Whose geography? Which publics?

Abstract

In this response, the members of a professional development graduate seminar at the University of Kentucky reflect on key implications and questions which arose from our reading of the Kitchin et al. (2013) paper. We found the paper very relevant to our situation as potential entrants to the academic labor market, and to practices of knowledge production and dissemination that we already face. We highlight the following three inter-related points: (1) The IrelandAfterNAMA (IAN) blog can be placed into a wider context of new (spatial) media developments; (2) the conception of “public geography” implied here is too narrow, focusing not on public participation, but on public reception of content, viewpoints and data. Thus we ask “which publics are being invoked?”; (3) the production and consumption of knowledge. We ask “whose geography?” We do not offer final answers to these questions, but rather pose them as an invitation to further dialogue.

The creation and circulation of public geographies

“…Crampton et al (2013), in particular, take us to task over what they see as our overly narrow conception of public geography, which they argue focuses not on meaningful public participation and engagement, but on the public reception of our viewpoints and data. Their contention is that IrelandAfterNAMA is used primarily as a means of ‘pushing’ out ideas and opinions from the academy – it is a new channel of broadcast that complements more traditional journal publishing, but it is not a radical departure in the power dynamic.…”

“…That said, blogs and other social media such as Twitter are much more participatory than traditional publishing in that they do open up two-way channels of dialogue through readers posting comments as opposed to simple broadcast, and they are aimed at a much wider constituency of readers. Moreover, Crampton et al (2013) are mobilizing a vision of public geography that remains unaffected by disruptions and reconfigurations to political discourse and practice generated by new media. In particular, they posit that different sites of public geography – the community hall, the street and the media – are discrete realms, with their own distinctive politics, within which the community and place are privileged as more authentic sites for political action.…”

“…As raised by Pickerill (2013) and Crampton et al (2013), it is important to question what is meant by the notion of ‘public geographies’. Is it something that is ‘out there’, and which ‘we’ must engage with in an active and participatory manner?…”

“…Both Crampton et al (2013) and Graham (2013) raise the question as to whose and which publics blogs and other social media might engage. They argue that, as with the Internet more broadly, there are digital divides at work with respect to ‘who has access to blogs and who can pay attention?’ (Crampton et al 2013). Graham’s (2013) maps of Twitter users in two African cities appear on first glance to illustrates this point vividly.…”

Legal geography, geography, and the research‐policy nexus

“…The term ‘barriers’ could imply a linear model of transfer from academics to policy, or to the public/s; however, this is not intended to be sustained here, nor any stereotyping or hierarchical positioning of types of knowledge or users (see Massey, ; Cherney and Head, ; Crampton et al ., ; Jackson and Crabtree, ).…”