This is another postcard from the research edge: part of Anita’s PhD which researches how local residents experience life and regeneration in Deptford/New Cross.
This is about Bernard, a pensioner living in Austin House on Achilles Street who grew up in New Cross in the 70’s and 80’s and moved back in 2005. His story spans everything from the racism and gang culture of that time; the Sound System Culture he was heavily involved in then; the effects of past and present regeneration, the importance of community, living with sickle cell disease and the anxiety about Achilles Street being under threat of demolition.
Bernard’s story is another example of how people’s narratives and practices of belonging and community are tied to particular places and how the erasure of those places reduces their sense of belonging and membership. Read the full story here.
Anita Strasser is a PhD candidate in Visual Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London.
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