducation), crediting this with his newfound financial security. Whilst #6 Griff advised he is generally verycomfortable financially, he linked his own income to the banking crisis in 2008. Reflecting on the crash,he stated ‘that’s when I noticed it! Literally overnight half my business just dried up. People just didn’thave disposable income anymore!’ - but even with that, he still believes he ‘do[es] better than most[other lone parents] for his children’. Another of the earliest participants, #3 Lindsay, advised that evenwhilst working a circa forty-hour-working-week, she believed that she was only around £300 better offeach month:‘I literally had weeks where I was feeding the kids and no’ myself. So, through my benefits…£700 was what I was getting and that became a one-off payment without anything else comingin for up to five weeks. And now, like, with full time employment I’m barely £300 better off a78 #18 Carol also disclosed that her former partner struggled with her mental health and was perhaps slippingtowards alcoholism as a result of a long-term battle with the health services in England for assistance with amedical transition.112month!’Indeed, the balance of employment and family life was the primary feature of #3 Lindsay’s conversation,with a clear conflict between comfort (‘full-time employment made the rent affordable even with thecost of extra travel’) and developing her relationships with each of her children (‘I honestly just felt I wasnever seeing them anymore’). #13 Kelly echoed this experience, advising that she had to work two jobsto afford costs that ran into several hundred pounds per month for her two kids to attend after schoolclubs. Her own health, however, meant that she was unable to maintain this highly demanding workpattern and when finances dictated an end to attending after school club, #13 Kelly said her daughter‘started to resent [her mother] cause she lost her main escape and a huge part of her social life.’Recounting the difficult of navigating this, she advised that ‘it meant I was working the whole summerand no seeing them. It meant it’s a toss-up between whether I’m better off being poor and seeing thekids or working full-time to bring in money but never seeing them.’This was something she struggled with, advising that her son would become frustrated with his family’spoverty – examples offered included being unable to get a bus into town with his friends or attend thecinema. ‘It’s horrendous,’ she advised, ‘having to have this kind of conversation with them [her kids]when they’re so young.’ Similarly, #3 Lindsay recounted stories of struggling to afford more than oneschool uniform for each of her children - even with ‘Back to School’ discounts or deals.‘I honestly feel that the financial strain and the emotional turmoil that I’ve been through hasaffected their education. It feels that the struggle – and being open about the difficulties we’refacing - has severely changed our relationship.’Further examples of frustrations between her financial situation and opportunities that savings would’vepermitted included her daughter being accepted to private schools based on her talents, yet the offerswere made based on a majority self-funding model, rendering this unaffordable. #3 Lindsay’s anger was,therefore, she stated, rooted in systemic exclusion of poorer and working class families without anabundance of funding readily available to invest in their children’s education. Though not an issue thatexclusively blocks working class lone parent families from accessing private education, #3 Lindsay’s senseof injustice was shared with other participants including #13 Cally, #12 Kelly, and #30 Marie, each ofwhom spoke both of a fear of failing to provide enough opportunities for their children but also of theirrage at the dismissal of talent, dedication, intellect, and ambition in favour of those with material andfinancial wealth. A number of other parents similarly advised that they had chosen to survive or ‘makedo’ with a lower level of income whilst their children were too young to attend nursery or school (#3Lindsay, and #26 Kim). This was a significant divergence from #6 Griff, for example, who advised thatwhen he and his partner split (both parents had been co-owners of an art studio) the single amicableaspect had been an agreement that their children would be taken care of financially (an informalagreement he terms ‘the settlement’).This theme does, however, directly correlate to the following subtopic regarding support with childcare,opportunities for the parent to safeguard their own wellbeing, and, latterly, to historical perceptions ofmale breadwinner identities. Those more comfortable financially - some with their own businesses (e.g#17 Meg, and #6 Griff) - had often undertaken acts of solidarity within their means. At times thisoccurred through financial donations or utilising the popularity of their businesses as collection points113for foodbank collections (#6 Griff); whilst for others donated their time to youth clubs, taking on sharedcare responsibilities in mutually reciprocal partnerships with other parents (#17 Meg).‘I always try to think globally and act locally. I mean, I’ve been pretty fortunate, man, andI was always taught - something a lot of folk don’t get taught - is that it’s okay to give alittle back. Even when I ran my previous shop, we wrote a cheque for over a grand to acharity that works with kids who’ve been abused and endured all kinds of shit. With thisshop, I’ve been able to partner up with the foodbanks and arrange Christmas drop-offs. Igive customers a wee discount when they drop off some food. It’s a win:win’.- #6 GriffLike #6 Griff,, #17 Meg was very conscious that her own financial status - managing multiple properties -places her in a far more comfortable economic situation than many others lone parents. This wouldinclude participants such as #20 Nina who went from a ‘stay-at-home mum’ to training to be a highschool English teacher. This, in part, was a necessity rather than a choice as her former partner ‘was afreelance gardener who never earned shit loads of money and was severely harmed by the economiccrisis.’ Likewise, #21 Edina’s situation became further financially precarious after her ex-husband decidedto pursue a relationship with his former mistress in Manchester. This, she suggested, meant he preferred‘to spend what income he had on visiting her rather than supporting his child.’ Later in the discussion,she said that in the last two years she’d ‘only seen £200 out of him.’ Whilst some separated families hadbeen able to continue to split childcare during the early stages of the pandemic and imposedwork-from-home remit, extensive travel requirements meant #20 Nina found this challenging to combinewith her full-time university degree. Though the father historically unwilling engage with childcare, thiswas, however, a dynamic #20 Nina felt was changing because of her ex-husband’s new partner‘smoothing over some of the rough edges’.A distinct diversity in experiences regarding support with childcare emerged along lines of migrationbackgrounds, with unique familial histories of sexuality and gender identity also significantly affectingthis (e.g. issues of ostracization or family breakdown). Participants with relatives in the immediatevicinity were, for the most part, able to take advantage of support with childcare, though splits withinfamilies had in several instances left the lone parent increasingly isolated through rifts based onnon-heteronormative relationships; as well as the breakdown of co-parenting situations or theabandonment the now-primary caregiver and / or their child(ren). Individuals with long term personalresidences or multi-generational legacies within north Edinburgh were, for the most part, able to rely ontrusting and supportive relationships locally - dynamics which permitted the lone parents to considerundertaking education, training, volunteering, or employment opportunities which they might otherwisehave been unable to take on. With the exceptions of #9 Frank, #26 Winnie, and #8 Mercy, very fewparticipants spoke of communities of faith - a finding, largely, in line with the declining percentage offollowers of most mainstream religions within Scotland and the UK more generally (NRoS, 2016).Several accounts of lone parent struggles during the lockdown period have emerged on corporate mediaplatforms - many detailing the loss of social, state, and corporate support. Booth (2020), for example,detailed the range of anxieties that emerged as lockdown intensified: ‘Who would look after mydaughter if I got ill? How was I going to shop for groceries with a child in tow? How would I work as wellas look after a child? Friends who suspected they’d had the virus spoke of exhaustion so deep they114needed four-hour naps – and these were people with supportive partners. How would I cope alone?’Like #15 Sasha and #21 Edina, Booth (2020) advised that she had chosen to be a lone parent from theonset, articulating how central familial support and her capacity to hire a private childminder were toher plans. Whilst Booth (2020) wrote from a position of affluence - exhibited by the examples ofactivities she missed including regular ‘cultural outings [and] weekends away’ - her support mechanismof ‘solo mother WhatsApp and Facebook groups’ mirrors the spaces #15 Sasha, #23 Pam, and #12 Kellyengage with on a regular basis. Booth’s (2020) concerns over the ‘mental health issues, financialconcerns, anger and impatience with their children, and resentment at coupled-up parent friends’exhibited within her support groups are issues frequently named in the local lone parent groups citedduring the interviews. Other lone mothers cited within Booth’s account included lone mothers advisingthat they had lost time for self-care (McIntyre, 2020), internalised concern and social isolation (ibid.;Mirza, 2020), physical exhaustion from frontline work (bid.), and the attempt to process grief throughloss of loved ones (Perry, 2020).‘That’s something I really wish I had made more effort to do [meeting more queer parents]. Allthe parents I really know are through the school and, as far as I know, they’re all heterosexual[...]. I do think it would’ve benefited me, but probably helped my kids as well to see and just bearound more queer families like ourselves. I do get the feeling that I’ve raised two queer childrenthough, so in terms of their accepting and openness, I’ve definitely done something right.’- #17 MegThis was something #18 Carol referred to as being ‘queer minded’ during our discussion about her olderdaughter’s relationship ‘with a trans boy’. The importance of knowing (either personally or at least beingmade aware of the existing of) queer families, lone parent or otherwise, has been further evidenced bythose like #17 Meg, who spoke of how open her children have been with her about their ownfriendships. crushes, and (for her sixteen-year-old) romantic relationships with those or their own orother genders. #18 Carol’s children had endured sustained homophobic and transphobic bullying whilstliving in England for ‘being the only children with openly queer parents.’ Even upon moving to Scotland,#18 Carol struggled, initially, to find other queer parents in Edinburgh, advising that she did later accessLGBT Health & Wellbeing’s Rainbow Families service. This topic also arose from many of the heterosexuallone parent participants, with #20 Nina advising that ‘gay relationships were never something that [she]or [her] six siblings were made aware of, even though [her] aunt has always lived with another woman.’7.5 Gendered Struggles & Gender Performativity/ Lone Parenting & Livingwith Disabilities:Primarily an issue raised by the male-identifying adults, some parents struggled to feel they couldprovide adequate social and emotional support to children of genders divergent from their own. In #4Lachlan’s case, his partner had died during their daughter’s infancy; a situation that resulted in internaldilemmas over ‘how best to raise a daughter’. Whilst some of the parents had endured literal orperceived marginalisation themselves (e.g. feelings of being victimised for being a lone father; isolationas a result of limited English language skills, etc.), others felt stigmatised either by their own or societalperceptions of masculinity and male breadwinner identities. For most of the male participants, this was115due to their (in)ability to either secure a steady well-paid post79. In instances where a participant foundthemselves as the primary or sole caregiver within a male-headed lone parent family, the impact of thecare responsibilities was generally believed to hold direct impact on the earning potential – an issue longdocumented for women and other gender identities, whether they are a parent or not (see e.g. WBG,2017; and Alton, 2018) - however the gendered dimension emerged among men when their supposedwould-be successful breadwinner status was unachievable. This often resulted in the participant advisingthat they had lost sense of themselves given how they had been raised (conditioned, even) tounderstand their role within a deeply patriarchal and racialised society.Female-identifying participants often expressed their frustrations over the assumptions of others whowere aware of their single mother status. Where it was possible, this resulted in numerous participantshiding this aspect of their identity in their work relationships - at times this was always the case (e.g. #13Kelly, #21 Edina, and #3 Lindsay) - though others decided that this was necessary after negativeexperiences such as being passed over for a role due to assumptions that they might have another child,were unable to hold down a stable relationship, or would need time off based on their careresponsibilities (e.g. #33 Sasha, and #3 Lindsay; with #16 Michael using all of his annual leave to visit hischild). In contrast, moving to Edinburgh - a decision that came mere months after his ex-partner anddaughter moved to the south of England - allowed Frank to enter into recovery under a Twelve StepProgramme as although he was a single parent, he was not the primary carer. Echoing his commentsabout ‘opportunities’, Frank also suggested that the increasing levels of bureaucracy and eligibilitycriteria we has experienced (something he has insight into via his community-oriented practice) wouldhave prevented him from undertaking the move were he to attempt the same move today. Instead, hebelieves he would have been required to enter a programme in the city he already lived – Dundee.Bluntly, he informed me that ‘if that were happening for me back then, I’d probably be dead now’.Others also spoke of the material or emotional benefits of engaging with support provision, including#18 Carol’s experiences with her then-young children in a women’s homeless hostel where ‘the SalvationArmy brought in Christmas presents for all [of] the kids’, and #24 Pria who praised the dedicated aid shewas eventually able to access at Multi Cultural Family Base after the struggles she endured following herhusband’s infidelity.In #9 Frank’s case, the relationship continues to evolve (as does how he understands what it means to bea lone parent, particularly to an older child), with conversations around whether his daughter will comelive with him in Edinburgh someday. He disclosed, however, that the ex-partner publicly assaulted himduring New Year in the capital celebrations two years prior to our interview. An intervention fromneighbours was integral in calming him from a panic attack over whether police becoming involved inthis situation would mean he might be barred from being his daughter again. Having attempted toprovide space, #9 Frank returned to discover his ex-partner and their daughter had left during the earlyhours of the morning. Suicidal ideation followed once again (‘mate, I was sat there with the belt aroundma fucking neck’), however with professional help he advised that he’s okay now. Anxiety, however,continues to impact his life. Overall, he credits this to having witnessed violent assault towards hismother from his step-father and, on multiple occasions, having been victim to the same assaults whenhe attempted to intervene (‘we were both gettin’ beaten black and blue by the cunt…’). That the social79 Intriguingly, however, participants such as #28 Lucy stated that they felt no anxiety or fear around being a loneparent and how this would be perceived by others. She put this down to her own adolescent experience of growingup in a blended family.116work reports he is sent from down south now refer to someone else as his daughter’s ‘dad’ hurts him ona regular basis. Combining this with the toxic masculinity he believes remains rife in the UK, #9 Franknow spends ‘a fair amount of time reading up on, like, parenting practices in Sweden where [he believes]there’s a much better attitude towards male caregivers’.hooks (1984) notes such gendered expressions of violence and embodied masculinity, stating that shewould often experience significant fear over the possible anger which her father may express. Situatingher fear of men specifically within the actions of one particular man seems to directly mirror not only #9Frank’s anxiety, but also are the cause(s) of fear amongst several participants of other genders. She(ibid.) connects this to historic norms within heteronormative two-parent families where ‘wait until yourfather gets home’ would be deployed as a common means of inciting fear in a child over their perceivedmisbehaviour. Tischler (2008) similarly notes that in contexts of abusive or intimidatory heteronormativerelationships, when rehoused ‘despite exposure to major stressors, most women’ - the demographic inwhich most lone parents are within80 - ‘had begun the process of resettlement by improving theirphysical surroundings [whilst] achiev[ing] personal growth as they had managed to escape violence,overcome homelessness and create new opportunities for themselves and their children’. Rather than abroader anxiety over toxic masculinity in a broader sense, hooks grounds her own fear and that of manyothers within a reinforced and gendered patriarchal style of parenthood. Indeed, this extends further toa suggestion that the child may be able to discount their father’s behaviours as deeply conditional -connecting back to her notion of fatherly love being earned within the heterosexual two-parent family,whereas mother love is assumed. She adds that the existence of liberatory forms of feminism cannotachieve meaningful change without addressing the behaviour of men through both engaging andinvolving men within such social movements as well as challenging women who reinforce suchpatriarchal family lives (hooks, 2004).Here, the argument becomes that the lack of non-heteronormative and non-patriarchal experiences inadolescence result in the repetition of many toxic behaviours when people become parents themselves -lone or otherwise. Without ‘blueprints’ for alternative approaches to parenthood, particularly towardsfatherhood, the absence of precedence for lone fathers, such as #4 Lachlan, the participation of acontextually significant number of non-female identifying and non-gender conforming parents withinthis study demonstrates the need for greater understandings and discussions around divergence formsof parenthood becomes clear. This is particularly true in the context of lone parents; especially amongstthose without familial or other support structures around them (those restricted to the aforementioned‘singular unit’). Critically considering the alternatives created by the participants within this doctoralresearch is one aspect in which the study can offer a unique and contemporary contribution to academicliterature and supportive practice for parents in general, and lone parent families in particular.Class and lone fatherhood were also raised by #4 Lachlan who was advised that he was the only singlefather present at the school gates, frequently finding that when he attempted to get to know the othersingle parents (seemingly exclusively women) would face assumptions that he was trying to ‘chat thewomen up’. Consequently, despite clear efforts on his part, #4 Lachlan spoke of feeling ‘out of place’amongst other lone parents at the time, despite large overlap in many other characteristics (class,80 Bramley and Fitzpatrick (2017) have emphasised a ‘well-established vulnerability to homelessness of lone parenthouseholds (mainly female)’, echoing both the experiences of the lone parent activists of both Focus E15 and AAM,as well as reiterating the existing literature regarding the financial precarity many lone parents experience.117geographical area, family status, etc.). For him, therefore, this experience was shaped by how others sawhim, rather than an extension of his own personality or ambition.Benzeval (1998) highlights that many lone parents experienced poorer health than those in two-parentfamilies (and, often, single adults with no children). Their work actually advocates for a ‘systematicassessment of the contribution that lone parents' relatively poor socioeconomic circumstances make totheir relative health disadvantage’ (Benzeval, 1998, p.1337). Though many lone parents in poor healthexperienced this prior to become a lone parent - indeed, amongst the participant cohort, #10 Ronanoted that her health needs were a factor cited by her former partner for their separation shortly afterthe birth of their child, the link between those in poor health and living on low-income is undeniable(Alston, 2018). Crosier et al. (2007) also observed that economic factors were, by far, the greatestcontributor, in causing ‘moderate to severe mental disability’, noting that this was ‘significantly morepronounced among single mothers (28.7%) compared with partnered mothers (15.7%)’. Indeed, theauthors suggested that ‘[c]hildren with single parents showed increased risks of psychiatric disease,suicide or suicide attempt, injury, and addiction’ (ibid.), with Hope et al. (1999) offering a similar accountof lone parent life in Britain. Echoing many of Ryan’s (2019) findings suggesting the harshest experiencesof post-economic recession UK austerity occurred for those living with disabilities, several of theresearch participants spoke of their frustrations over the treatment and corporate media portrayals of‘disabled people’ in recent years. With Ryan (ibid.) stating that the ‘group [...] being sacrificed’ (thoseliving with disabilities) under austerity had once been positioned as the most deeply protectedcommunity. #32 Nicky and #10 Rona, for example, offered accounts that mirrored the accounts offeredin Crippled: Austerity and the Demonization of Disabled People (ibid).7.6 Discussing Lone Parenthood with Child(ren)Many of the discussions turned to the topic of how the child(ren) in these families have experienced theshift into being part of a one parent family – recognising, however, that several had only ever known oneparent in their lives (amongst them, #15 Sasha, #17 Meg, #14 Kathy, #21 Edina, and #5 Dee). Thisrevealed a wealth of situations ranging from a child being very young at the time of their other birthparent’s death (#4 Lachlan) and the kid(s) never having experienced life with both birth parents (notedabove), to the child being a teenager by the time a split occurred (#6 Griff) and having extensiveexperience of living in a co-parenting two-household arrangement (#18 Carol). As a result, the child(ren)had radically different levels of comprehension of the dynamics between their birth parents, thoughemotional intelligence and fear of repeating their own traumas were also flagged by several participantsas a struggle (#18 Carol, #26 Kim, #21 Edwina, and #9 Frank).Among those children who were old enough to engage in conversations with their parents at the time ofa split, divorce, or death it was understood that they rarely had a choice over where they would live astheir primary residence. It’s important to acknowledge that in a handful of cases it was not a splitbetween the birth parents, but rather the end of a relationship that started whilst the child was a babyor an infant which led to serious discussions or personal reflection about the changing care situation(e.g. #23 Pam). Like #9 Frank, #17 Meg’s experiences post-break-up with her ex-partner, at times, quiteseverely impacted her relationship to her youngest daughter who had formed close connection with thispartner. However, the ex-partner, ‘Leanne’, Meg explained, would regularly convey misinformation to thedaughter who would come home asking about money owed to the ex-partner. This challenging118relationship also bore similarities to #18 Carol’s experiences with the father of her children and thoughshe openly said expressed regret at not having sought out other queer parents - something she feltwould’ve greatly benefited her children’s experiences or alternative family types - #17 Meg did outlinethe impact that having a closeknit group of fellow lone parents around her has had for her.