The economic plight and consequent social and political attitudes of ‘left behind’ communities have become subjects of intense focus across a world impacted by inequality, social unrest, and political populism. We examine whether particular types of local long-term economic decline affect how residents in different places view the world; here in former mining communities of the UK which remain economically peripheral, and are home to community narratives that emphasise the shared economic, political and cultural heritages that are often fundamental to those places' very existence. We use data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study to contrast political views and social attitudes in communities that were (in 1981) economically dependent on coal mining with other communities that are similarly economically peripheral in contexts and challenges, but without a shared history of economic decline. We find that residents of former coalmining communities are highly politically disengaged, with low levels of trust and political efficacy, and low involvement in the political process. Moreover, our analysis shows an increase in political engagement over the EU referendum campaign period, which directly addressed some of the grievances felt by these communities. We conclude that community narratives of economic peripherality are strongly inter-linked with trust in government and political engagement.

在不平等，社会动荡和政治民粹主义的影响下，“留守”社区的经济困境以及随之而来的社会和政治态度已成为全球关注的焦点。我们研究了特定类型的当地长期经济衰退是否会影响不同地方的居民如何看待世界；在英国以前的采矿社区中，这些社区在经济上仍然处于外围状态，并且是社区叙述的家园，这些叙述着重强调了共同的经济，政治和文化遗产，而这些遗产对于这些地方的存在往往是至关重要的。我们使用来自英国家庭纵向研究的数据来对比（1981年）在经济上依赖煤矿开采的社区中的政治观点和社会态度，以及在背景和挑战方面在经济上类似的其他社区，但没有共同的经济衰退历史。我们发现，前煤矿社区的居民在政治上高度孤立，信任和政治效力水平低，对政治进程的参与度低。此外，我们的分析表明，在欧盟公投期间，政治参与度有所增加，这直接解决了这些社区所感到的某些不满。我们得出的结论是，经济外围性的社区叙述与对政府和政治参与的信任紧密相关。我们的分析表明，在欧盟公投活动期间，政治参与度有所增加，这直接解决了这些社区所感到的某些不满。我们得出的结论是，经济外围性的社区叙述与对政府和政治参与的信任紧密相关。我们的分析表明，在欧盟公投期间，政治参与度有所增加，这直接解决了这些社区所感到的某些不满。我们得出的结论是，经济外围性的社区叙述与对政府和政治参与的信任紧密相关。