Dr Jesse Heley

BA, MA and PhD from DGES.

Profile

Jesse Heley was awarded a BA and MA from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Having completed his Ph.D. at the same institution on the subject of 'Rurality, Class, Aspiration and the Emergence of a New Squirearchy', Jesse was appointed as a Research Associate in DGES in 2009. He took up a Lectureship in Human Geography in the same department in April 2012.

 

Research

Jesse's research is situated within the broad fields of political geography, economic geography & spatial planning, being particularly concerned with rural restructuring & shifting class dynamics in the British countryside. Currently, Jesse's research addresses; the nature & impact of globalization in rural localities; rural governance and regional institutions; the role of older volunteers in shaping & maintaining rural services & development; & ethnography & the ethical implications of undertaking 'native', 'local' & 'insider' research.

Current Funded Research Projects:

  • Co-Director, Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD)

Selected Past Funded Projects: 
Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data

  • 'Rural-Urban Outlooks: Unlocking Synergies (ROBUST)', European Union Horizon 2020 Societal Challenges (Co-I), Website: www.rural-urban.eu
  • ESRC Civil Society Research Centre (WISERD) Theme 'Leader, Polarization, Austerity & Civic Deficits' www.wiserd.ac.uk 
  • 'The Global Countryside: Rural Change and Development in Globalization (GLOBAL-RURAL)', European Research Council Advanced Grant, 2014-19 (Co-I, with Michael Woods). Website: www.global-rural.org

 

Responsibilities

Director of Undergraduate Studies, DGES

WISERD Civil Society Theme Leader, Polarisation, Austerity and Civic Deficit 

Publications

Neal , S, Heley, J, Jones, RD, Gawlewicz, A & Weber Lawson, K 2025, 'Brexit’s Afterlife: Rural Superdiversity, New International Mobilities and the Micro Social Management of Brexit Talk in the British Countryside', Paper presented at BSA Annual Conference 2025, Manchester, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 23 Apr 2025 - 25 Apr 2025.
Sanders, A & Heley, J 2025, 'The privilege of virtue and the need for reward: An examination of patronage, elites and power relations within civil society', Voluntary Sector Review, vol. 16, no. 2. 10.1332/20408056Y2025D000000040
Power, S, Caerwynt, F, Heley, J, Sanders, A & Zaidi, N 2024, 'Privilege, place, and patronage: ‘Giving something back’ to Wales', International Sociology, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 510-525. 10.1177/02685809241260459
Heley, J, Sanders, A, Caerwynt, F, Zaidi, N & Power, S 2024, 'The royal Welsh agricultural society: Patronage and the reproduction of elites in rural Wales', Journal of Rural Studies, vol. 108, 103291. 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103291
Heley, J 2024, 'Warship 2023: Edited by John Jordan, London, Osprey, 2023, 224 pp., Illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs, £45 (hbk), ISBN: 9781472857132', Intelligence and National Security, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 190-192. 10.1080/02684527.2023.2272326
More publications on the Research Portal