‘I do have these folk close by, my neighbour in particular who has three kids - two ofwhom are around the same ages as mine. The fact that she knows what it’s like whenyou’re doing this by yourself means that if I’m ever facing an emergency, or on thehandful of occasions I’ve encountered an issue at the work that’s meant I’ll be late forthe school run, I can just let the kids know that Janey or Amira says they can nip overthere after school’.- #17 MegThe support of other queer parents and LGBT Health & Wellbeing had been invaluable to #18 Carol andher partner ‘Lissette’ when they had first moved to Edinburgh. However, even within #18 Carol’s contactsin the queer groups she has engaged with since moving to Edinburgh, she knows that many queerparents - including two of them examples she raised (whilst adhering to confidentiality) during ourdiscussion – they had own have faced verbal harassment. For one, this occurred at the school gate whencollecting her kids (a lesbian friend) and another who had been subjected to interpersonal violence dueto their gender transition (a friend who had been assigned female at birth, but lived as male now). It’sthe unfortunate reality, therefore, that despite #17 Meg’s optimism of queer parents being accepted,generally, this is not a unanimously experience.In deep contrast, others such as #21 Edwina spoke of how ‘everything fell on her shoulders’ with regardsto care, both before and after the split. Having briefly been based in the Scottish Borders, the move toEdinburgh when her son was around nine months old addressed some of her feelings of social isolationfrom the rural setting, however, her stay-at-home mother role continued to make her life quite difficultand had a significant impact on her mental health. Returning to work, therefore, offered her somethingof a social life. Later in that conversation, #21 Edwina disclosed that social isolation had been a majorsource of anxiety for her, stating that ‘my own parents kicked me out the day I turned nineteen’ - anexperience she believes led to the ‘what the hell’ approach she had to life in her early twenties.Several queer participants with children in their teens or older advised that their kids had openlyidentified as queer or bisexual - demonstrating less inclination towards rigid straight versus gay binariesthan may be expected. This, these parents suggested, was largely down to the open - though ageappropriate - dialogues which had taken place within their families or social networks. With many queerlone parents understood to experience an erasure of their sexuality (or endure heteronormativeassumptions) from support services, schools, etc., these interviewees tended to place an emphasis ondialogue and trust. On their ‘LGBT+ single parents’ tab, Gingerbread (2020) advocate the importance ofqueer parents discussing identity with children, though an emphasis is placed on support aroundaddressing and combating homophobic bullying. The Single Parent Action Network (2020) have alsonoted that ‘more people are ‘coming out’ later in life’, suggesting that this ‘may well be becausehomosexuality has become more accepted, so people feel more able to be open about feelings they mayhave denied or repressed for many years’. #18 Carol and #32 Nicky, for example, stated that they havecome out as queer after having a family within a heterosexual relationship. The urgency of #31 Jenny’s119familial exit from her family for the benefit of her child is made all the more important when weacknowledge that huge numbers of young children with gender dysphasia age out of the servicesintended to support them (O’Toole, 2021b) and do not receive the necessary support to transition toadult-orientated services.7.7 Early Concerns About the PandemicGiven the fieldwork was conducted, primarily in early 2020, the Covid-19 Coronavirus pandemic was stillat its earlier stages in Scotland and the UK more generally - indeed, much of Europe was yet to face thesocial, economic, and health challenges that later witnessed the closure of thousands of businesses. ‘Itsdisruptions have caused chaos, isolation and despair, but are also revealing huge reservoirs of creativityand resilience in our society’ (Tett and Hamilton, 2021). Despite the interviews occurring at such an earlystage of the pending health crisis, several participants - though particularly in the latter days of thefieldwork - began to articulate fears around their child(ren)’s continued education, employmentopportunities, potential food shortages, and anxieties over how an influx of claimants may affectcapacity for social security to continue as normal. The expression of such anxieties may have beenincreasing given that interviews transitioned from in-person to over-the-phone or via video - thesignificance of this choice being that though interviews became easier to conduct – for the earliestdigital sessions, social distancing guidelines were not yet in place.By the time of our interview, #9 Frank’s planned trip to visit his daughter had been cancelled due to theearliest concerns over the pandemic - partially relating to his own health issues placing him in a ‘highlyvulnerable’ category. Having lived in a homeless hostel for some time during his own recovery fromaddiction, #9 Frank was deeply concerned about rough sleepers in Edinburgh facing criminalisation forbeing on the street during the pandemic. Others outlined their panic over how they could manage towork-from-home during the pandemic, whilst their child(ren) were no longer attending daycare.‘It’s been three days that the nursery has been closed and it’s driving us both insane! We don’tknow when it will happen. They will really go back again, but it’s going to be crazy. His nursery isclosed and my placement has been cancelled.’- #21 EdwinaSome of the issues articulated within this subsection were earlier published in Campbell (2021, p.573):‘The need to strictly adhere to healthcare and community safety guidelines during the Covid-19pandemic meant approaches had to be made through social media channels where lone parentsmay be present. This largely meant recruitment occurred through advertising in relevantFacebook Groups - always posting only after permission had been gained from communityleaders and administrators (often termed ‘gatekeepers’ by those in the academy). Identifiedgroups included spaces designed for lone parents in Edinburgh, several Facebook Groupsspecifically created for residents in the north of the city, and two groups for queer parents.Additional approaches, met with mixed levels of success, were made to spaces catering forparents living with disabilities in Scotland and a variety of groups for those in Edinburgh with a120migrant background where members may not have been involved in ‘mainstreamed’ parentinggroups hosted on Facebook for a variety of personal, cultural, or institutional reasons.’The rapid alterations that occurred within the UK job market as a result of Covid-19 included significantrises in unemployment (termed ‘weakening employment rates’ by ONS, 2020a81; see also IfES, 2020),temporary or permanent closures of businesses (Parikh, 2020; Scottish Government, 2020; Littlejohns,2020; Parkes et al, 2020), reduction in opportunities for those on low or zero-hours contracts causing‘economic inactivity’ (ONS, 2020a), an inability to progress proposed business ventures (Gillespie, 2020;UK Government, 2020); and financial insecurity (Standard Life Foundation, 2020; Poverty Alliance,2020a). Each was raised as concerns by the lone parents interviewed during the latter stages of thefieldwork (late-March 2020). Several participants cited multiple issues, though in the time since thefieldwork ended, many families have been public through local social media platforms (e.g. posting tonorth Edinburgh-specific Facebook Groups), through campaign groups - often via major news outlets(Pregnant Then Screwed, 2020), or cited by academic or Third Sector studies (Poverty Alliance, 2020a;Poverty Alliance, 2020b) - where they have voiced their anxieties or worries over the manner in whichchildcare and schools were predicted to return for the 2020/21 academic session. The experience,management, and agency of lone parents during this period could serve as the topic for a follow-upstudy post-PhD. Despite that, the following offers reflection on the precise issues raised by participantsduring the fieldwork as related to employment, care, physical and mental health, and housing.Whilst #6 Griff’s business was forced to temporarily close due to the intimacy of the nature of his work;#8 Mercy was unable to formally open the businesses she had been working to establish. Others (such as#17 Meg who volunteered as a youth worker in outdoor spaces; and #18 Carol whose support groupsshifted online) were able to continue their practice, albeit with significant restrictions. Numerousparticipants (#20 Nina and #1 Nick) each spoke of the difficulties they faced whilst being transferred ontoUniversal Credit - detailing their frustrations and the hardships they endured during the five-weekwaiting period for their first welfare payment – a process situated by Brewer (2020) as ‘an ideologicalrather than bureaucratic necessity’. With Poverty Alliance (2020c), Women’s Aid (2020), Trussell Trust(2020), The Scottish Refugee Council (2020), Citizens Advice Scotland (2020), The JRF (2020), Crisis(2020), Gingerbread (2020), The WBG (2020), and Action for ME (2020) among those to have advocatedfor the removal of this transitional limbo, but to no avail, Pearce’s (2020) suggestion that the wealth ofmiddle class individuals now facing unemployment - and the shift in demand from largely only workingclass folk making pressuring for a redesign of this social security process - is unlikely to be negativedevelopment for working class communities. This five-week period, Poverty Alliance (2020c, p.1) havesuggested, has been ‘a key driver of poverty, destitution, and food insecurity across the UK in recent81 Note, however, the problematic nature of these ONS (2020a) figures. As Mackie (2018) observed,‘underemployment’ is a cause of severe economic hardship for many and creates numerous complications forthose accessing social security. As ONS (2020a) state, ‘[t]he International Labour Organization (I.L.O.) definition ofemployment includes those who worked in a job for at least one hour and those temporarily absent from a job.Workers furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme or who are self-employed but temporarily not inwork have a reasonable expectation of returning to their jobs after a temporary period of absence. Therefore theyare classified as employed under the ILO definition.’ Thus, despite the realistic of more closely aligning with theONS’s category of the economically inactive during the lockdown period, many workers who remained on full orpartial income from whatever forms of employment they may have held prior to the furlough claims cut of date(DATE), a significant proportion of these workers remain susceptible to mental health risks more readily associatedwith the long term un- or underemployed.121years’, with StepChange (2020) revealing many individuals have been forced to rely on loan sharks andthe informal economy to survive, go without two meals per day, or survive without weather appropriateclothing. Indeed, around ‘856,500 people signed up for universal credit and jobseeker’s allowancebenefits in April, driving up the overall UK claimant count by 69% in a single month’ (ONS, 2020c); whilstPartridge’s (2020) comments that ‘the government had expanded eligibility for universal credit inresponse to Covid-19’ suggests Pearce (2020) may be accurate in her comments and indeed the likes ofToynbee (2020) and Lavelle (2020) have echoed the sentiment.- On Lone Parenthood Post-Covid-19:Though, as noted during the Introduction and the Literature Reviews, the anarchistic elements emergedorganically during the discussion and analysis, and were, thus, an unexpected focus within the thesis.The ethos of anarchism (mutual aid, peer support, and direct action) would have been intimatelyconnected to the agency and politics components of the questions, as well as about the creation ofsupport and solidarity networks. Those in positions of greater affluence within their communities(however slight) or of strategically significant networking roles, this become a particular area of concern,along with recognition of their status and ability to survive the economic and social hardships have beencommon amongst many (Spade, 2020). This is, however, a crisis which could easily impact the familiesand result in the loss of loved ones for any participants. Similarly, the impact of lone parenthood on care,employment (both past or existing but also opportunities), and housing security were already issuesraised in the literature, yet it’s expected that these issues would likely have been exasperated had thisinvestigation occurred later during Covid-19.The forced furlough periods - experienced as a positive or negative time in the participants’ lives –rapidly altered the day-to-day structure of normal family life. The reality of this meant that those whowere previously able to separate their work lives from their family lives faced the rapid blurring of thesespheres as work was often relocated from the public and into the private domain; or removed entirelyfor others. These already precarious situations (detailed in several of the participant biographies) havebeen further intensified - and often significantly extended- as state-run administrative offices shuttemporarily or staff were relocated and worked from home – taking place alongside a sixfold increase inUniversal Credit applications:‘[t]here were more than 6 times the usual number of claims made in the 4 weeks from 13 March2020, with a record 1.5 million claims made. Comparatively, in 2019 there was an average of55,000 claims made each week’.- DWP (2020)Whilst remembering that Universal Credit occurred on a phased introduction, the percentage of loneparent family claimants rose from circa 23% of all recipients in February 2018, to around 35% byFebruary 2020 (ibid.). The rising number of applicants caused extensive delays – going beyond thepromised five-week period – harming many applicants. The furlough scheme, for many, reduced thatdilemma as some lone parents opted to take furlough when it became possible as the 80% wageguarantee from the state was - frequently - in fact, higher when childcare costs were removed due tohomeschooling, addressing concerns raised by, amongst others, #3 Lindsay. According to Sánchez-Miraet al. (2021), ‘as is often the case, [during Covid] close family ties provided support with childcare[,122h]owever, elderly family members were not mobilized to help with their grandchildren’; a decision taken‘purposefully in several families during the period to protect them from contracting the virus.’ Thoughthe authors found one creative exception, [whereby a] grandmother watched over the children“virtually” through Skype’, no such instances were raised during the fieldwork with lone parents acrossnorth Edinburgh.In addition, the nature of work undertaken by most of the in-employment lone parents occurred inprimarily public-facing organisations - charities, the service industry, etc. As such, this type of work couldnot easily be reimagined as a working-from-home style job in the manner that office jobs that could be,largely, conducted at a distance via laptops and re-routed calls to work mobiles. Others, such as thosestudying (#25 Aiden, #21 Edina, and #19 Dan) were able to base themselves from home whilst stillmaintaining a sense of productivity (with full recognition of the complications of working or studyingfrom home whilst also unable to access support with childcare) - something which #28 Lucy, for example,advised she was struggling with. The loss of a sense of purpose (even employment serving as only oneelement of an individual’s identity; albeit a major one under capitalist society) has been demonstrated tonegatively impact mental health (Pearce, 2020; Siva, 2020; Campbell, 2020). The Royal College ofPsychiatrists (2020) has already predicted a ‘tsunami of mental health problems’ will occur as a result ofthis lockdown period, so whilst participants such as #2 Lawrence and #34 Jay praised their relationshipsto their children (#29 June suggesting that her kids were ‘just the best people to be locked up with’), theabsence of broader social interaction and human contact is expected to have a broader lasting impact.This latter element of human contact (along with the issue of no support with childcare) extends tohealth, social care, mental health, and other manners of adult support for the parents themselves.Several participants discussed their physical disabilities or spoke of struggles with poor mental health,yet the pandemic has resulted in a drastic reduction in the number of workers able to provide in-personcare, whilst others endured changes to the manner in which support was be provided due to the needfor protective personal equipment. Naylor (2020, p.60) offered commentary on this, noting thedetrimental toll a lack of assistance can take on the body when care is either not provided at appropriatetimes (e.g. when a supported individual is enduring what she terms ‘brain fog or the need to sleep’), orwhen equipment is not suited to the service users (such as offering the example of the demands ofmanual wheelchairs eventually harming the upper bodies of those who would benefit from electricscooters). Such situations, she notes, are further exasperated when appropriate accommodation is notprovided to those in social housing or when the carers themselves do not feel valued, protected, orappropriately paid in their role (Naylor, 2020; see also Poverty Alliance, 2020b). The Covid-19 pandemicis understood to have disproportionately affected communities living in economically deprived areasthroughout the UK and beyond, yet, existing economic and capitalist structures caused significantlyhigher infection and death rates amongst working class as a whole (ICNARC, 2020). In part, this is due tothe proximity of working class workers to frontline occupations (NOMIS, 2020).7.8 ConclusionThe thirty-four dialogues with the lone parent participants permitted a unique but timely snapshot ofstruggles, acts of support and solidarity, and identified the direct impact of austerity in one of Scotland’smost economically deprecated communities (SIMD, 2016). Having endured a decade of austerity123aftermath of the 2008 economic recession the effects of reduced funding and service closure hasimpacted the day-to-day lives of these lone parent participants are plain to see, yet, this period far fromrepresents the entirety of their lives (as lone parents, coupled-parents, or otherwise). What it does offer,however, is an intimate exploration of the increased hardships of this period, and