Abstract:This paper initiates debate for geographers on the nature of care in relation to the self explored through the practices of aesthetic surgery. Central to debates on the meanings and relations of aesthetic surgery are a set of problematics related to the scales of care and responsibility. These are captured in the distinctions between caring for or caring about and between self-care or care of the self. Aesthetic surgery is a particularly ambivalent 'extreme care', which for many is always the expression of con… Show more
“…While Power and Bartlett's study addressed self‐building as an individual (or supported) action, we suggest that the affordances and characteristics of Gordon Square may also be conceived as a collective safe‐haven for the Nepali elders, “built” through their own preferences for outdoor places and sociable networks. As Atkinson argues, some writers on self‐care “underplay the role of others … [and] an attentive care that may be associative rather than reflexive” (, p. 625).There's a lot in the heart when I am home alone. I keep thinking about where to go and I feel restless.…”
Section: A Site For Self‐carementioning
confidence: 99%
“…While we concur with what Massey and Thrift argue is an “ambition” in geography “to move away from spaces viewed as if from on high right into the action and especially into the press of embodiment” (, p. 288), our approach to the relation between self‐care and space is not to “[privilege] a logic of individual autonomy and choice” (Atkinson et al., , p. 564). We would rather invoke Ahmed's notion (following Audre Lorde) that “caring for oneself can be an act of political warfare” () or at least to view self‐care as a form of agency that “is less than resistance but not unaware or uncritical of the social relations of hegemony” (Atkinson, , p. 625; building on Katz, ). For those who linger, sitting outside on a bench may be the outcome of marginalisation, an agentic choice for self‐care or a mixture of both.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…While some have emphasised the historical provision of "places to sit" in urban green space as intended to "produce a 'kind of regulated, civilised, subjectivity'" (Brown, 2013, p. 17;citing Osborne & Rose, 1999, p. 744), our multiscalar schizocartography (see Methodology) explores the interaction between design of public space and the subjectivities of people who use it. The latter connects in particular to discussions of self-care (Atkinson, 2011;Ball & Olmedo, 2013). Self-care forms part of Tronto's broad definition of care as a species activity that includes everything that we do to maintain, continue, and repair our 'world' so that we can live in it as well as possible.…”
The urban bench has been romanticised as a location of intimacy and benign social serendipity, and problematised with regard to perceptions of unwelcome loitering. In this paper we explore embodied practices of sitting on benches within an urban context characterised by corporate‐led regeneration and impacted by austerity urbanism, imperial history and ongoing racisms. Our schizocartographic methodology enables us to attend to the differentiated and shifting subjectivities and temporalities of bench users, and to emerging counter histories of space. The research is based on the case study of a central square in Woolwich, south‐east London. This involved an eclectic combination of methods, including film‐making, ethnography and interviews, and a cross‐sectoral team of activists, academics and an artist. The paper starts by conceptualising public space with respect to lived experiences of marginalisation, arguing that architectural design is intrinsic to understanding micro‐geographies of conviviality and care. The case study material is used first to provide a visual sketch of sitting and watching others in the square and then to address conviviality and the value of visibility and relative proximity in framing a mostly un‐panicked multiculture. Third, we discuss agentic, yet critically aware, acts of self‐care. Finally, our focus shifts to the design of the benches and the “touching experiences” of bodies sat in various ways, impacted by structural inequalities, yet differentiated by the particularities of individual or collective priorities. In conclusion we argue that attending to the precision of sitting on a bench can illuminate multiple temporalities of urban change in relation to both individual subjectivities and hegemonic structures. Further, the counter histories that emerge can inform policy and practice for inclusive urban design.
