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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to consider the implications of both the Covid-19 pandemic and UK lockdown for the social, political and economic future of the UK. Drawing on primary data obtained during the lockdown and the theoretical concepts of transcendental materialism and the “event”, the paper discusses the strength of participants' attachment to the “old normal” and their dreams of a “new normal”.Design/methodology/approachThis paper utilises a semi-structured online survey (n = 305) with UK residents and Facebook forum debates collected during the lockdown period in the UK.FindingsThe findings in this paper suggest that while the lockdown suspended daily routines and provoked participants to reflect upon their consumption habits and the possibility of an alternative future, many of our respondents remained strongly attached to elements of pre-lockdown normality. Furthermore, the individual impetus for change was not matched by the structures and mechanisms holding up neoliberalism, as governments and commercial enterprises merely encouraged people to get back to the shops to spend.Originality/valueThe original contribution of this paper is the strength and depth of empirical data into the Covid-19 pandemic, specifically the lockdown. Additionally, the synthesis of empirical data with the novel theoretical framework of transcendental materialism presents an original and unique perspective on Covid-19.

Recent debate has questioned the centrality of work in everyday life. Using evidence drawn from participant observation in a call centre and interviews with young call centre workers, this article suggests that, in locales characterized by insecure labour markets dominated by low-paid service sector jobs, work no longer serves to define individual identity. When the idea of a job for life disappears and fragmented work careers become normal, individuals look beyond their working life to frame their identity and attach meaning and significance to their existence. Analysis of the data provides an opportunity to critically explore Bourdieu's concept of habitus; the notion of a working-class habitus must be re-examined in the face of a postmodern culture thoroughly attuned to the principles of consumer capitalism and neoliberal ideology. What constitutes a 'new' working-class habitus when work, typified here by call centre work, fails to impact on identity formation?The workplace has long been a site of sociological analysis and has a rich history of utilizing ethnography and participant observation to unearth working cultures, opera-

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This article explicates the harms associated with deindustrialization in Teesside in the North East of England in the context of neoliberalism. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews (n=25), the article explores how ongoing industrial collapse, typified by Sahaviriya Steel Industries' (SSI) closure in 2015 has generated various harms. First, the article examines industrialism's socioeconomic security and stability. It then explores the negative impact of SSI's closure in 2015, including a sense of loss and unemployment. Next, it demonstrates how the absence of economic stability produces harmful outcomes, namely insecurity, mental health problems and bleak visions of the future. The article concludes by casting industrial ruination as an impediment to human flourishing; the normal functioning of capitalism represents a "negative motivation to harm" that prevents the stability and security necessary for individual and collective flourishing.