builds uniquelysituated stories of survival – whether thriving or ‘just managing’. As noted above, some discussants tookit upon themselves to provide replacement services (e.g. #1 Nick with his cooking classes; #29 June withher information and signposting social centre; and #18 Carol with her queer groups), whilst others suchas #26 Winnie and #20 Nina spoke openly of their hardships in the face of an absence or limited forms ofcommunity support. The likes of #26 Winnie and #9 Frank strengthened their relationship with theremaining institutes or groups (e.g. their church or with other family members), yet these spaces alsoendured their own reductions.The consequences of these cuts, however, were not exclusively felt by service users (lone parent orotherwise). Indeed, #16 Michael, #12 Kelly, #11 Louise, and #34 Jay, for example, faced fewer workopportunities due to the nature of their contracts of employment - an issue many have experienced dueto the rapidly increased prevalence of sessional, part-time, and zero-hour contracts (Angry WorkersCollective, 2020; UNISON, 2016). For #9 Frank this left him unsure whether we would be able to visit hisdaughter as frequently as he hoped, though few opportunities to spend time with their children was alsoa concern previously for interviewees who already lived at a distance. Whilst participants such as #9Frank and #16 Michael both had children living with the ex-partner in the south of England – some of thechildren were, at the time of our interview or recently before coming of an age when they were able tochoose where they wanted to live. Given this project was highly situated temporally, it is clear that manyof these situations were likely to exasperate in the context of Covid-19. An early indication of this wasalready becoming apparent during the latter stage interviews, but was not yet being experienced to itsfull extent.1248. Theorising Acts of Resistance & Survival:Introduction:With a series of core thematic points having been identified through the analysis of the thirty-fourdiscussions with lone parent participants, the following chapter explores the practical actions, emotionalneeds, precise hardships, and anxieties experienced in connection to a range of social and politicaltheories outlined in the Literature Review. Specifically, the approach to navigating and surviving this pastdecade of austerity informs a theoretical model for exploring community-based action, drawing on thelone parent case studies and the individual accounts of those in north Edinburgh. Examples consideredinclude the significance of peer education networks as a form of adult learning - social activist education- within contemporary movements in Edinburgh (Scotland) and London (England). Taking the lone parentgroups as its focus, the chapter continues the critical reflection of the socio-economic context whichgave rise to the contemporary economic and housing crisis in the United Kingdom (UK) and beyond,drawing upon the aforementioned theories of conscientization through experiential learning (Freire1972) and ‘multi-dimensional gatherings’ of diverse social communities (hooks, 1984) during this ‘age ofausterity’ (Giroux 2013; Lee and Beech 2011).Focusing on two of the case study groups – AAM (the all-women activist collective in north Edinburghwho faced eviction from their homes due to welfare reform to housing support); and Focus E15 (the lonemothers evicted from their homeless hostel due to the closure of the mother and baby unit inSeptember 2013) - the chapter examines the precise actions undertaken by members as I situate acts ofresistance via a proposed model. The charted design encompasses activist approaches ranging fromnavigation and mitigation, to challenging and refusal. In chronicling these two lone parent communitygroups, the chapter accounts for the origins, membership, and actions undertaken by examining thelegacies of both AAM and Focus E15. This includes reflection on the use of in-person and online protest,occupation, and art to galvanise support from their respective local communities (Watt 2016; Watt andWinton 2016; Campbell 2019) and is produced by utilising a combination of the limited existingacademic literature on lone parent activism, supplemented by local newspaper reports, and firsthandaccounts from the group members.PremiseAs outlined earlier, contemporary politics in the UK has largely been shaped by what both Giroux (2013)and Lee and Beech (2011), amongst others, term ‘the age of austerity’. Primarily implemented by theConservative and Unionist Party (2010 - present), though commenced by the Labour Partyadministration that ended in 2010 following the 2008 global economic recession, austerity hasdevastated communities throughout the UK (Cooper and Whyte 2017; Davies 2017; Davies et al. 2020),resulting in the reduction of provision or the entire closure of many community centres, youth clubs, andsupport services (Sutton Trust 2017; UNISON, 2018; FEANTSA, 2011, Campbell and Arya, 2019). This hasseen the stripping away or entire removal of such spaces has often harmed already marginalisedcommunities that relied on support for childcare, access to employment, language learning, etc., andhas, thus, had a particular detrimental effect on lone parent families, those from ethnic and religiousminority groups, migrant communities, and those living with disabilities (Ryan 2019; Emejulu and Bassel1252017; WBG 2017; OPFS, 2016) – many of these intersecting across the participant cohort.Simultaneously, welfare reform to social security has resulted in increased evictions and consequentlyrecord levels of reported homelessness - this coming alongside the already drastic and long-termUK-wide shortage of social housing observed by Fitzpatrick and Watt (2018), among others.Furthermore, Tischler (2008) recounts that '[p]revious research has identified that most families whobecome homeless are women with dependent children' – issues which have only become furtherentrenched by austerity. With the majority of lone parent families in Scotland, the UK, and further afieldheaded by mothers, the relevance of these lone parent groups serving as the charted examples on thetheoretical model are clear. Indeed, #14 Kathy, #24 Pria, and #10 Rona each described their struggleswith obtaining secure housing as a key hardship within their lone parent experiences, with othersbecoming concerned about these issues in light of reduced employment opportunities (e.g. #13 Cally,#34 Jay, #12 Kelly, and #33 Sasha).Despite facing a wealth of social and economic barriers to participation in many aspects of daily life,ranging from linguistic differences (Bloch 2007; Tang 2016) to extreme financial constraints amidst adeeply precarious job market (Alston 2018), many individuals and communities have undertaken whatmay be considered radical forms of resistance or direct action encompassing acts of self-preservation,mitigation of social harm, and navigation of welfare reform, through to outright refusal to engage oraccept the demands placed upon them by the state (Emejulu and Bassel 2018; Emejulu and Sobande2019; Packnett 2019; and Carty-Williams 2018). In this context of mass austerity and, for the purposes ofthe chapter, specifically the housing crisis that gave rise to new forms of social activism from some singleparents, AAM (north Edinburgh) and Focus E15 (London) are two such lone parent collectives which haveemerged to undertake significant acts of resistance in the Scottish and English capital cities of Edinburghand London. Addressing Hölsgens’ (2017, p.146) investigation into ‘how [...] resistance, disagreement,conflict, and struggle [are] best understood, once we have located conceptual space for its possibility’,the earlier case studies of these lone parent groups helped contextualise the momentum that motivatedmembers of both groups to challenge decisions which caused significant disruption to the lives of theiryoung families premised upon the dream of creating a better and more settled life – disruption havingbeen central to many of the research participant’s narratives. Theorising forms of action and striving torealise possible solutions is, therefore, of central concern when examining the acts undertaken by bothactivist collectives. Further, the chapter works to incorporate 'idea[s] of what it means to be an activist oran actor in public space', as it builds on Emejulu’s (2017) effort to challenge the notion that activists areassumed to ‘a citizen, [...] most likely white male, and that they are audible and legible to both the stateand also to other citizens'. Whilst the above accounts recognise that such social actors are present andhave served a purpose, at times, in north Edinburgh, the thesis centred the experiences of thosehistorically marginalised within the academic - queer and disabled communities, fathers who serve asprimary carers, etc..By way of reminder, AAM were a collective of circa thirteen lone mothers and their children (thoughfigures reported locally have varied) who, after being placed within private sector accommodation dueto a shortage of social housing in Edinburgh, faced eviction due to reforms to housing benefit and thesubsequent refusal by private landlords to accept a reduced payment (as before, see NEN, 2017;Campbell 2019). Threatened with relocation tens or even hundreds of miles from their friends andfamily, the children’s schools, and of becoming isolated from their wider networks within the northEdinburgh community, the members undertook radical action including protest and occupation of126political offices and council chambers in an effort to force the council to reconsider their decision.Similarly in London, Focus E15 are formed of a gendered demographic, all with childcare responsibilities,who also faced being rehoused hundreds of miles away due to Newham Council’s decision to close themother and baby unit at the largest homeless hostel in the UK (Focus E15 2018a).That these collectives were formed specifically by lone parents is vital to conveying their activism and,tus, their relevance to the thesis their rationales, actions, motivations, and activities have been outlinedin the earlier case studies. The lone parent families in north Edinburgh that came together to form AAM,for example, were already living in an area of severe multiple deprivation (SIMD, 2016) and, therefore,that many local residents experienced a multitude of issues beyond housing (e.g. precariousemployment, a lack of childcare support, etc.) is in-keeping with the challenges facing lone parents onlow-incomes residing in communities such as Pilton, Granton, and Muirhouse at the time of the study(several years after the core activities of the group. Accounting for these issues, this chapter works toidentify the motivations and priorities of group members when formulating their tactics and strategies asthey have sought to survive life in the margins (hooks 1984; Hunter 2019), drawing out insights ofbroader relevance to future analysis of other social activist movements working to navigate severe socialhardship via the theoretical model. This, along with the figure charting researcher and researchparticipant proximity (see Figure #1), as well as the reframing of lone parents as political actors ratherthan victims of the state constitute the three core contributions of the academy produced within thisthesis.8.1 Proposing the PACA Community Action Model: Preserve, Adapt,Challenge, Alternative (and the Risks):In working to theorise social action and approaches progress towards new ways of understandingresponses to austerity, as well as either individual or collective struggles to survive (Hunter, 2019), it isessential to understand the diversity of acts, experiences, and forms of documentation that constituteacts of ‘resistance’ – a term drawn from Cooper and Whyte (2017). Ranging from acts ofself-preservation and self-care (as described by Lorde [1988]) against the daily harms of austerity viamitigation (e.g. peer care as detailed by #5 Dee and #13 Cally) or navigation of existing systems throughto outright refusal to accept the circumstances one finds oneself in (as depicted in the accounts fromAAM and Focus E15), forms of activism and notions of resistance are diverse and should not beunderestimated or undervalued based on visibility of the individuals, collectives, protests, or exhibitions,nor by whether they take place online or in the streets. Rather, as has been demonstrated through theLiterature Reviewing and Findings chapters, each situation must be taken in context, recognising thecapacity of the individuals involved82. As noted in the thematic subsections, politically transformativeactions can encompass actions as diverse as representing oneself in court cases concerning their child(#1 Nick) and distancing ourselves from harmful individuals (#31 Jenny), to establishing information hubsand community centres for our local communities (#8 Mercy) and embedding spaces which are82 Jones (2019) challenges notions of digital activism as being of lesser value than in-person frontline action, statingthat, ‘being online is [...] important and accessible’, and contrasts historical hierarchies, stating that ‘people sharingtheir own stories is one of the greatest things that we’re witnessing right now’. Indeed, she argues that ‘for peopleto act like [online action] isn’t a form of activism is ridiculous, particularly for marginalised people, for you to say“this is my story and this is why I matter” and [if] you join in with hundreds of thousands of other people doing thesame is a form of collective activism that we’ve never [...] seen before’.127accepting, or at least understanding, that some parents may need to bring their children to work if theyare to sustain their practice amidst extortionate childcare costs (#8 Mercy).These components, as demonstrated above, illustrate a connection between the literature on loneparents and a variety of lone parent-run activist groups (detailed in the series of case studies). Much ofthis aligned with the aforementioned concept of ‘acts of resistance’, showcasing the similarities betweenthe collective and the everyday practices that could be understood through this activist lens. Jones (ibid)attests that when envisioning activism ‘a lot of people will think [of] folks on the frontlines carryingplacards and being attacked by police[,] but activism also exists in educating people about their historyand helping contextualise what’s going on right now’. Thus, when the activists of AAM held a public filmand collection exhibition, entitled Scrap the Cap, Stop the Evictions, in June 2017 at the North EdinburghArts Centre (NEN, 2017a; the same venue where three of the interviews took place), this form of publiceducation shared intimate details including stories and images of a struggle which lone parent membersof the local community face. These allow those non-associated or previously unaware of the group’sexistence to foster not merely sympathy, but also empathy and their desire to collectivise with theirneighbours in their struggles to foster a more supportive community – the reality of which can beexplored through the model and detailing of each subsection. Similarly, the women of Focus E15 inLondon holding their weekly public stalls not only shared individual experience, but drew attention tothe precise mechanisms that allowed the mother and baby unit to be shut down, therein making theactions of Newham Council known to the broader public and, thus, provides the contextualisation thatJones advises is so pivotal to engaging in activism as a whole. Ricks (2017, p.148), therefore, posits that'identifying communities where we can find shared terms of justification, that is, shared standards forcreating and evaluating justifications for actions or practices' is essential for enabling would-be ‘activists’to make their contributions towards shared understanding and progress. The latter demonstrated theneed to understand acts of preservation (one of the four points explored), whilst the history of AAMshowcases efforts to challenge systems of injustice (another proposed point in the model).The chapter now presents the suggested model for understanding community-based action. Proposed asa four-part spectrum encompassing Preserve, Adapt, Challenge, and Alternatives, ‘PACA’ examines howresearchers and social actors (in this instance, lone parents) understand ‘action’. This model was createdbased on the findings contained within the Literature Review, but aligns them with the clustered findingsto demonstrate the rationale for each axis. Under austerity, the most extreme situations may account forthe deaths (including those by suicide related to welfare sanctions; BBC, 2018; Naylor, 2020) and broadersocial murder that came as a consequence of the post-2008 austerity (Barr et al. 2012). Any such modelmust, therefore, acknowledge survival as a form of resistance and understand the diversity of actionsthis can occur as (hence the broad exploration of intersections and direct actions explored earlier). Atthe other end of this spectrum, attacks or forms of violent action may constitute the most extremeelements of ‘resistance’, however, this comes in opposition to non-violent direct action (forms of whichinclude protest, occupations, sit-ins, live-ins, etc. - acts undertaken by both AAM and Focus E15 anddocumented within the localised outputs such as blogs or newspaper articles).This returns us to Butler's (2020, pp.2-3) understanding of ‘violence’ and the diverse manners in which itis understood whereby ‘[d]emonstrations, encampments, assemblies, boycotts, and strikes are allsubject to being called “violent” even when they do not seek resource to physical fighting, or to theforms of systemic or structural violence’. Here, they (Butler) stress that, just as anarchistic approachesexist in relation to the statist mechanism they seek to break from, ‘violence’ is subject to the state’s128definitions and language, with ‘institutions [able to] rename nonviolent practices as violent’, therein‘conducting a political war, as it were, at the level of public semantics’83 (ibid, p.3). In the case of AAM,Focus E15, or other social movements (lone parent or otherwise), there is a risk that state actors andcorporate media can dismiss the activists as a ‘mob’, deem them ‘a chaotic or destructive threat to thesocial order’ (ibid, p.4). This could have been the case when AAM’s members performed their ‘live in’inside then-Scottish Conservative Party Leader Ruth Davidson’s constituency office where ‘violence’ canexclusively be understood as disruption rather than physical harm or damage to property. Consequently,the actions of several lone parents might be understood as ‘violent’ despite the core impact of theiractivism being to provide safe spaces or inter-familial care (e.g. #5 Dee in co-establishing trans inclusivespaces alongside other families in safe but unoccupied buildings; whilst Focus E15 took advantage of theformer Olympic Village’s housing and utilities). Once again, this demonstrates the urgency of integratinglocally-produced accounts – from those involved when possible – that may verify or counter publiccomments and policy statements that offer highly divergent or even harmful depictions. The following,therefore, places these lone parent experiences as part of the progression towards a model that chartstheir responses to austerity.