'To stay, serve and witness' – church politics and British inner cities in the 1980s. (May 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Thieme, Sarah
• Editors: Andrews, Aaron; Kefford, Alistair; Warner, Daniel
• Is Part Of: Urban history. Volume 50:Part 2(2023)
• Page Start: 283
• Page End: 300
• Publication Date: 2023-05
• Subjects: Cities and towns -- History -- Periodicals; Cities and towns -- History -- Bibliography -- Periodicals; 909.09732
• DOI: 10.1017/S0963926821000778
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0963-9268

Abstract

Abstract: By analysing the Church of England's 1985 report Faith in the City ( FITC ), this article demonstrates that the church played a decisive role in shaping the discourse on British 'inner cities'. Following a brief historical contextualization, the article examines the FITC report itself, how it came about and what arguments the Church of England introduced into the national debate on inner cities, as well as the media and political discussion that followed its publication and the reactions in the religious field. The article argues that the publication was a turning point in the inner cities discourse of the 1980s. It examines how the church succeeded in (re)directing national attention to the topic thereby countering the territorial stigmatization and replacing it with a more positive view focused on the potential of the residents living in the inner cities.