Norman Dennis (16 August 1929 – 13 November 2010) was a British sociologist. Born one of four sons to a tram driver, Norman Dennis was educated at Bede Collegiate Boys' School and was offered a place at

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...

, but declined it in favour of the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

, where he achieved a first class honours degree in economics. He held academic posts at

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

before finally holding a long-term post as a lecturer and reader in Social Studies at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

. He worked there for 35 years. He was a lifelong Labour supporter and was a Labour councillor in Millfield in Sunderland in the early 1970s. He was driven to do this by his disgust at the planned slum clearances in Sunderland at the time, which he opposed strongly. It was this that also inspired him to write about economic pressures and how they shape society. ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' news blogger, Ed West, described Dennis as "a key analyst of late 20th-century British society whose influence, I suspect, will stretch long into the 21st". Dennis died of

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

on 13 November 2010 in Sunderland, at 81.

Bibliography

*''Coal Is Our Life - An Analysis of a Yorkshire Mining Community'' (1956) *''People and Planning (Society Today & Tomorrow)'' (1970) *''Public Participation and Planner's Blight'' (1972) *''English Ethical Socialism: Thomas More to R.H. Tawney'' (with A.H. Halsey) (1988) *''Families Without Fatherhood'' (1992) *''Rising Crime and the Dismembered Family'' (1993) *''The Invention of Permanent Poverty'' (1997) *''Racist Murder and Pressure Group Politics'' (2000) *''Cultures and Crimes: Policing in Four Nations'' (2005)

Notes

External links

Obituary in The Journal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dennis, Norman 1929 births 2010 deaths Alumni of the London School of Economics People from Sunderland British sociologists Labour Party (UK) councillors Academics of the University of Leeds Academics of the University of Bristol Academics of the University of Birmingham Academics of Newcastle University Deaths from leukemia Councillors in Tyne and Wear