(i) Understanding Narrative Amidst ‘Austerity’: As Butler (2020) articulated above, controlling narrativeis an essential component in successfully running any form of action (individual, collective, or state). Thisconcerns the stories we tell ourselves and buildings on Freirean understandings of critical consciousness,and the way we come to name the problem (Freire’s [1972] theorisation of how we come to ‘name ourworld’). Indeed, our ability to influence narrative is pivotal to encouraging acceptance of what may infact be a deeply harmful process via normalisation – leading to blogs, forming allies amongst localoutlets of repute, and communicating our actions via social media, etc. (both central to AAM and FocusE15’s practices).84 This enabled them to contribute to reshaping narratives around lone parenthood andhelped humanise those harmed by austerity from a position of lived experience of ‘actual existingausterity’ or other harms. To situate such action theoretically, Collins’ (1989) notion of ‘oppositionalconsciousness’ posits the social actor (the lone parent members of the activist collectives, or individualresearch participant) in contrast to the norm or statist narrative. In this instance, the conservativeideological standpoint of the centrist and ring-of centre political parties that dominant British politics),countering narratives of ‘deserving’ versus ‘workshy’ low-income families. The lone parent participantsinvolved in this study have demonstrated the breadth of lone parent experiences in north Edinburgh,with accounts covering migrations (e.g. #20 Nina, #24 Pria), defying stereotypes, living beyond binaryexpectations (e.g. #15 Sasha, #25 Aiden, and #34 Jay), and fostering peer-run initiatives that challengeassumptions over the necessary life course of a ‘typical’ lone parent family (e.g. reciprocal childcarepractices [e.g. #34 Jay and #13 Cally]). This in the real-world contexts of the everyday, but also countersmany of the narratives offered to-date in the literature.84 Thomson (2018), too, argues that core to a social movement’s success is ‘its ability to co-opt broadcast power, tocreate a moment that demands broadcasters to pay attention so that you show all those marginal participants [...]this is a movement that is gaining momentum... and you can come join it’. This, he believes, enables movements tocommand attention, better articulate their intentions to a broader audience, and promote their goals.83 The broader impact - or threat - of this means that those with the ‘power to attribution violence to theopposition itself becomes an instrument by which to enhance state power, to discredit the aims of the opposition,or even to justify their radical disenfranchisement, imprisonment, and murder’ (Butler, 2020, p.5).129(ii) Theorising Resistance: Formulating ‘Political Acts’: Encompassing far more than merely protests(such as those of AAM or North Edinburgh #SaveOurServices) or democratic participation (i.e. electoralpolitics and referenda), political action can, Emejulu and Bassel (2017) suggest, constitute mere acts orsurvival, peer support networks, or alternative economies. Consequently, this section works to establisha paradigm through which ‘resistance’ or ‘a politics of survival’ can be formulated. Though Jun and Lance(2020) suggested that ‘grassroots networks of solidarity, being fully voluntary, have no choice but to beinternally horizontalist,’ anecdotal evidence from my own experiences of anti-austerity movements inNorth Edinburgh, along with those of the interviewees (including #1 Nick, #4 Lachlan, etc.), suggest thatexperienced activists can continue to dominate new coalitions. Franks (2009, p.99) describes thesepeople as actors who purport to be able to ‘win battles for others (and often speak [...] on behalf of thegroup)’, meaning that the issues articulated by the lone parents would not authentically be enactedwithout their role in-practice and organising.Rather than offering themselves as a guide or mentor, however, it continues to be the case in northEdinburgh - and undoubtedly in many other areas - that this overconfidence can intimidate would-beactors from amongst the affected communities (be that community centres facing cuts to funding, loneparents facing eviction from their homes, etc.) from becoming involved in collective forms of action(even when these are occurring individually). Thus, despite the authors’ suggestion that in crisis contexts‘[n]o one can be coerced to follow decisions of a group that they can simply leave at any time,’ the realityremains that “power over” readily becomes the default in such urgent situations even when ‘[o]ne cansee an at least implicit commitment to this [anarchistic] structure of organization’ (Jun and Lance, 2020).Participants such as #8 Mercy stated that she co-created the community space to serve as aninformation point where community members could volunteer to share their insights andunderstandings for the benefit of others – a dialogical practice that counteracts the domination of thesespaces by ‘experienced’ actors. That the social centre relies on state funding to sustain itself (primarily tocover overhead costs), this means that the work cannot be overtly political in an anti-state sense, but,rather, must serve the interests of local people as the state understands them. This contrasts deeply with#5 Dee who intentionally bypasses state infrastructure to create peer-led spaces without hierarchy orstate intervention. Indeed, Campaign Zero co-founder Packnett (2019) stresses that ‘charity is verydifferent than solidarity’, arguing that ‘charity is interested in solving one problem, one time; [whereas]solidarity and systems work is interested in eliminating the problem altogether so that the problemdoesn’t exist for future generations to come’, and, therein, lies the difference between the politics of thestate and the everyday activism of these lone parents.However, Nozick (1974) prompts the question of whether the state can be considered the arbitrator of‘reliability and fairness.’ Certainly, many residents in north Edinburgh - both those interviewed for thisthesis, though also amongst the broader geographical community - would contest the fairness of therecent budgeting processes premised as enacting greater democracy. #1 Nick, #4 Lachlan, and #32 Nickyeach used similar phrasing over their perceived unfairness of such participatory budgeting processes,likening these to a ‘choose your own cuts’ fanfare that feigns democracy and community engagement85.85 Significantly, Mckesson (2018) has emphasised that ‘just because people don’t use the language that you use todescribe the world they live in, doesn’t make their perspective or their points any less valid’, further stressing that‘people are always learning the languages but often have the experiences up front’. Recognising that similarpremises may be offered under diverse terminology was a core aspect of the analysis phase and teasing out theconsistencies across a diversity of experiences.130Jun and Lance (2020) have even suggested the centralisation of powers is deeply problematic -connecting back to Day (1945; 1963) - proclaiming that ‘if there is no compelling reason to requireuniformity, then it would be an assault on freedom to require all communities to act in the samemanner.’ Thus, when circa half of the participants raised the devolution of power from Westminster toHolyrood as an important aspect of creating a ‘fairer society’, and others attested that the City ofEdinburgh Council continuously fails to understand the intimate struggles facing those living in northEdinburgh, there is evidently a political literacy amongst the participants, with arguments over theircurrent conditions. Vitally, within the dialogues – and demonstrating the relevance of the case studies –this commonly raised political issue showcases how the issues created by austerity, or broader capitalismfostered increased political understandings amongst the lone parent participants.Given that Cook (2020) contests that ‘[n]o political candidate, local public official, charitable foundation,higher education institution, corporate mitigation fund, public health rep [etc.,] will do whatever isnecessary to ensure that […] people receive what is needed to live in dignity while facing […]catastrophe’, the direct acts these lone parents took and continue to take demonstrates the significanceof their experiences are creating political literacy. Though his quote referred to Covid-19, the premise isequally applicable to those challenging austerity, and highly applicable to those living in north Edinburgh.Recognising the aforementioned diversity of actions from Emejulu and Bassel (2017), forms of directaction recognised amongst the participants included voter apathy and consciously not voting (#5 Deeand #10 Rona) due to a belief that representative democracy is limited or that the elected officialscannot understand the issue faced. For others, such as #31 Jenny, they were frustrated via theirunderstanding that representative politics take time extensive to pass reform - often leaving thoseenduring hardship in the same or worsened circumstances for years until change passes at any legislatorlevel. AAM’s non-violent direct action through their occupation of Ruth Davidson’s office, for example,was seen as more likely to trigger immediate action (and create safe conditions for their family) thanlobbying for a different administration to enter local office.As such, key dimension of this notion of protecting and preserving concerns who counts in thesecommunities of faith, place, interest, or circumstance. Whether an ideological outlook includes onlythose of a similar language, background, culture, gender, or religious perspective, or whether it iscross-community is significant for which voices are heard and who is included in particular forms ofaction. As raised earlier, for example, AAM was presented as all white and all women. As demonstratedthroughout the literature, such a homogenous group cannot be considered as representative of thecommunities living in north Edinburgh (NRoS, 2016), nor of the diversity of those most severely affectedby the housing crisis (WBG, 2017). A caveat, however, concerns the politics of visibility and who is in aposition to make themselves known – even if only via blogs, but particularly when it comes to physicalforms of action. If particular individuals and communities are in extremely marginal or precariouspositions, becoming a state agitator in the public eye is riskier for some than others. This issue isobserved during the aforementioned North Edinburgh #SaveOurServices example where some activistsrallying against the cuts proposed by the Integrated Joint Boards carried placards bearing messages fromwomen accessing the Women Supporting Women project for support around domestic and intimatepartner violence as these women could not make themselves known (Di Marco Campbell,131forthcoming).86 This demonstrates Collins’ (2018, p.xii) argument ‘traditional metrics of politicalparticipation simply do not work in explaining the political perspectives and actions of minority women’.There is also the risk that the researcher becomes too precise – be that for time, labour costs, or otherreasons – that forces them to be selective from a large pool of would-be studied groups. In the case ofnorth Edinburgh, AAM and the handful of lone parent community programmes are amongst the fewpublicly visible local resources studied for this thesis, yet, without a narrow focus (e.g. ‘lone parents’) iscould be incredibly difficult to offer an authentic conceptual portrait via the model.On this, some have positioned the sharing of narratives as indispensable ‘if you are to truly knowresistance, and the stories it gives rise to’ (Carty-Williams, 2018, p.ii). Indeed, Mckesson (2018, p.xiii)proclaims that social actors ‘have to make what we fight for, the world we want’, adding that ‘in order todo this well, we have to be able to narrate how we got here, to describe the live we’ve lived in order tounearth the things that we may have been too close to understand before’. The visibility of experienceand the sharing of knowledge via peer and popular education activities such as the public exhibition heldby AAM or the skills shared organised by Focus E15, along with their social media presence, demonstratethe opportunities to inspire and to provide the language through which those suffered an injustice maycome to put a name their experiences and ‘to unpack, to frame the world around [them]’ (Mckesson,2018, p.xi). A significant caveat here, however, in that the emergence of a dominant or single version ofan accepted history risks the loss of nuance and diversity in experience or approach – something thisthesis sought to avoid by engaging with the abundance of lone parents from historically marginalisedcommunities.The above showcases two possible methods of presenting the PACA model –either open or circular girds.- Charting the Model:86 This is further significant, with Britt (2018), stressing that ‘perspective matters, and when we are missingperspective(s) at the ballot box, in the electoral process, and in more places where citizens need to be heard thenwe are losing out on the kind of solutions that need to be had’.132The proposed model for charting these acts is comprised of four components across two axes. Thefollowing outlines each of these, detailing the precises ways in which the lone parent participants andthe case study groups may be charted.Preserve: Conceptually, preservation may prioritise individuals and their immediatesurrounding community (friends, those they care for, or relatives) over the policy reform affecting loneparent families, for example, though it could also encompass a larger collective covering a particulardemographic - such as a local community of place, faith, or interest (Henri and Pudelko 2003). A keydimension of this means analysing how actors protect and preserve the self and exploring who counts asone’s ‘communities’; whether an ideological outlook includes only those of a similar language,background, culture, gender, or religious perspective, or whether it is cross-community is significant forwhich voices are heard. Who is included in particular forms of activism also matters significantly forsurvival within this context of austerity as it risks perpetuating within social hierarchies or exclusions. Forexample, the membership of AAM presented as all white women based on publicity within local pressoutlets NEN and NECN. Again, however, it matters how the researcher selects which groups to study –particularly in an area of high complexity with actors operating towards divergent goals – thoughpresenting a series of these models would help disaggregate presentations which would risk blurringdiverse ambitions.A homogenous group however, regardless of its intentions in terms of support and survival cannot beconsidered as representative of the communities living in north Edinburgh, nor of the diversity of thosemost severely affected by the housing crisis – e.g. based on the findings of the WBG (2017). Thisindicates that there is a need for work such as those of Bassel and Emejulu (2017) and Emejulu andSobande (2019) which explore minority women’s activism to become core to understanding how specificindividuals and communities resist austerity, but also for contributions such as this thesis which localisethose theories, reimagining them in new contexts and with new collectives or communities. Emejulu(2017) further articulates the need to consider not only how intersections of identity interact withinausterity - particularly the disproportionate impact on women of colour (WBG, 2017) - but also howdimensions such as 'race, class, and gender serve as resources' in acting against the state. This, Emejulu(2017) argues, is pivotal in realising social actors as not merely ‘objects’ or ‘victims’ but as politicalagents, capable of working towards the change they wish to see or fighting to retain what resources theyalready had. At times, preservation may mean engaging in activities that help survival but are not knownor recognised by the state, such as cash-in-hand work that would go undeclared to maintain one’s studyamidst increasingly precarious economic circumstances (such as that undertaken in the informaleconomy by #1 Nick).Adapt: Alternatively, community members may adapt to the circumstances in whichthey find themselves - e.g. meeting the demands of Job Centre workers (its enforces serving as stateactors). This dimension expands on self-preservation within the stated situation (i.e. the imposition ofausterity) whereby the actor works to navigate and exist within the proposed system. In essence, in acontext such as policy reform, it should be understood as the state’s desired outcomes. Rather thanfinding means of survival which may include reliance on informal support networks, adaptation wouldmean adjusting one’s activities and broader life to comply with reforms and the demands placed onthose wishing to access support. This element would be inclusive of both changes to social security, butalso cuts to funding for Third Sector organisations and, thereby, the loss of provision. Packnett (2019)133recognises this in stressing that ‘charity is very different than solidarity’, arguing that the former ‘isinterest[ed] in solving one problem, one time; [whereas] solidarity and systems work is interested ineliminating the problem altogether so that [it] doesn’t exist for future generations to come’ - promotingagitation rather than complicity. This component, then, understands that circumstances may not permitactors to ‘resist’ the changes imposed upon them (be that in terms of capacity, fear of repercussions, orthe absence of appropriate support networks). Far from a recent problem, Zinn (1970) identified thiswhen stating that ‘our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty,starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty’.To effectively explore this element, the researcher(s) need to understand the policy or practice contextswhich are undergoing reform, necessitating a degree of familiarity with the affected environments toeffectively chart the practices taking place in response. Without support materials such as theCommunity Profile generated for this thesis, there becomes a risk of that unfamiliarity with theresearched communities (geographical, social, political, etc.) which may see the model reduced in itseffectiveness. The following two sections, ‘Challenge’ and ‘Alternatives’, are therefore essential inrecognising efforts to shift away from life within recent austerity-centred regimes whereby the onlyforeseeable option is to adapt to demands placed on the individual and their family in order to survive.Challenge: In contrast, oppositional consciousness, as proposed by Collins (1989), situatesitself as a challenge to the dominant conservative ideologically in the studied context and, consequently,the largely Conservative-led era that has aligned to much of the UK’s current ‘age of austerity’. Suchopposition may manifest in a range of acts – many of which are straightforward democratic rights-basedpractices afforded to those of citizenship status - such as voting for a rival party (in north Edinburgh thisincludes the SNP, Scottish Labour, the Scottish Socialist Party, or the Scottish Liberal Democrats), though,as has been recognised in the literature and acts of groups such as the lone parents of AAM it may moreimpactful when it occurs though taking direct action (e.g. the occupations undertaken by bothcollectives). Oppositional consciousness being that which contrasts the dominant (conservative)ideological standpoint and, in the studied context, the narrative of ‘deserving’ versus ‘workshy’ poorbeing challenged is also a form of countercultural resistance – again, demonstrating how many of thelone parent participants had acted counter-hegemonically simply by refusing to accept imposed changes.When major television broadcasters commission programmes such as Benefits Street which had furtherdemonised public perspectives of lone parents as it sought to ‘[r]eveal the reality of life on benefits, asthe residents of one of Britain's most benefit-dependent streets’ (Bloor, 2012; Channel Four 2016).Mckesson (2018), however, has been forthright in emphasising that ‘the goal of protest is to progress,not simply to protest’ – echoing Freire’s (1972) drive towards taking action rather than merely studying agiven phenomenon. Positioning protest as ‘a precursor to the solution’, he suggests that challengingdominant ideologies through acts of resistance such as occupation, protest can ‘create[...] space thatwould otherwise not exist [...] forc[ing] conversations and topics that have long been ignored into thepublic sphere’ (ibid). The lone parent participants that co-led the demands of North Edinburgh#SaveOurServices as they challenged the cuts to community funding, or those that occupied RuthDavidson’s office to call demand reversal to the evictions serve as examples of this type of response,however, the Literature Review demonstrated extensive study of other relevant examples across local,national, and international contexts.134Alternatives: Arguably the most difficult form of action, identifying alternatives can beunderstood as a refusal or rejection of existing systems and socially accepted ways of being (ideologicalor cultural). It goes beyond merely protesting (challenging) or seeking to protecting existing provision(preserving). Indeed, it can be better understood as the refusal to adapt, instead promoting or creatingalternative mechanisms, networks, and, ultimately, divergent or non-statist institutions that enable theaforementioned action to occur. Packnett (2019) observed that ‘doing transformative work requiresstamina’, illustrating the heavy toll – be that emotional, physical, or mental - that creating alternativesrequires. She notes that issues such as marginalisation, housing, and discrimination are neither ‘shortstruggles [nor] new struggles’. Consequently, by way of a housing example, refusal to accept offers ofaccommodation in Manchester, Hastings, and Birmingham, due to the realities of losing social andsupport networks in their local community, demonstrates the strength of will shown by the members ofFocus E15. It may involve the proposal of new ways of existing and proposals for alternative means ofsurvival - including occupation (e.g. AAM in Ruth Davidson’s office and Focus E15 in the Olympic Village;or #5 Dee with her anarchist-run family spaces) – or, in premise, it could see community actors enter intodialogue (akin to the ‘Challenge’ component), yet it advocate concrete alternatives rather than engagingin reformism.Creating alternatives, however, need not start and end with one’s original struggle(s). Commenting onFocus E15, Watt (2018) acknowledges the shift in approach taken by the activists from addressing theirown forced eviction to challenging the broader treatment of marginalised communities experiencinghousing issues; ‘social housing not social cleansing’. His paper considers the significance of wishing toremain in ‘our place’ and the need to build support networks in the immediate lived environment –alternatives to the mechanisms put in-place (if any) by the state. Rather than portraying the Focus E15activists as merely victims of statist reforms, he celebrates these ‘inspirational young women who do not‘know their place”’ (Watt 2016). As outlined earlier, forms of direct action may occur due to a voterapathy, a belief that representative democracy is limited or that the elected officials cannot understandthe issue faced by a given community, and a conclusion that representative politics takes too much timeto pass reform when those most marginalised cannot wait. Relying on ‘due process’ often means leavingthose enduring hardship in the same or worsening circumstances until change passes at any legislatorlevel with individuals and community groups stepping in to provide immediate aid during the interimperiod – something that has been central to enabling many of the lone parent participants to managetheir circumstances. In addition, individuals and groups may choose to act within existing paradigms ortake action by offering alternatives such as forming new activist collectives ranging from mutual aidgroups to peer care networks, or creating new political parties and pressure groups.