Dr Liz Oughton

Principal Research Associate

BSc (Hons) Agriculture with Economics (London)
MLitt Agricultural Economics (Oxford)
MSc Economics of Developing Countries (London)
PhD Agricultural Economics (Newcastle)

Centre for Rural Economy
School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development
Newcastle University
NE1 7RU

Room 3.12

+44 (0)191 222 8608

e.a.oughton@ncl.ac.uk

Profile

In 1984 I began lecturing at Newcastle University in the Department of Agricultural and Food Marketing. At this time my interests covered food policy in both low and high income countries and the links between them. In 1994 I moved to a lectureship in Durham University Geography department where I helped to design a new degree in Environment and Development. In 2004 I moved back to Newcastle, this time to the Centre for Rural Economy where I took up my current position as a Principal Research Associate.

Research

My research has developed around the question of ‘How do people in their domestic relations create their lives and livelihoods and what constraints and opportunities does the natural environment offer?’ The central themes of this research have included: the importance of institutions, including households, to people’s wellbeing; the focus on the household as a means of organising productive and consumption activity; and a theoretical analysis which concentrates on the possibilities and constraints through which people conceive, and act in, their own interests. I have developed these ideas with a focus on the rural household in many different settings. My concern with the social and natural environments of households has led me inevitably to an interdisciplinary perspective.

Selected Projects

Angling in the Rural Environment: Social, Economic, Ecological and Geomorphological Interactions (March 2006 - February 2009). The objectives of this interdisciplinary project are to analyse the complex network of socioeconomic and natural relationships around angling in the river environment, to understand the governance of water and land use practices at a range of interconnected scales and the implications for rural policy development. My particular research interest within this project focuses on the net effects of rural governance on the wellbeing of rural households. I am PI on this project, conducted with the Universities of Durham and Hull, and funded by the UK joint research council’s Rural Economy and Land Use Programme.

Quality Low Input Foods (2003-2008). A Pan-European Framework VI funded project exploring the safety and quality aspects of low input and organic food systems. The project studies the whole food chain from production through to distribution, consumption and marketing. The consumer centred work package is managed from CRE and links the work of Universities and research centres in seven countries.

Developing Tools for Interdisciplinary Research: Physical and Social Science Perspectives on the Use of Rural Catchments (2004-2005) A capacity building programme funded by RELU.

The Integrated Management of European Wetlands (2001-2004). An EU Framework V programme conducted as part of pan-European consortium. My responsibility in this programme was for the research on livelihood creation in areas of biodiversity conservation in four wetlands in Greece, Romania, Finland and Lithuania. This work brought to the fore the role of institutions at different scales, the interactions between them and the significance of governance to livelihoods.

Enterprising Livelihoods in Rural Households: New and Old Ways of Working (2000-2001). Carried out with Jane Wheelock and Sue Baines of Newcastle University this study was based upon micro-businesses in rural Northumberland.

Gender and the household in Bedouin communities of northern Jordan (1998-2000). The study was linked to a livestock development programme and explored the ways in which the social relations of Bedouin households were changing with respect to both subsistence and market institutions.

Selected Publications

Bracken, L.J. and Oughton E.A. (2009) ‘Interdisciplinarity within and beyond geography: introduction to Special Section’  Area  41(4), 371-373

Oughton, Elizabeth and Bracken, Louise (2009) ‘Interdisciplinarity research: framing and reframing’ Area 4(4), 385-394

Bracken, L.J. and Oughton, E. (2006) 'What do you mean?: The importance of language in developing interdisciplinary research' Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 31 (3) 371-382

Oughton, E. and Korf, B. (2006) 'Rethinking the European Countryside: Can we learn from the South?' Journal of Rural Studies 22 (3) 278-289

Oughton, E. and Wheelock, J. (2006) 'Provisioning as the fundamental economic problem: the implications fora social economics of the household' in Clary, B.J., Dolfsma, W. and Figart, D.M. (eds) Ethics and the Market: Insights from Social Economics

Baines, S., Wheelock, J., Oughton, E., Ljunggren, E., Pettersen, L.T. and Magnussen. T. (2003) 'Work and employment in rural, non-farming micro-businesses: a return to old ways of working?' in Andersson, K., Eklund, E., Granberg, L. and Marsden, T. (eds) Rural Development as Policy and Practice. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, pp. 91-114.

Oughton E, Wheelock J and Baines S (2003) Micro-businesses and social inclusion in rural households: a comparative analysis. Sociologica Ruralis 43 4:331-348.

Wheelock J, Oughton E and Baines S (2003) Getting by with a little help from your family: towards a policy relevant model of the working household. Feminist Economics 9 (1):19-45.

Oughton E and Wheelock J (2003) A capabilities approach to sustainable household livelihoods, Review of Social Economy LXI (1):1-22