Life Chances: creating alternative visions of the future of family welfare through co-produced fictional writing and performance

Led By Debbie Watson the ‘Life Chances: low-income families in modern urban settings’ project (part of the ESRC Productive Margins project) have been funded to co-produce a stall at the Community Utopias festival at Somerset House 24-26th June 2016.

This is part of the AHRC funded Connected Communities activity and marks the 500 year anniversary of the publication of More’s Utopia.

The stall is being co-produced with community participants in Cardiff and Bristol and artists Close and Remote who have been commissioned. We will be building on the work of the project team to re-imagine community futures for families on low income through the construction of a fictional novel which has been co-written and comprises realist tales, as well as utopian and dystopian reflections on welfare and regulatory systems that impact families. We will be engaging in performative practices with audience members around the ‘Life Chances’ agenda and exploring regulatory systems and how these impact upon people as well as making jewelry and showcasing the fictional characters and storylines of the novel.

Funded by AHRC.