- The RisksWhilst these components are central to the charting approach, it is important to recognise the risks thatoccur under each form There are those who acknowledge the emotional, physical, and mental toil directinterventions and other forms of action can take on individuals and their dependents. Bush (2019), forexample, prompts activists to continue fighting, stating that ‘when you stop, when you step back, that’show they win’, yet, in addressing fears of fatigue, stress, hopelessness, and burnout, she warns that ‘ifone [person] stops, two stop, ten stop, fifty stop, and it just keeps going... when we stop and sit down,they win’. Whilst her focus was specifically on running for political office and the necessary groundswellto successfully enact change, the premise applies to challenging any form of institutional power.135Intriguingly, Gates (2018) depicts ‘millennial activism [as achieved] through study, discipline, andconviction’ – a premise which urges us to recognise the politicisation process in these lone parentactivists. ‘Study’ occurs when the actors learn the state’s structures and practices (e.g. producing themanifestos seen in both AAM and Focus E15), whilst ‘discipline’ occurs as people sustain their activism.This may mean learning to enact self-care during the occupation or live-in, or understanding when totake breaks to prevent burnout. Finally, ‘conviction’ centres upon the drive and determination born outof the struggle. These are visions of not only the forms resistance takes but, more concretely, ‘how tostruggle’ (Kendi, 2018, p.i) - including understanding the impact activism can have. This promotes anunderstanding and acceptance that activism beyond the frontlines is integral within any struggle, witheducation a key component, be it through dialogue, studying history, learning from activism, or othermeans.Similarly, others have positioned the sharing of narratives as indispensable, suggesting that ‘if you are totruly know resistance, and the stories it gives rise to’ (Carty-Williams 2018, ii), then this providesmotivation. Indeed, Mckesson (2018, xiii) proclaims that actors ‘have to make what we fight for, theworld we want’ (akin to Freire’s premise of naming the world; Freire, 1972), adding that ‘in order to dothis well, we have to be able to narrate how we got here, to describe the live we’ve lived in order tounearth the things that we may have been too close to understand before’. The visibility of experienceand the sharing of knowledge via peer and popular education activities such as the public exhibition heldby AAM or the skills share sessions organised by Focus E15, along with establishing a social mediapresence, demonstrate the opportunities taken to inspire and to provide the language through whichthose suffering an injustice may come to put a name their experiences and ‘to unpack [and] frame theworld around [them]’ (Mckesson 2018, xi). A significant caveat here, however, is that the emergence of adominant or single version of an accepted history risks the loss of nuance and diversity in experience orapproach. Therein a fictionalised or artificial story can take hold, merging or blurring the multiplehistories members of any movement have lived through into an accepted ‘truth’, despite a far morecomplex reality. Such resolutions may therefore, in part, result in the perpetuation and social exclusionof those not already involved in a movement. This, in part, demonstrates the urgency of situatedinvestigations that work with community groups and individuals to more fully understand the complexcircumstances they endure and to recognise the complexities of struggle – be that collectively or inisolation.McKesson (2018, xiii) seeks to address this, observing that many ‘praise a hypothetical community, onlyto exclude anyone who disagrees with them from their definition of community’, advocating that ‘wordsand stories must live up to the ideals of the moment in which they are offered’ (McKesson 2018, xiii).This must be inclusive and reflective of the diversity with which an issue has been experienced,otherwise the same struggles may be experienced by others who are, in essence, left behind. To cite twoexamples within the research cohort, #24 Pria found herself isolated from other families, struggling tomake connections, and continued to endure cultural stigmas; whilst #10 Rona found them her disabilitiesleft her largely isolated from other families in north Edinburgh due to her complex health needs. Therewere, however, other examples, such as #2 Lawrence and #4 Lachlan who each found themselvesstruggling to make connections across gendered boundaries living, as they do, in circumstances wherethe majority of lone parents (and, indeed, those present at the school gates) are women. It is, therefore,essential to realise that the political literacy fostered by activists from both AAM and Focus E15 comingto articulate their respective demands was the result of self and peer education through experience136within the financial and housing crises (Freire’s conscientization), whilst the two groups were, to varyingextents, supported by existing activist communities in both areas.How Best to Present the PACA Model?With a broad range of options, three potential presentation styles have been identified (i) Circular; (ii)Placed; or (iii) Intersecting. Each offers different ways of charting how the acts of each group orindividual may be understood, as well as the opportunity to aggregate data for comparison betweennational contexts, gendered work, etc. The below addresses the three options, outlining the rationalebehind working towards the chosen model, emphasising why this works more effectively than thealternatives. All three options operate within a grid system utilising four quadrants across the two axis,however, the conclusions are presented in distinctly different ways, thus requiring reflections as to whyone option is preferred to the others.(i) Circular: Adopting a circular basewith the opportunity to turn a quarter-sizeddial through each of the sections, thisoption suggests that community groupsmay fit perfectly between two subsections(e.g. Preserve / Challenge; fighting to retainexisting services or provision). However, anorganisation, group, or individual’s actionsmay fall partially between three (e.g. boththe Preserve / Challenge section [fighting toretain existing provision] and the Preserve / Adapt sections [reimagining existing services in new waysthat respond to challenging conditions), and, thus, the desire to preserve may be key, but at no stagewould a desire for alternatives (i.e. new practices or spaces) manifest. This suggested version is,therefore, limited given it can account only for a maximum of three categories, and forces a singleelement to be identified as central to the work, even when this may not sincerely be what the person orpersons are driven towards.(ii) Placed: By comparison, thisversions requires the examined group orpeople to be placed at a single point withinthe quadrants. This version of PACA would,largely, restrict assessments to a singleintersection between two categories ratherthan permitting it to be spread acrossthree as with the circular edition. Whilstusing placement method would allow easycomparison between groups, it fails toaccount for the diversity within motivations, desired outcomes, intend, and actions that the circularmodel allowed. The above example of a community’s members trying to repurpose a space (e.g. theways that #8 Mercy’s social centre is forced to adapt to changes in funding priorities under different137governments; or how the Focus E15 members temporarily occupied the Olympic Village whilstdemanding a suitable alternative to the mother and baby unit at the hostel be identified).(iii) Intersecting: Arguably, the most apt format, this version requires any given group oractor to be assessed on a five-point scale in each of the four categories. Rather than arguing that a singlegroup were primarily engaged acts of preservation (or even attempting to preserve through challenging),this edition asks, ‘to what extent did the group prioritise challenging those in positions of power?’, aswell as ‘to what extent did they aim to preserve existing services or funding?’, etc.. This is a complexitythat the other models failed to recognise. As such, the intersecting approach recognises that each axis isnot binary, but rather many actors will consider all four elements to some extent. As with the ‘Placed’edition, this version allows for easy comparison between groups in diverse contexts, given that thevisualised conclusions can be overlapped (e.g. through utilising different colours to overlay).As useful as these diagrams may be in understanding the priorities and actions of activist collectives -though equally applicable to individuals, political parties, manifesto pledges, etc. - the diagrams must bepositioned alongside the deep contextualization offered . Whilst this could include information on thegeographical areas in which they operate – either through Christakopoulou et al.’s (2001) three-partapproach to analysing areas from political, social, and economic perspectives, or the expanded versionpresented within this thesis – addition profiles could be created for detailing the groups. This may bepresented thematically based on the available data, as has occurred within this thesis, or a fourfold couldsupplement the charted visual presentation. Echoing my own Master’s work, as appropriate, profilesfocus on the origins and motivations, membership or associations, activities, and impact / legacies ofthese groups, permitting immersive case studies. As with the area profiles, activist or group profilespermit more intimate insights into the subtleties and experiences of a particular group, demographic, orcampaign. Such details enable better understanding of who accesses what spaces or services (wherethese have served as the motivations for undertaking action), helps identify communities which mayhave been historically marginalised or excluded from protest or resistance activities (e.g. AAM notnecessarily being representative of the local populations affected by austerity), and showcase thesupport networks formed or informal connections created by way of sustaining solidarity and providingdirect or mutual aid.Based on the above detailed outline of the PACA Community Action Model, this chapter proposes thatFocus E15 can be understood to have worked to identify alternatives to a greater extent than AAM (assuggested in the intersectionally charted version). Whilst preserving their family units and sense ofcommunity was vital to both activist collectives, AAM sought to be relocated locally through the existing138housing system (accepting the state apparatus, if not their outcomes), whereas Focus E15’s memberscould not be housed within a similar area as circumstances stood during their formation given theclosure of the hostel by Newham Council. Thus, greater alternatives were required with the activistsundertaking an occupation of the former Olympic Village site and refusing to accept offers of housing inHastings, Manchester, or Birmingham - demonstrating a politics of refusal (and thus an unwillingness toadapt to existing guidance). Furthermore, each group adopted creative campaign tactics as theychallenged decisions taken by their respective local governments - ranging from the live-in occupationsto photo exhibitions. Recognising the proposed supplementary information, specifically the ‘impact andlegacy’ component: at present, many of the members of AAM have since joined the local support groupLow Income Families Together (LIFT) and remain active in north Edinburgh’s anti-austerity movement(NEN, 2018b); whilst Focus E15 members continue to run a weekly stall in Stratford and to lend theirsupport to other social movements in the UK and beyond (Focus E15 2018b).To some extent, the model may be considered as aligning to the ‘fight or flight’ premise of survival. That,under the chosen edition, neither the x axis nor the y axis place the individual or collective’s reactions ona set dichotomy between two dynamics enables a more authentic reflection of the complicated natureof decision making within frameworks beyond our control. Explicitly advocating and working towardscreating alternatives to existing provision or the accepted form of, for example, the welfare state, ties inintimately to the Gramscian notion that whilst ‘the old is dying [...] the new cannot be born’ (Gramsci,1998) in that when people accept the existing situation (to whatever extent), it can incredibly difficult toenact alternative ways of being. Thus, Preserve is positioned in opposition to Alternatives as struggles tomaintain the status quo (particularly in the case of anti-austerity movements) cannot easily align withdemands for new ways of operating, yet elements of the two can be witness in-action when consideredacross a sustained period. That reinstating funding served as the focus for the North Edinburgh#SaveOurServices movement (co-headed by participant #1 Nick- required the campaign to operatewithin the current paradigm illustrates this precise challenge. What was distinct within the approach,however, was that the activists and organisations banded together, instigating a pan-organisationalsolution across north Edinburgh (Di Marco Campbell, Forthcoming), with #8 Mercy co-creating aninformation sharing space that allowed local people to better navigate a harsh and austere system.It is in recognising the hardships created by recent austerity programmes that the PACA CommunityAction Model works to understand the distinct ways communities have resisted and adapted theiractivism based on their social circumstances and experiences. In particular, this subsection outlining theproposed model recognised that preservation and compassion are not passive approaches ignorant tosocial harm, but, rather, a drive to survive is resistance in itself - applicable at both individual andcollective levels. Indeed, for Emejulu and Bassel (2018, 115) ‘caring for others is to refuse neoliberal,racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, ableist frameworks that govern their everyday lives’. The authorsattest that ‘to care for others is an act of refusal’, adding that ‘care rejects hierarchical domination andattempts to create new political subjectivities’ - all of which constitute actions that go against theincreasingly right-wing political cultures of contemporary Europe and create or further entrench forms ofmarginalisation across identities and their intersections (Hallgrimsdottir et al., 2020). Thus, whenindividuals or communities challenge social situations by working to mitigate the difficulties many findthemselves placed within, this in of itself is a rejection of the normalisation of poverty and combats thenarrative of the deserving and the undeserving poor.139In these examples, those with the capacity in terms of time, resources, or ability to step in and eithertake over or form alternative support mechanisms (e.g. establishing food or clothing banks, socialcentres, care networks, and housing co-operatives, etc. – many of which have been named within thiswork), enabling others to benefit from their insights, skills sets, and understandings. This demonstrates arefusal to accept that those with the least resources or who find themselves marginalised due to theirpersonal circumstances or employment situation – and, thus, endure harsh treatment by the state orwho face wider social stigmas - deserve to suffer results, at times, in very public manner. Therein, effortsto mitigate aspects such as food poverty or struggles to access childcare at an individual or familial level,even when conducted on a peer-to-peer basis, are examples of the tactics and nuanced understandingsof need between those in similar social situations (e.g. lone parenthood, low-incomes, language barriers,etc.). Many of the lone parent activist efforts chronicled within this thesis, therefore, demonstrates howthey work to resist imposed expectations, regardless of whether they are the primary carer or not,across genders, and how, regardless of their respective political ideologies or perceptions of thosein-power at different levels of government, many believe that they can contribute to the change theywish to see.8.3 Emergent Direct Approaches as Subversive to Social Democracy:‘When central authority fails in socially crucial tasks, mutual aid, solidarity, andgrassroots organization frequently arise as people take up slack [via] informal networksand civil society organizations. We can learn something important about the possibilityof horizontal organization by studying such experiments, including how it arises throughspontaneous action. If political thought is best illustrated through its implementation inpractice, the functioning of grassroots individuals and organizations in a time of crisis isone way to understand the political mechanisms core to anarchist thought’.- Jun and Lance (2020)During the fieldwork, two forms of action emerged concerning the political impact of lone parenthood inthe context of post-2010 austerity. Responses indicated a dichotomy between actions intended to applypressure to elected representatives by holding them accountable for decisions that impacted day-to-daylife in north Edinburgh (e.g. through voting, public meetings, protests, attending political surgeries [#1Nick, #4 Lachlan, and #6 Griff], or ambitions to stand for election [#19 Dan]), whilst the countenancewitnessed subversive, peer level sub-state forms of organising (including exchanges of childcare [#13Cally] and provision of emergency food packages [#11 Louise]).Though not a theoretical perspective with which I entered the research, historical connections to criticalpedagogy are acknowledged (Haworth, 2012), the level of independently-conducted self-organisationand mutual aid approaches conveyed by lone parents during the interviews pushed the PhD researchtowards theories around direct action, mutual aid, and grassroots intervention – much of it bestrepresented within anarchist theory. Anarchism as an ideology has often been misrepresented withdistorted understandings reported en masse (both in corporate press and the academy), with Graeber(2004, p.2) amongst those emphasising that ‘most academics seem to have only the vaguest ideas what140anarchism is even about; or dismiss it with the crudest stereotypes’87. Jun and Lance (2020) made similarobservations, stating that ‘[a]mong the classical nineteenth-century political philosophies, anarchism isthe least studied within the academy and most widely mischaracterized’.To clarify, rather than ‘anarchy’ (understood as chaotic, idealistic, criminal, or, by default, violent[Marshall, 1993; Ward, 1966; Carter, 1978; Kitsantonios, 2017; Imrie, 1994; Bonanno, 1977]), anarchistapproaches are, generally88, rooted in mutualism and local organising. This is particularly prudent giventhe absence of state-run services in the current economic context of state-imposed austerity andimpending recession (Adams and Levy, 2018; Jun and Lance, 2020; Laursen, 2019). In the space createdby the ongoing erosion or elimination of state-backed provision, has emphasised earlier, many of theinterview participants spoke of engaging in struggles against the state (primarily anti-austerity), as wellas establishing their own locally-organised alternative support.Despite those historical misrepresentations, inherent organised militancy is also not central within awealth of anarchist movements, though civil disobedience and other forms of nonviolent protest areregular features (Day, 1963; US Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1983). As such, peaceful but determinedcampaigns can challenge the state for reform or action (e.g. over welfare or regarding housing) whilstprotecting themselves and those in their care – demonstrating elements of preservation and challenging,whilst, perhaps, also creating alternatives in the meantime. Butler (2020, p.1) addresses this,acknowledging that whilst ‘[t]he case for nonviolence encounters sceptical responses from across thepolitical spectrum, there are those on the left who claim that violence alone has the power to effectradical social and economic transformation. They accept, however, that ‘the question of whether or notto act in a violent way is a privilege and luxury’ (ibid., p.7) that those with young dependents - such asthe majority of participants within the fieldwork - can’t always afford. For the women involved in AAM orFocus E15, for example, their politicisation occurred when they were forced into dire circumstances.Instead, from this theoretical perspective, people from hyperlocalised communities of interest,experience, or geography, prioritising organisation around presented needs such as shared careresponsibilities, addressing social and economic isolation, sourcing work or volunteering opportunities,accessing education or other learning opportunities (such as skill sharing and peer education), and thelike (Williams, 2018; Williams, 2019) - each of which was raised by the research participants during ourdialogues. Such values have been described by Ward (1966) as ‘social principles’, that which prioritisesthe wellbeing of individuals and communities over profitability for business or existing hierarchicalrepresentative democracy. Indeed, Landauer (1910) argued that the state ‘is a condition, a certainrelationship between human beings’ that can be dismantled or subverted by individuals ‘contracting88 Malatesta (2015, p.49) has suggested that some anarchists do support violent acts ‘in order to put an end to thefar greater [...] violence that keeps the majority of mankind in servitude’. Further, he contests that ‘violence isjustifiable when it is necessary to defend oneself and others from violence’. As understood under the ‘violence ofausterity’, violence may constitute harms caused via welfare reform, but interventions may also be proclaimed bythe state as a form of violent intervention in the sense that it disrupts hegemonic practices.87 Traced back to 1539 as a term for the ‘absence of government’ (‘anarchisme’; Merriam-Webster, 2020),‘anarchism’ enters the English language in 1642 (Merriam-Webster, 2019), becoming a formal ideology underFrench anarchiste Proudhon (1840). Prior to this, anarchistic movements had emerged in the Middle East in Basra(modern day Iraq), though also within Islam leading to religious anarchism (Marshall, 1993; Graham, 2005). Theideology spread globally during the 1900’s, with the Japanese and Argentine capitals becoming hubs for anarchistactivists and thinkers within their respective continents (Dirlik, 1991; de Laforcade, 2015; Ramnath, 2019; Moya,2015).141other relationships, by behaving differently’, such as in the peer and locally-led initiatives described byparticipants (e.g. forming new youth clubs [#17 Meg]; or creating informal support and care networks[#13 Cally; #5 Dee]).Whilst not explicitly named as such (with the exception amongst the research participants being #5 Deewho stated herself to be an anarchist), Jun and Lance (2020) emphasise that broader hyperlocalorganising can ‘illustrate core elements of anarchist thought’ even without the need to claim that ‘thebulk of [such] grassroots work was done with anarchist ideas explicitly in mind’. They detail how Armand(1926) proposed that, ‘[i]n practice, any individual who, because of [their] temperament or because ofconscious and serious reflection, repudiates all external authority or coercion, whether of agovernmental, ethical, intellectual, or economic order, can be considered an anarchist’. They proclaimthat anyone who consciously rejects the domination of people by other[s through] the social ambiance,and its economic corollaries, can be said to be an anarchist as well’ (‘economic corollaries’ manifestingthrough state-imposed austerity). Though some would reject the notion, subversion is open to far-leftand far-right ideological co-option (Goodway, 2006) and could be applied as much to radical inclusionand sub-statist interventions as to anti-migration or forms of criminality – elements which were raised by#19 Dan who positioned the Scottish Government as a ‘fascist’(ic) state.Though Esenwein (1989) advocated ‘anarchism without adjectives’ (‘an unhyphenated doctrine withoutany qualifying labels such as communist, collectivist, mutualist, or individualist [-] an attitude thattolerate[s] the coexistence of different anarchist schools,’ many precise denominations of anarchistapproaches and thought have emerged (Honderich, 1995). Regardless of the precise nature (hyphenatedor unhyphenated), Ward (1996) suggested that ‘[anarchists] claim that, at the basis of our socialproblems is the principle of government’. This thesis proposes that an anarchist ethos – even if not byname - was witnessed in many participants’ self-described actions, offering local solutions to theproblems raised. Such a premise carries significant credibility given the imposition of austerity, anger,and demonstrations over cuts to community funds, and perceived failures across successivegovernments to create adequate social housing at council, Holyrood, and Westminster levels (e.g.divergent perspectives having been raised by #19 Dan, #1 Nick, #6 Griff, amongst others).Within hyphenated anarchism, this research connects most explicitly to Anarcha-feminism89 (Brown,1993; Dunbar-Ortiz, 2012; Ashbaugh, 1976; Cohn, 2009; Jones, 2017; O'Carroll, 1998; Dolgoff, 1971) andSocial-anarchism as, under each, power becomes (at least in theory) largely horizontal, with service usersor community members involved in decision making via processes of direct democracy in a decentralisedmanner (de Heredia, 2007; McLaughlin, 2007; Proudhon, 1840; Ervin, 2017; Levine, 1979). Thefoundational premise within both denominations being that those with lived experience of an issue (e.g.food insecurity or financial poverty, care responsibilities, etc.) are best placed to identify effectivesolutions and advocate appropriate allocation of community or state-controlled resources connects totopics raised by many interviewees. The direct democracy of anarchist approaches (self-organisationwithin and by communities) is distinct from the largely tokenistic consultation processes regularly89 Also referred to as ‘anarchist feminism’, ‘anarcho-feminism’, and ‘anarchx-feminism’, generally varying based onbroader political beliefs. ‘Anarcha’ works to feminise the traditionally masculine ‘anarcho’, with ‘anarchx’ stemsfrom the intentional eradication of gendered vocabulary - also witnessed through the use of ‘Latinx’ as opposed to‘Latina’ or ‘Latino’.142deployed by governments, local councils, and other authorities during decision making processes –approaches which were critiques by participants such as #13 Cally and #5 Dee.Anarchistic and DIY approaches in the context of this fieldwork - combined within insider perspectivesand experiences - and the wealth of hyperlocalised news coverage (NEN, NESHG, NECN, etc.) illustrate ahistory of locally-led resistance movements combatting racism (Muirhouse Anti-Racism Campaign),unsafe housing conditions (Muirhouse Living Rent), and anti-austerity (North Edinburgh#SaveOurServices). With many vital community and family-oriented services throughout the UK erodedor eliminated entirely during the last decade of austerity, these movements and peer-instigated supportmechanisms demonstrate initiative and efforts to ensure the collective (taken to mean the localcommunity, though also related to questions of who is included) might navigate, or, at least, mitigate,social ostracization and economic hardship. Whilst there have been specific countermovements acrossnorth Edinburgh rallying against the funding cuts to local services, the responses of greatest interestwithin this PhD are those which have emerged informally in the non-statist spaces at the grassroots levelbetween families (primarily lone parents) and their neighbours rather than those exclusively conceivedof and led by workers of the organisations threatened (e.g. via trade unionism). As in the case of theNorth Edinburgh #SaveOurServices campaign - an initiative #1 Nick was central to establishing -anarchistic style organising can be witnessed in the manner in which community members, service users,and other supporters came together to co-create an anti-austerity movement as they believed theservices threatened to be invaluable to the broader wellbeing of local people (including support withchild care and training opportunities that many lone parent families benefit from where they soughtemployment). Levine (1979) has drawn similar parallels between local sub-statist movements andanarchism, observing of the 1970’s US, that ‘all across the country independent groups of women beganfunctioning without the structure, leaders and other factotums of the male Left, creating independentlyand simultaneously, organisations similar to those of anarchists of many decades and locales’.Considering anarchism in such contexts is not, therefore, unprecedented.Drawing more intimately on connections to Anarcha-feminism, Brown (1993, p.2) argued that ‘asanarchism is a political philosophy that opposes all relationships of power, it is inherently feminist’. DeHeredia (2007) goes further, declaring that ‘Anarcha-feminism is, ultimately, a tautology’. Given the loneparent focus of this research, the independence of many non-partnered mothers interviewed, therelocation of care duties from heteronormative mother to several of the lone fathers, and a concertedeffort to address historical underrepresentation of queer, non-binary, and gender nonconforming soloparents, feminist actions can be witnessed by the unique nature of participants’ family lives. Taking oneelement of traditionally feminised relations, empathy (a core element of social activism and solidarity) iscreated through common struggle and recognition of shared adversity and mutualism (Brown, 1993;Dolgoff, 1971). Though not universally recognised in feminist terms (Broude and Garrard, 1992), thiscommon ground and mutual ethos whereby an individual is able to recognise and legitimise thehardships of those around them, often between folk sharing a geographical context, appears pivotal formutual survival in the face of adversity. This is not, by any means, a suggestion of unconditional supportfor others in our immediate vicinity, rather it prompts reflection on the intimate relationships andmotivations within cross-community groups (manifesting hooks’ [1984] ‘multidimensional gatherings).Indeed, the participants who were engaged in social movements (e.g. #4 Lachlan, #5 Dee, #29 June, #1Nick, and #8 Mercy) recognised that others boasting histories of political activism frequently sought todominate or dictate to those they deemed newcomers to social action – therein, reinforcing hierarchy.143Self-organisation, however, must not be confused with the acceptance of the traditionally conservativeambitions of relocating support from, for example, state-provided healthcare to ‘care in the community’- another example of deinstitutionalisation historically witnessed via the absence of the state rather thanvia proactive choice from the families involved (see e.g. Miller, 2020; Kitsantonis, 2017; and Weller,1989). Day (1945) argued that the Catholic Church held direct responsibility to those in need, yet brokefrom the upper echelons of the church (traditionally hierarchical and largely male-dominated),advocating solutions rooted in local knowledge rather than guidance issued without incorporatingorganic understandings based on lived experience. Day was explicit in her critique of the state, pushingfor social responsibility where she perceived statist failure, therein working to address the problems shebelieved were created by the state’s decisions to abdicate responsibility or become overly reformist.In her own activism, Day (1974) demonstrated the combining of ideologies within cross-community‘multi-dimensional gatherings’), stating that ‘[w]e ourselves have never hesitated to use the word[‘anarchism’, but] Peter Maurin came to me with Kropotkin in one pocket and St. Francis in the other!’Despite her own ethos being rooted in Catholicism as part of the Catholic Worker Movement, Day soughtto illustrate where anarchistic approaches overlap with other ideologies, pushing for redistribution ofresources -described by Malatesta (2015, p.79) as when ‘oppos[ing] unjust forms of organization builtaround coercion, domination, and exploitation’. Whilst she understood the need for cooperationbetween divergent ideological (but progressive) forces, she was eager for the results to favour newreligiously shaped approaches and, draws parallels to #9 Frank and #26 Winnie in the intimateconnection between desires for social justice and the importance of faith. Similarly, localist Kauffman(2000) backed hyperlocalised responses to social issues. Though he identified multiple conflicts betweenDay’s and his own positions, he contested that ‘if small is not always beautiful, at least it is alwayshuman’ - illustrating his belief that local residents are those best placed to identify the most appropriatesolutions to local problems, despite pro-statist beliefs that solutions can, largely, be implemented in atop-down fashion.On this notion of redistribution and justice, Nozick’s (1974) entitlement theory - comprising three coreprinciples - amongst the most effective lens through which we can consider what this may look like ifenacted. Based on (i) justice in acquisition; (ii) justice in transfer; and (iii) rectification of injustice,Nozick’s beliefs come into direct conflict with the state. Though he wrote from a largely individualistperspective, when applied to the collective, notions of asset transfer (the state relinquishing control of aparticular service requiring the public to step-in in order to save the amenity) or the state applyingfinancial cuts to community-based support (i.e. processes of austerity, reallocation of funding, etc.)Nozick’s theory retains its relevance. Taking two examples of participants who initially accessed localservices yet now find themselves occupying leadership roles, #1 Nick first accessed the PiltonCommunity Health Project as a service-user before leading his own cooking programme for parents;similarly, #8 Mercy was involved in setting up a local social centre. Following his frontline role as one ofthe North Edinburgh #SaveOurServices activists, #1 Nick now sits on the same organisation’s board ofdirectors, whilst #9 Frank has taken on increasingly senior roles in his community-based practice, in part,stated as possible due to his increased confidence and developed understandings of family. It, therefore,bears remembering that ‘[social] movements arise not utterly spontaneously out of nothing, but by wayof existing networks, systems of contacts, and established organizations’ (Jun and Lance, 2020).144To take one example, explicitly named-anarchist groups have emerged to plug these gaps as stateprovision is reduced. In Athens (Greece), Void Network (GRE: KΕΝΟ ΔΙΚΤΥΟ) members - similarlysubjected to extreme forms of economic austerity engaged in what Kitsantonios (2017) described as‘social activism that is effectively filling a void in governance’ via practice which commuted to ‘unfilteredself-help and citizen action’. Anarchist activists in the Greek capital sought to provide emergency foodpackages, deliver medication to those in need, and established hundreds of member-run communitycentres (echoing aspects of #8 Mercy’s practice, though more explicitly political), as well as membersfacing housing precarity or homelessness undertaking squats in public buildings (again, mirroring thepractice of AAM and Focus E15). Within this context of Greek national austerity, the aforementionedconcern of sub-government spaces for radical solutions being open to left and right politics, theextremes of the latter were witnessed as Golden Dawn (The Popular Association – Golden Dawn; GRE:Λαϊκός Σύνδεσμος – Χρυσή Αυγή) when organisers were witnessed as frontline service providers,aiding those in positions of severe food poverty within Athens in an attempt to garner political support.With several interviewees describing their particular ‘north Edinburgh identity’ (amongst them, #1 Nick,#8 Mercy, and #16 Michael), further correlation to the Greek contexts can be witnessed in commentsfrom anarchist artist Spathara who suggest that ´authorities want to downgrade the [Exarchia] areabecause it’s the only place in Athens that has an organized, anti-establishment identity’ (Kitsantonis,2017).Though a significant percentage of research participants conveyed their socially-inclined values (indeedthirteen explicitly identifying as ‘socialist’), distinctions between ambition and historical precedentbecome increasingly evident as anarchism is understood as a way of living rather than purely as a way ofthought (Brown, 1993; Bowen and Purkis, 2004; McLean, 2003; Ward, 1966) – not entirely unlikelysocialism in a broad sense. Anarchism has frequently worked in-practice, thus Jun and Lance’s (2020)observation of the same premise in the context of localised responses to the Covid-19 shows that muchof the anarchistic ethos to peer support and mutual of aid ‘arises out of related ideologicalcommitments, but most simply functions out of no more than a desire to support one another’. Thewomen-led efforts from the Mujeres Libres - a division of the Federación Anarquista Ibérica - (see e.g.Ackelsberg, 2005; Kaplan, 1971; Graham and Labanyi, 2009) - provides an example of hownon-patriarchal community-based Anarcha-feminism organising can occur - therein tying back to the‘abiding [the] gendered self' (Butler 1988, p.519; see also Sandhya and Jayaraman, 2019). Though theMadrid-based Mujeres Libres membership extended into tens of thousands, parallels can be drawn tothe hyperlocalised working class context of north Edinburgh where organising occurred outside of statistinterventions.Distinctions must be drawn, however, in terms of similarities and the extent to which the alternative andsubaltern approaches depicted by the fieldwork participants embody anarchist pedagogies. Certainanarchist factions have advocated political abstentionism (Thomas, 1985), yet electoralism andrepresentative democracy (described by Ward [1966] as buying into the ‘political principle’ rather than a‘social principle’) rarely featured as the core concern of the interviewees - with the exception ofadvocacy for Scottish independence (including questioning the authenticity of the vote count) or theoccasional mention of previously voting SNP or Labour - rather their actions often subverted assumeddemocratic practices (perhaps, partially, down to the perceived limited accountability of representativesonce they are elected [Di Marco Campbell, Forthcoming]). #4 Lachlan also spoke about his ownfrustrations with politicians and party members - citing examples of two-parent families where both145adults are members of any given party yet, in heterosexual couples, the woman is expected to take on allcare responsibilities so that the man can pursue a career in politics. He spoke of children who ‘grew uparound a party but not in the party’, where preexisting conditions would merely be replicated ratherthan challenges by embodying ‘a different kind of politics’.‘When I lived in [Europe] in the 80’s, I would’ve considered myself “Labour”. You know, fuckReagan, fuck Thatcher, fuck Reaganomics! The punk scene did a lot to shape my politics. Todaythough, I’m much more chilled out. I’m a democratic socialist, and the SNP, they’re good guyswith a hard deal from the crooks in England. […] Here, in Scotland, it’s all about us being run bythose... the criminals down south. Like, I don’t believe for a second that the 45% was accurate.There’s plenty of videos up on YouTube of votes being put into the wrong piles!’- #6 GriffA further core area of relevance to Anarcha-feminism is the rejection, by some, of the sole acceptance ofthe nuclear family. Though marriage was, and in many respects remains, an expectation of would-beparents (particularly, as the literature demonstrated, in largely religious countries), placing lone parentfamilies outside the ‘norm’. Goldman (1914) was amongst the earliest anarchists to voice her oppositionto institutionalised marriage, which she described as ‘primarily an economic arrangement’ which, inheterosexual partnerships (the only form of marriage legal in Scotland until 2014), the woman ‘pays for itwith her name, her privacy, her self-respect, [and] her very life’. Working to chronicle these precisebeliefs, Kowal (2019) notes the history of ‘supporting the broader efforts of the anarchist movement’,whilst adding that ‘anarcha-feminism offered a model of womanhood that articulated women’s sexualagency as an economic and personal imperative, which in turn provided a radical alternative to thesuffrage movement and a critical framework for modern feminism’. Thus, it bears noting that whilstseveral participants had endured the breakdown of marriages or long-term relationships (heterosexual,same-sex, or multi-partnered), others had opted to go it alone in their parenting from an early stage – aclear divergence from social expectations.Despite this belief from Goldman (1998) and De Cleyre (1907), among others, in women’s liberation inrelation to marriage as an institution, not all denominations of anarchism or those who heldanarchistic-style beliefs so readily accepted shattering the suggested narrowness of the definetwo-parent heteronormative family. Day (1963), however, proclaimed, of sexual liberation, that ‘[t]hewisdom of the flesh is treacherous’ arguing instead for ‘a woman who must think in terms of the family,the need of the child to have both [a] mother and father, who believes strongly that the home is the unitof society’. Her rejection of the conceptualised sexually liberated woman went as far as condemnation,stating that ‘[w]hen sex is treated lightly, as a means of pleasure ... it takes on the quality of the demonic,and to descend into this blackness is to have a foretaste of hell…’ (ibid.), therein, the freedom severalinterviewees expressed concerning their enjoyment in how they could explore new relationships withnew partners of any gender or with multiple partners (e.g. #22 Nomi and #25 Aiden) may have - orindeed may still - be met with outright vilification from the church or other such institutions. There is,however, a caveat here in that a handful of discussants spoke of aid, advice, and guidance they receivedafter outing themselves as lone parents to their community of faith or disclosing their status to religiousofficials (e.g. #26 Winnie). Furthermore, #9 Frank spoke of the importance of faith during his journeys torecovery from (or gaining control over) addiction.146The core anarchistic tendency towards mutualism is a further aspect which bore repeated correlations tothe actions depicted during the fieldwork dialogues. As such, having established a more nuancedunderstanding of anarchism in practice than, according to Graeber (2004) and Jun and Lance (2020), isgenerally held in the academy, the following subsection reflects on the practice of mutual aid recountedby interview participants.8.4 Mutual Aid and Mutuality:‘There is an immense amount of warfare and extermination going on amidst various species; [yet]there is, at the same time, as much, or perhaps even more, of mutual support, mutual aid, andmutual defense… Sociability is as much a law of nature as mutual struggle’.