Above: mum, Ian, dad and me in 1961 outside Canister Castle gamekeeper's cottage, Stroxton, Grantham, Lincolnshire
My work has two goals:
2. Assess the suitability of interpretive autobiography/autoethnography as a method for inquiry into my first goal.
Social mobility. The Sutton Trust defines it as the link between an individual’s socio-economic background – the circumstances they grow up in – and their adult outcomes.
Upcoming talks and publications
The International Education Studies Association Conference (7 - 8 July 2026): "My journey into the UK's middle-class academia: how adaptability became a part of my social mobility". Abstract. And slides I will present. Extract from my planned performance:
International Conference of Autoethnography (12 - 14 July 2026): "Visiting my younger self in London at a time of squatting, conflict and cooperation: the discomfort resulting from reconstructing my past". Abstract. Extract from my planned performance:
Seeing this 1983 picture of Diane and the prose hit me hard. Diane is shown sprawled unconscious in here party frock, in a corner in King’s Cross, two weeks before her overdose and death. Brown adds:
"Smiler took pic to show her".
When I first saw Diane I felt numb. It often takes a while for my feelings to surface. I had friends that dressed like this in the 1980s for a night out: '50s frocks, shouting into the night, shapes coming out to play. The photo stirred up things inside me. This is my at-risk-epiphany. Now every time I look at Diane I feel deep sadness that we lost her. I don't think I knew her, but she was one of us, part of the at-risk London squatter scene.
I am also engaged in publishing journal articles and a book.
Open up a dialogue with me
I invite you to enter my perspective and maybe open up a dialogue with me about my work. You can comment below or email me at johnnigelcook@gmail.com
Links to my academic work