“…While Power and Bartlett's study addressed self‐building as an individual (or supported) action, we suggest that the affordances and characteristics of Gordon Square may also be conceived as a collective safe‐haven for the Nepali elders, “built” through their own preferences for outdoor places and sociable networks. As Atkinson argues, some writers on self‐care “underplay the role of others … [and] an attentive care that may be associative rather than reflexive” (, p. 625).There's a lot in the heart when I am home alone. I keep thinking about where to go and I feel restless.…”
Section: A Site For Self‐carementioning
confidence: 99%
“…While we concur with what Massey and Thrift argue is an “ambition” in geography “to move away from spaces viewed as if from on high right into the action and especially into the press of embodiment” (, p. 288), our approach to the relation between self‐care and space is not to “[privilege] a logic of individual autonomy and choice” (Atkinson et al., , p. 564). We would rather invoke Ahmed's notion (following Audre Lorde) that “caring for oneself can be an act of political warfare” () or at least to view self‐care as a form of agency that “is less than resistance but not unaware or uncritical of the social relations of hegemony” (Atkinson, , p. 625; building on Katz, ). For those who linger, sitting outside on a bench may be the outcome of marginalisation, an agentic choice for self‐care or a mixture of both.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…While some have emphasised the historical provision of "places to sit" in urban green space as intended to "produce a 'kind of regulated, civilised, subjectivity'" (Brown, 2013, p. 17;citing Osborne & Rose, 1999, p. 744), our multiscalar schizocartography (see Methodology) explores the interaction between design of public space and the subjectivities of people who use it. The latter connects in particular to discussions of self-care (Atkinson, 2011;Ball & Olmedo, 2013). Self-care forms part of Tronto's broad definition of care as a species activity that includes everything that we do to maintain, continue, and repair our 'world' so that we can live in it as well as possible.…”
The urban bench has been romanticised as a location of intimacy and benign social serendipity, and problematised with regard to perceptions of unwelcome loitering. In this paper we explore embodied practices of sitting on benches within an urban context characterised by corporate‐led regeneration and impacted by austerity urbanism, imperial history and ongoing racisms. Our schizocartographic methodology enables us to attend to the differentiated and shifting subjectivities and temporalities of bench users, and to emerging counter histories of space. The research is based on the case study of a central square in Woolwich, south‐east London. This involved an eclectic combination of methods, including film‐making, ethnography and interviews, and a cross‐sectoral team of activists, academics and an artist. The paper starts by conceptualising public space with respect to lived experiences of marginalisation, arguing that architectural design is intrinsic to understanding micro‐geographies of conviviality and care. The case study material is used first to provide a visual sketch of sitting and watching others in the square and then to address conviviality and the value of visibility and relative proximity in framing a mostly un‐panicked multiculture. Third, we discuss agentic, yet critically aware, acts of self‐care. Finally, our focus shifts to the design of the benches and the “touching experiences” of bodies sat in various ways, impacted by structural inequalities, yet differentiated by the particularities of individual or collective priorities. In conclusion we argue that attending to the precision of sitting on a bench can illuminate multiple temporalities of urban change in relation to both individual subjectivities and hegemonic structures. Further, the counter histories that emerge can inform policy and practice for inclusive urban design.
“…With this, notions of the corporeal being as being-inthe-world [19], with perception and embodiment as constitutive elements, thereby positioned the body as a site of social production of the self. Cosmetic surgery [3] and technologies for surveillance, which can be as basic as mirrors [64], are techniques and tools to support control the presentation of body/self, both by manipulation and display.…”
Designing for women's healthcare remains an underexplored area of HCI, particularly outside informational systems for maternal health. Drawing on a case study of a body disruption-urinary incontinence in women-we illustrate the experience of women's health both from the perspective of the patient and the therapist. We show how knowledge, esteem and agency play crucial roles in remedial women's care practices, as well as preventative. In describing these challenges we deliberate on possible futures of women's health that take advantage of the many advances in design and technology from across the spectrum of HCI research. We show how with some care and courage HCI has the potential to transform women's experience within this setting.
“…El cuidado del propio cuerpo es el eje principal del trabajo de McCormack (1999), Atkinson (2011) y Little (2012. El primer trabajo analiza cómo se construyen las imaginarios corporales (el 'cuerpo en buena forma' y los discursos entorno al riesgo, la flexibilidad y la responsabilidad).…”
Section: Cuerpos Saludables Y Enfermos: La Geografía De Los Cuidadosunclassified
Resumen: Este artículo presenta las principales aportaciones sobre los cuerpos en geografía. Se presenta una amplia variedad de artículos publicados en revistas de geografía anglosajonas ya que, sin lugar a dudas y de manera más notable, ha contribuido a la reflexión sobre este campo del saber. La mayoría de estos artículos están publicados en revistas cuya línea editorial se manifiesta particularmente sensible a las perspectivas sociales y culturales en geografía. En menor medida se presentan aportaciones procedentes de la geografía española y latinoamericana ya que su presencia ha sido y continúa siendo, especialmente en el caso español, casi inexistente.Palabras clave: geografía social y cultural, feminismo, cuerpo, lugar, revisión teórica.Abstract: Body, emotions and place: theoretical and methodological approaches in Geography. This article shows the main contributions made in geography on the body. It presents a wide variety of articles published in Anglo-American journals of geography that most notably have contributed to the debate on this field of knowledge. Most of these articles are published in journals whose editorial appears particularly sensitive to social and cultural perspectives in geography. To a lesser extent it presents contributions from Spanish and Latin American geography as their presence has been and continues to be, especially in the Spanish context, almost nonexistent.
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