- Kropotkin (1902, p.12)Russian anarchist Kropotkin (1902) was fundamental in his belief that ‘mutual aid and mutual support[is] a feature of greatest importance for the maintenance of life’. Grounding his arguments in the worksof naturalist researcher Kessler (1880), connecting it to natural development via countenance ofexclusively Darwinist competition for survival. He recognised that modern states and the advancementof private property disadvantages poor and working class communities, minimising opportunities formutualism and cross-community solidarity (see also Todes, 1989; Dolgoff, 1971; Boucher, 1985; McKay,2010; and Gould, 1997). Whilst, at times, the examples Kropotkin (1902) provided at the turn of the 19thcentury related to acts of aid and solidarity in moments of physical danger (e.g. rushing pails of water toa neighbour’s burning house), works that examine situations spaces such as food banks and schooluniform exchanges demonstrate support and altruistic redistribution of resources from those with - notnecessarily an abundance of capitals (as much social, experiential, and political as financial [Flora andFlora, 2008; Flora et al., 2004]) but generally with ‘enough’ - to those without. Within the participantcohort, #19 Meg, for example, volunteered her time with a local youth club once her children becameold enough to look after themselves. Such redistribution is essential, according to Rawls’ (1971, p.289)theory of justice, if ‘social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are to be of greatestbenefit to the least-advantaged members of society’ and manifests frequently in the actions ofdiscussants.Kropotkin’s (1902) theories expanded - and intertwined more intimately with those of Kessler (1880) - tosuggest that ‘mutual struggle’ - that is the challenge to survive - and competition for resources (taken tomean social support, employment opportunities, etc) is often offset by mutual aid, though participantsfrequently struggle to self-organise to the same extent of the former services – be that due to limitedexperience, capacity, or the absence of funding. Despite that, at times, self-directed provision andcommunity-run solutions can provide more appropriate and adaptable solutions than the state. Thestruggles therein come down to capacity, competing social and work commitments whilst operating onpotential zero-budget or relying exclusively on community-sources donations (see e.g. LIFT [NEN, 2018b]or the pan-Edinburgh Edinburgh Helping Hands [Campbell, 2021]).‘To embrace mutual aid as the sole legitimate organizing principle of society is to rejectthe institutionalization of any means of coercion, or of violence and the threat ofviolence. It is to embrace the idea that we can cooperatively reason with one another,147and thereby instantiate our common inclination to build a society that benefits allwithout instituting any sort of hierarchy that functions to enforce such arrangements.’- Jun and Lance (2020)Anarchism is understood by both McLaughlin (2007) and Ward (1966) to have four key tenets. Theformer suggested these as ‘[t]he will for a non-coercive society; [...] rejection of the state apparatus; [a]belief that human nature allows humans to exist in or progress toward such a non-coercive society; [and]suggestion[s] on how to act to pursue the ideal of anarchy’ (McLaughlin, 2007, pp.25-26). In only a minorcontrast, Ward (1966) was more concise in identifying ‘four principles behind an anarchist theory oforganisation: [...] (1) voluntary, (2) functional, (3) [often] temporary, and (4) small’. Taking these aspectsof: voluntary participation (‘non-coercive’); a mistrust or, certainly, a lack of faith in the state tosafeguard and protect local services; a belief that the state is limited or incapable of protectingvulnerable groups (e.g. implementing sanctions and cuts to social security); and a repeatedly expressedbelief in the positive nature of other residents, there are many tenets of anarchist thought that can bewitnessed in the behaviours through struggle, self-management, and community organising from theinterview participants, even if anarchism is not a familiar part of the political ideology that most wouldreadily align themselves to.8.5 Reimagining the Contemporary Lone Parent Family:The Literature Review chapter outlined many ways in which lone parent families have been understoodor neglected by state policies, how recent understandings within the academy have described or failedto account for the intersecting, complex, and multifaceted identities of lone parent families, as well asthe limited sense of agency the academy and state afforded them (‘the unwed’; ‘never married’, ‘single’).In this closing subsection of analysing those historical portrayals of lone parenthood will be contrastedagainst the findings of the thesis.In the Scottish context circa 93% of lone parent families are understood to be mother-headed (OPFC,2018), with lone parent families constituting around 5% of all Scottish households (Scottish Government,2017) most of them understood, or certainly assumed to be, heterosexual white women. Whilst it is truethat many this 93% will be white and heterosexual, the UK Government (2018) advises that almost onein five Black households in Britain (18.9%) ‘were made up of a single parent with dependent children’.Queer parenthood emerged as limited focus within academic literature - with almost no works directlyconsidering lone queer parenthood. Though the likes of Gabb (2001), Sandell (1994), Weeks et al. (2001),Dierck and Lucas Platero (2018) have produced texts considering the experiences of gay or lesbiancoupled-families (some of the research specifically addressing trans-related narratives), accounts sharedby several of my research participants were amongst the first direct accounts I’ve encounter to offerinsight into the intersections of lone parenthood, queer identity and the stigmas faced, familialostracisation, and childism within the queer community. There are, however, a handful of works thatconsider the experiences of children raised within queer families (e.g. Green, 1978; Green, 1998) ofwhich some parenting couples’ relationships didn’t survive the coming out process or ended when oneparent transitioned, thereby creating situations of lone parenting.148Emejulu (2018) recognised that throughout history feminism ‘was always to say that biology was notdestiny because that was precisely the argument that people used to keep women in private spaces: thatwomen with their “smaller brains” were “prone to fainting” and are not fit to be in public spaces, such aspolitics and the workplace.’ Butler (1990) has further suggested that ‘sex is taken as an immediate given,a sensible given, physical features belonging to a natural order’, yet understands that ‘what we believedto be a physical and direct perception is only a sophisticated and mythic construction - an imaginaryformation which reinterprets physical features - in themselves as neutral as other’. Similar clusteringoften occurs during social commentary and policy formation concerning groups such as lone parents.Indeed, intersections and imposed expectations are common across social class, settled status,employment, housing situation, sexuality, familial or inherited wealth, physical and mental health,(dis)ability, gender identity, and social or supportive relationships significantly impact the experience,capacity, and wellbeing of the lone parent, and those in their care.Whereas Vidic (in Butler, 1990) argues that there is, in essence, only one gender - that of female with themale understood and socially treated as what she terms ‘the general’, in the context of lone parenthood,any gender identity beyond that of accepted definitions of ‘female’ (and anyone existing beyondheteronormativity) who occupies the role of lone parent and performs the role of the primary caregiverbecomes ‘the other’ in terms of their gendered experience. Dorsey (2013) has, however, stressed thatalthough cisgendered fathers within heterosexual relationships are increasingly defying traditionalbreadwinner role and undertaking stay-at-home roles, the accepted gendered roles have been lesscommonly accepted within queer parenting dynamics (lone, coupled, or otherwise). Understandingcaring roles as frequently positioned as those of female-identifying individuals, Butler (1990, p.32)suggests that the ‘accidental characteristics of a gender ontology mean the expectations placed on thehistorically binary parental identities of “mother” or “father” cannot be accepted as anything beyondperformative’. Thus, based on privileges of power, status, and opportunities (or the lack of) to participatein proceedings, parents (dependent on their assigned and traditionally gendered roles) may consciouslyor unconsciously perform as they believe they are expected to.Such internalised or self-imposed restrictions on what the parent understands to constitute sociallyacceptable behaviours for their respective gendered role constitutes a form of Gramscian hegemony viaits reproduction of parental roles within heteronormative coupled-families, even where observed in loneparent settings to a certain extent. Assumptions over care roles was present in numerous interviews,with participants such as #2 Lawrence, #20 Rona, #4 Lachlan, and #7 Cathleen stating that noconversations took place over who would become primary carer post-split, rather, they were expected totake on the role. However, performance and adherence to expected or, rather, accepted forms of genderand bodily dysphoria have also long been understood as based on a particular level of performativity.Butler (1990), however, is among those to recognise that terms such as ‘dad’ have long been utilised bynon-male identifying individuals (including those assigned as female sex at birth) andgender-nonconforming folk - with Butler staying that butch lesbians have often adopted the traditionallymale term of ‘father’. The term ‘lesbian dads’ (Goldberg et al., 2014), frequently adopted by thenonbiological parent in coupled lesbian parents, is ‘used to describe lesbian parents who feel like theculturally accepted identity and role of father is more in line with her own parental identity and role thanthe culturally accepted identity and role of mother’ and is primarily used by those who ‘identify with amore masculine or gender-neutral/ambiguous/queer role than a feminine role’.149Among the gendered and gender performative issues raised during the interviews were topics regardingthe absence of non-gendered parental terminology (beyond ‘mum’ and ‘dad’ [e.g. #25 Aiden and #15Sasha); childism within the queer community (#3 Lindsay); the impact of raising a child of anothergender than their own (#4 Lachlan); and the forms of work which - as a lone parent or being of aparticular gender - they may be expected to enter into (#20 Nina, #7 Cathleen, and #12 Kelly). Thecircumstances of becoming a lone parent significantly impacted the extent to which this latter elementwas an issue, though it become particularly prevalent in heteronormative situations whereby one parentwas either entirely or largely absent from the child’s life (e.g. through bereavement, institutionalisation,or relocation). Though centring his work on active anti-racist practice, Kendi (2018) stressed thatgenuinely equalities focused work - that which ‘knowingly’ strives to address ingrained prejudices -‘requires persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism, and regular self-examination’. Asdemonstrated through the Freirean process of conscientization, many of the interviewees hadrecognised the political struggles they endured based on externally-imposed views, whilst some hadopted to engage in social action to improve their own circumstances.8.6 SummaryConcerning how the participants understood their own identities, generally, biographical narratives wereoffered in chronological order, starting with the circumstances of (where applicable) the biologicalparents meeting or with the moment of separation. Though these explanations frequently centred onthe participants’ children, it became clear that many of them came from non-nuclear familiesthemselves. #6 Griff grew up in a lone parent family, living his father in the Midwest whilst his sister wasraised by their mother. Though he himself suggested it was largely a ridiculous notion today, #4 Lachlanspoke directly to this shame of single parenthood - particularly young parents who birthed childrenwhilst out of wedlock - detailing family dramas during which it was revealed that a woman he hadbelieved to be his aunt was in fact his half-sister, some thirty years his senior. Even in his own family unit,#4 Lachlan was expected to assume the duties of ‘the man of the house’ after his father passed asdespite being just seventeen years old, his brothers already had their own families. Evidently, gender hasplayed a significant role in shaping how the lone parents perceived themselves, but much of it stemmedfrom their own adolescence (including being subjected to violence from caregivers [e.g. #16 Frank] ortheir families exhibiting intolerance to queer family members [#31 Jenny]).More broadly, however, as I stated in my previously publication, the dialogues created an intimacy thatrevealed significant aspects of how the participants perceived themselves, and what connotations thiscarrier for them – particularly in social and economic terms:‘What has become obvious through these […] dialogues is that witnessing each other'shomes and unintentionally encountering members of their family, created anunintended intimacy between the researcher and the participants. These discussions nolonger exclusively involved the narration offered by the interviewee, but severalrespondents likened the space offered by the BINM and dialogically informed approach150to a counselling session90 (participants #21 Edina, #26 Kim, and #32 Nicky) whilst othersstated that they welcomed the opportunity to converse with another adult due to thesocial isolation they endured as a result of the earliest stages of the Covid-19 outbreakand the imposed lockdown. In addition, though a wealth of accommodations wereintended to permit the research interviews to take place at any time of day which bestsuited participants (generally when their children were still at school or at after-schoolclubs), the pandemic resulted in an unexpected range of responses with the plan ofcontrolling the researcher’s identities as an academic, activist, and local resident nolonger under their control due to the home environment setting. Unexpectedly, inseveral instances, the lone parent participants encouraged their children to wave to thecamera and occasionally - such as with participants #18 Carol and #21 Edina - whoactually encouraged their child to tell the researcher about their experiences of havingonly one parent or indeed multiple families.’- Campbell (2021, p.576).As Hedican (2006, p.18) stressed, the desire to situate the research through addressing emotionalcomponents, understanding one’s own relationships (academic, social, and practice-based) is an ongoingprocess of aggregation, growth, and richer understandings. He suggested that ‘reflexive understandingsaccumulate and are transformed over time the more they are thought about in the context of thecontinued social interaction with the people in the field of study’ - in this context the lone parentparticipants. As he attested, ‘[t]here is also the complex process of organizing the [researcher]’sthoughts, putting them down on paper (or laptop), rethinking them in the context of future events andsituations, and then eventually drawing conclusions in the form of the final [...] account’. The analyticalprocess, then, is recognised as integral to creating an effective investigation, whilst reflecting on one’sown circumstances and the feelings these interactions evoke demands addressing.8.7 Blending Social Work and Community Development PracticesIn closing out this thesis, let us re-empathise the core components, strengths, and contributions of thisinvestigation. As a practitioner and academic operating primarily within the Community Developmentcontexts, this thesis synthesised core elements of the direct and dialogical practices of my own field witha range of social work theories and concerns - focusing, as it did, on lone parent families’ preciseexperiences of austerity, rather than a broader exploration of community-wide challenges. Amongst themost significant components of this work’s legacy are the possibilities of intimate discussion that adoptsfree-flowing dialogues and promotes a participant-led investigation (foregrounded by the advocacy ofRoss and Moore’s [2016] BINM) rather than allowing we, as researchers arriving with institutionalbacking, to dictate the dialogue in order to extract precise responses. So too, as I have incorporatedduring the community profile and reflexivity subsections, the thesis encourages immersive approachesto understanding the communities in which we work and research and sincerely recognising the impact90 A topic deserving of deep interrogation, the undertaking of emotional labour by the research around sensitivetopics has been considered by Hochschild (1983) and Owton and Allen-Collinson (2013) in relation to the role andpurpose with which the research engaging in interviewing. The latter, for example, stress that ‘[l]istening to storiesthat are emotionally laden and troubling […] can have a powerful effect on any researcher and this can beexacerbated where a friendship relationship is also involved, and the researcher feels a greater duty of care to[their] participant’.151that we have in arriving into these spaces (including the diversity of relationships – and reputations orroles - we hold with those who living there.Despite the contemporary academia treating doctoral research as a highly individualised process, manyaspects are only possible through collaboration and dialogue with those living and working in the area ofstudy (geographical, subject-specific, or otherwise). Recognition of this is offered through the carefullyconstructed biographies of the participants who enabled the research through their candour andsincerity, whilst the reflexive components outlined my multifaceted relationship with north Edinburgh,its communities, and institutions, illustrated that such deeply-situated research is only possible by thoseinvested and established in some capacity within their community of study. Given that complexity, thethreefold Christakopoulou et al. (2011) method of producing community profiles made it possible torelay many fundamental elements of life in Greater Pilton from a range of social, economic, and politicalperspectives (these were then supplemented by transport and creative responses which emerged asissues of significance locally based on the research and interviews). This was an approach I havepreviously utilised in my Community Development practice, research, and teaching and, in this instance,sought to bring a broad contextualisation of the systems and ideologies that shape the participants’experiences (somewhat typical of Community Development), whilst recognising the urgency of centringthe participants’ individually (a more direct Social Work premise). This permitted core elements ofindividual and collective agency to take centre stage in the analysis of the findings, recognising thedetermination and politics of the everyday, acknowledging the range of acts taken by discussants tosafeguard their own family units whilst, frequently, collectivising formally or informally with othersexperiencing similar struggles (be that with care, employment opportunities, policy impacts, etc.).That drive towards action - promoted by major theorists canonised within Community Developmentdetailed in this work (e.g. Freire, 1972; and Ledwith, 2011) - influenced the creation of the PACA modelas a tool for practitioners across sectors, but it may also serve as a reflective tool for groups themselves.Shaped largely by political theorist and social activist contributions in works from Emejulu and Sobande(2019), Whyte and Cooper (2017), and Emejulu and Bassel (2017) as they explored immersivecontextualisation and notions of agency, this model works to understand the priorities, concerns, andambitions of community members or activist groups (such as the lone parent collectives detailed in thefour case studies in the Literature Review). The model incorporates thematic analysis (generative themesbased on input; Kirkwood and Kirkwood, 2011) that align with the themes fostered during the LiteratureReview, to help communicate information expressed by research participants or studied activist groups.Charting four-points regarding desires to preserve existing community resources versus creatingalternatives amidst challenging circumstances; as well as attempts to challenge external processes (e.g.austerity) or to adapt to these new situations enabling a form of visual analysis (supported bycommentaries under each subheading) that could serve as a starting point for reflection, analysis, andfuture planning.Though the model offers scope for analysis of community organisations based on their actions,communiques, and outside observations of their practice, it is equally useful when analysing participantresponses. That is not to suggest, however, that there are not limitations to it use and applicability.Though the entire thirty-four participant reflections could be analysed with a view to producing a singlebroad and all-encompassing summary (a visual supplement to the written commentaries contained inthe analysis), this might blur the subtleties and distinctions between different intersections or152collectivised experienced. It can, however, be applicable should a given demographic be or particularconcern or interest (e.g. all non-UK participants or the gender-diverse parents) and can, once again,cluster the responses based on a particular need or experience; with these easily overlayed todemonstrate where groups diverge (as a social trend or within their collectives) Whilst this wouldfacilitate highly engaging and easily communicated overviews, the structured subsections remain integralto communicating the minute details of a given community or intersection via qualitative inputs whenmixed with quantitative data.1539. ConclusionsThis final chapter draws the thesis together, outlining how the core research questions have beenaddressed, whilst recognising what the research has achieved. It revisits