ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explains how women are differently placed, asking what 'new' femininities are now being produced and resisted. The intersection of class and gender in women's lives in the North East of England implies, the objectives lie in charting gendered transitions from the industrial landscapes of one or two generations ago, to a current present and future. In the middle of troubled and insecure financial times, and vast public sector cut-backs, navigating the differential impact of global 'recession', 'crisis' and 'ways forward' for particular communities involves attentions to the situatedness of experience and the intersections of temporality and dislocation. Different feelings, of 'keeping up' or 'contributing', can be located spatially within national values, as the worth of citizens are continually assessed- rather than newly occurring in times of economic and ecological 'crisis'.