the relationship betweenmyself, as researcher, and the community member participants post-fieldwork, recognising the lastingimpact of this work. More significantly, it reiterates the three contributions to academic theory andfuture investigations (the researcher to participant proximity model, the charting socio-political actions,and the reimagining of how we understanding lone parents). The importance of the BINM approach andthe underpinning dialogically-driven theory from Freire (1972) in making this a successfully conductedinvestigation are acknowledged.9.1 The Findings:The immersive approach taken to this doctoral research was made possible, largely, because of theestablished relationships the researcher held to the research communities (geographical, activist,professional youth worker, resident, etc.). These connections permitted trust to quickly be fostereddespite, under many criteria, only being a partial insider, the shared experiential capital communicatedduring the recruitment phase meant that the BINM approach enabled an openness as the two actors(interviewee and researcher) were able to relate on a significant number of intersections. Thoughconcerns about the extent to which some components of our identities diverged (e.g. most significantlyon gender), the suggested ‘North Edinburgh identity’ described by several participants (including #1Nick, #16 Michael, and #8 Mercy) meant that shared working class identities were frequently a core ‘in’ -this being despite the researcher boasting only seven years of practice, research, and lived experience inthe area at the onset compared to the many decades or even multi-generational legacies severalparticipants boasted. As such, were this research to be expanded to consider additional contexts(domestic or international), the loss of those pre-existing relationships, professional connections,established local identity, and insights through shared lived experience would present a significant newbarrier. This would risk a radical change in the information returned during the fieldwork through,necessitating researchers who boast similarly capacity in any future studied areas to combat thewould-be absence of shared knowledge and experience.Returning to the importance of anarchist theory around direct action and mutual aid – which becomecentral in developing effective understandings - this ideological approach and embodied manner of livingwas afforded significant space within this work when recognised as the most appropriate way to analysethe findings. As with Ward (1966), many anarchist schools of thought would argue for the immediateformation of structures to ensure financial security in the face of poverty, with socialist-inclined researchparticipants such as #4 Lachlan, #32 Nicky, and #6 Griff eager for welfare reforms intended to staveprecarity like the Universal Basic Income to address the precarity many participants described.Furthermore, a guaranteed and unconditional income - one that forces would-be employers to ensureattractive working conditions and guarantees of worker safety are in-place (circumstances many researchparticipants regularly face - would enable folk to avoid becoming trapped by financial debt (Graeber,2004), therein limiting the extensive problems that stem from this such as poor mental health andbroader anxiety.154As outlined across several of the thirty-four interviews and considered extensively in the analysis, thatthe North Edinburgh #SaveOurServices campaign has served as an core example of current proactiveefforts to combat austerity, it is appropriate to consider the lessons from this type of action to-date).From an insider perspective, it is necessary to highlight the concern of particular voices dominating overothers whilst in the shared space (an issue recognised in previous campaigns and that has served as adeterrent to some participants becoming involved in community action). Whilst there were benefits tothe multi-dimensional gatherings enabling cross-community dialogue and levying the social, political, orexperiential capital of others, this frequently failed to promote the voices of those most directly affectedby an issue and others tended to dominate dialogue - particularly the voices of seasoned white,generally heterosexual, and cisgendered male activists91 with decades of experiential capital in northEdinburgh. Though such familiarity was welcomed for the intimate organic knowledge it brings,hyper-confidence and overbearing personalities often drown out voices of others, particularly newlymotivated actors eager to influence their local community and safeguard essential services threatenedby a regime of cuts (several of the thesis interviewees being amongst them). This can significantly alterthe campaign ambitions and success (for better or worse depending on how that capital is utilised),however, successful lone parent examples were found in the creation of the manifestos from both AAMand Focus E15.What this thesis research does find, however, is that political ideology (albeit not always explicitly)informs many of the participants’ thoughts - the majority situating themselves on the ideological left(ranging from centre-left to social democracy and, though not all). Whether through a determination tooperate in direct contrast to the state - therein connecting to anarchistic approaches to communityorganising (e.g. #5 Dee) - or participants aligning with themselves with a particular political party (theSSP, SNP, or Scottish Labour; e.g. #6 Griff, #4 Lachlan, etc.), community groups continue, for the mostpart, to operate within a pre-existent paradigm, making their demands on the state to address theirconcerns via the same processes that created them. Indeed, Beckett (2019) suggests that within thetraditional political sphere, ‘[e]ven when rightwing parties are not in power, conservative ideas andpolicies set the shape of society and the economy.’ Therein, despite local activists’ ambitions (the loneparents interviewed but also the broader north Edinburgh anti-austerity movement), the removal ofstatist support via the decade-long process of economic austerity renders a majority of subversiveinitiatives unsustainable in the long term due to the required opt-in nature, labour-intensive, andabsence of assistance or accessibility of care systems (connection to Ward’s [1966] belief that effectivepractice was often short-term), however, this echoes the rationale for #8 Mercy’s co-created socialcentre which, she advised, cannot explicitly challenge the state if it wishes to continue operating underdifferent regimes of power.9.2 Relationships Post-Fieldwork:Even after the fieldwork was complete, several interviewees kept in touch, letting me know about onlineparenting groups they’ve found helpful, positive stories about interactions with their wider families ornew relationships, but also the struggles they’d endured since our dialogues and, in the case of the91 This, generally being understood as the demographic afforded the most social privilege and, therein, permittedto occupy a disproportionate platform in comparison to others who may be perceived or convey themselves as lessdominant or carry lower confidence due to the historic undervaluing and downplaying of minority contributions.155non-cisgendered or gender non-conforming participants, the sustained campaigns of harassment anddisinformation they encountered on the street, corporate press, or directly. Whilst these additionalinputs occurred after the interviews and, thus, could not contribute to the analysis chapters, it feelssignificant to recognise these in the closing states to demonstrate the sustained struggles several of thelone parent participants present in this thesis continue to endure - particularly amongst thosehistorically marginalised within the academy. Examples received through private communicationsincluded praise for LGBT Health & Wellbeing’s online outreach work to queer families (lone or otherwise)during the pandemic and, in particular, periods of lockdown and self-enforced isolation92; but alsoanxiety after witnessing the results of the SNP party conference in late November 2020, and a series ofwhat a majority of those reaching out identified as transphobic disinformation being published online.On the SNP elections, Mukerji (2020) suggested that ‘the dominant story of the night is the success [of]anti-GRA candidates across the elections, and the defeat of pro-GRA incumbents.’ With many of theparticipants disclosing their past support for the SNP (including the majority of those who identified asqueer, with their support often becoming conditional rather than the default), a perceived radical shiftfrom explicitly trans-inclusive stances was upsetting for many participants (including those who statedthat their often marginalisation as lone parents had fostered greater empathy for other minority groups[e.g. #11 Louise, #32 Nicky, and #31 Jenny).Though the Covid-19 pandemic was only starting to impact daily life in Scotland and beyond during thelatter stage interviews, the swelling health demands of the general population caused a significantbacklog in health care provision. As such, the Scottish Government (2022) 'developed the NHS RecoveryPlan, which sets out key ambitions and actions to address the backlog of care across NHS Scotland byMarch 2026.' The realities of this were, evidently, set to bear significant consequences for several of theparticipants in this study, particularly those reliant on personal care for themselves and assistance withchildcare. Longer term, the research demonstrates the need for training programmes like thoseadvocated by the Non-Binary Working Group (2022, p.8) promoting ‘[f]und[ing] mandatory training formental health providers on trans and non-binary healthcare needs’, as well as a push towards morecomprehensive educational programmes about relationships and family types.9.3 Theoretical ContributionsThe three core contributions that this thesis has produced concerned the Re-conceptualising LoneParents; Visualising Researcher Proximity; and Charting Activist Motivations. Foremost, it has sought toreimagine how we - as academics, as activists, and as community-based practitioners - understand ‘loneparents’. The insights provided by the thirty-four research participants have demonstrated criticallyconscious actors who, for the most part, take the actions necessary – to the best of their ability - for thebenefit of their families whether still lone, recently-coupled, blended, or non-primary caregivers. Theharms of a decade of austerity have produced immense hardships for many of them - to the extent thatsome no longer engage with the welfare state for fear of the damage further reforms might do to thememotionally, to the wellbeing of their families, or, to their physical safety (e.g. #10 Rona). The familieswhose stories are presented in this research exist under the state, yet, their choices demonstrate awillingness to defy societally or state-imposed norms around care.92 In an article I produced for Bella Caledonia, I was able to discuss this work with LGBT Health & Wellbeing CEOMaruska Greenwood (Campbell, 2020).156In addition to the adapted version of Christakopoulou et. al’s (2001) approach to producing CommunityProfiles with connectivity (transport links) and creative responses now added as further categories, andthe enhanced version of the three-fold exploration of researcher relationships to a researchedgeographical community (as developed for my Masters dissertation), this thesis has proposed twofurther tools. The first (and more rudimentary) device enables the researcher to chart their socialproximity to the research participants from immediate connections - essentially those which werepre-existing and in-place before the investigation commenced - to these who came in via direct referralseither from participants putting the researcher in touch with others in their own networks, andculminating in a final stage which encompasses those who were completely unknown. The third grouparrived at the project via the cascading effect of a working advertising programme. The model, itself, waspresented in the Impact of Covid-19 & Charting Proximity subsection as terms these groups as the (i)Known, the (ii) Referrals, and the (iii) Unknowns.The final and more complex contribution is the PACA Model, an ideologically-shaped tool that seeks tochart the ways that community actors have sought to alter their circumstances. Though its explorationbuilds on the series of case studies presented in the Literature Review - specifically on the localorganisation AAM in north Edinburgh, the Focus E15 mothers in London (England), the UK-wide F4J, andUAWO in Athens (Greece) - the two-axis established mean that researchers and community groups,themselves, can use it in reflecting on their motivations. Each axis does not present absolute poles, butdo illustrate the choices that need to be made over whether actors fight to preserve what has existed(combatting the impacts of austerity), or will they build their own alternatives that break with statereliance (the peer-supported spaces, direct and mutual aid). The other axis explores whether the actorschallenge the processes that enabled these harms to be performed (voting different political parties intopower; implemented new ways of doing politics such as direct democracy and consensus building ratherthan simply majority-rule), or whether they adapt to the circumstances imposed upon them by those inpositions of power.9.4 ConclusionIn this closing section of the PhD, I’d like to return to the reflexivity employed during the positionalitychapter of the thesis. This chapter provided a space to convey some of the more intimate insights andchanges that have been gained throughout undertaking the doctoral research. The manner in which Iexperience north Edinburgh has, without a doubt, shifted - reshaped and influenced by the stories thatparticipants entrusted me with. Though I’ve been a community worker for many years, efforts wereusually undertaken to ensure that professional versus personal boundaries remained distinct. Thoughthere were many occasions when the professional and lived elements overlapped due to a sharedproximity (e.g. through my social activism with the range of north Edinburgh-based movements giventhe reforms affect me too as a local resident), the ‘give and take’ aspects were generally strictlymaintained.The range of discussions and wealth of organisations, businesses, and other points of interest operatingthroughout north Edinburgh have increased my own awareness of the diversity and depth of amenitieslocally (though, as several participants stressed, many of these had suffered from austerity, financialprecarity, or issues around sustaining volunteers to maintain provision). Though I was, of course, aware157of the religious institutions situated locally - such as Blackhall Mosque ,مسجد) EH4 2AJ), Drylaw ParishChurch of Scotland (EH4 2RP), and the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses (EH4 4AP; located on thesame street in which I lived during this research), these were locations I’d never previously entered on apersonal basis and, to date, with the exception of Blackhall Mosque, my professional practice has nottaken me there. The accounts provided of interactions within one such institutions, for example, asshared by #26 Winnie, were useful new knowledge. That the Kingdom Hall has appeared closed on anear constant basis since I moved to north Edinburgh made it unsurprising, therefore, that I received noresponse when reaching out to them during my recruitment phase of the fieldwork.Though the data considered throughout the thesis is taken specifically from the fieldwork interviews,several of the participants (including a number of those who were not previously known when theresearch commenced) kept in touch, sending me links to news articles of interest, tagging me on Twitterthreads covering issues they felt were relevant to my research, or taking the time to catch up informallywith me when we encountered each other in everyday life. Despite this latter aspect having been aconcern discussed at length during the ethical issues subsection - with a particular anxiety over howinteractions may be experienced following the sharing of any personal experiences - a majority seemedeager to build on our new relationships with a clear understanding that new information was shared ona peer basis rather than continuing the researcher-interviewee relationship.What the case studies demonstrated constituted Freirean-style dialogue and examples ofconscientization whereby ‘horizontal communication between equals engaged in a process of criticalinquiry’ (Ledwith 2011 p.106) permits new connections to be made, fostering more in-depthunderstandings that most of us – lone parent or otherwise – could never achieve in isolation. Despitethis, Wright (2011, p.59) suggests that ‘[f]or more than a decade, social security in the UK has beenfundamentally reformed in order to reinforce a vision of social citizenship in which the primarylegitimate societal contribution is conceived of in narrow individual economic terms as activeengagement in paid employment’. The social and support networks illustrated through peer referralsfrom several of the lone parent participants (e.g. #1 Nick encouraging #2 Lawrence to share hisexperiences, or #11 Louise and #21 Edina suggesting they each participate) demonstrate yet anotherexample of how the lone parent participants were able to assist each other to share their stories - evenwhen they were not necessarily engaged in shared activist groups.As Freire (1972, p.72) emphasised, ‘[k]nowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention,through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with theworld, and with each other’. Though there are clear opportunities to consider group work andcollaborative interviews in future projects into the political and social experiences of lone parents –albeit once intense preparation has been undertaken to ensure the purpose and constraints of a sharedspace for the safeguarding of participants – the actions and encouragement demonstrated betweenseveral of the interviewees helps to demonstrate where these types of connection are alreadyobservable simply through peer referrals when understood as acts of encouragement to contributetowards the reassessment of how lone parents are recognised or considered within the literature.What we are left with, then, is a concrete revelation that many of the research participants continuouslystruggle to find sincere and lasting resolutions to the issues that face them in their daily lives throughtheir elected representatives - whether that concerns childcare; protecting the services and groups theyenjoy or benefit from; or options for sustained and suitable employment – yet several recognised the158urgency of finding more immediate solutions to their challenging circumstances, highlighting thatwaiting for the state to implement solutions rarely occurred as the necessary pace. Given, as noted inthe introduction and community profile chapters, that the areas within north Edinburgh of concern forthis PhD voted in significant numbers for Scotland to leave the UK in 2014, to remain in the EU in 2016,or have consistently returned SNP, Labour, or Liberal Democrat candidates in Westminster elections onlyto face a Conservative-led administration, such disillusion for representative democracy is unsurprising.Indeed, several participants such as #10 Rona and #5 Dee outlined their completely disengagement withthe state.The frustrations voiced by participants regarding the failures of their elected officials at Council,Holyrood, and Westminster levels to prevent cuts to local services under the Integrated Joint Boardapproach to Health and Social Care indicates similar exasperation, even when there’s less of a distancebetween the would-be electorate and their representatives (north Edinburgh to the city centre,compared to the distance to Westminster, London). As such, that core tenets of anarchist actions such asdirect interventions, mutual aid, acts of social financial solidarity where possible, and advocacy ofalternative approaches to politics in our everyday lives emerged consistently during our conversations,can be understood as a logical conclusion. Indeed, on this, Olah (2019, p.7) observed a lack ofaccountability at the state level, stressing that:‘over decades, we’ve heard “good taste”, “pragmatism”, “sensibleness”, “civility”, “respectability”and “decency” used ad nauseum to justify policies whose real-world effects amounted towidespread suffering and harm [...] whip also being used as a line of impenetrable defenceagainst any outside criticism.’It’s clear that the frustrations of these lone parents in north Edinburgh are not unique across the UK, yettheir reactions to such struggles have been deeply grounded in their local geographical communities andthe relationships between individuals, collectives, and support networks. With Beck and Purcell (2010,p.15) attesting that taking control of narratives ‘reshapes the balance of social power away from rulingelites into the hands of people who are marginalised in the current social order’, it is hoped that thisthesis has helped diversify the literature on lone parents, and, I believe, achieved its ambition ofrecognising lone parents as social and political actors in their own right – those capable of fighting for abetter future, be that at the individual and familial level or more widely. The theoretical contributionsand models will be of use going forward in future research on lone parents or broader communityactivism – both at the academy and community levels - whilst other projects can utilise the findingsdetailed, here, to support and critically observe how lone parents navigate future government byworking to hold them accountable, or through creating their own solutions locally. 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