Call for Papers AAG2018

Geographies of discontent: Becoming ‘out of place’ and the emotional ramifications of socio-spatial change 

Organizers: Fenne Pinkster & Myrte Hoekstra – University of Amsterdam

In this session we would like to explore the geographical underpinnings of expressions of discontent. We start from the premise that people make sense of the world through place and want to investigate under what conditions changes in everyday living environments engender feelings of powerlessness, loss, anxiety and resentment against governing institutions and/or ‘other’ social groups. Such sentiments have been associated with the growing support for parties and initiatives promising to defend the ‘common man’ and interpreted as both a political backlash against the erosive effects of global markets on local economies and as a cultural backlash against new migrant groups and urban elites espousing progressive values (e.g. Cramer, 2016; Hochschild, 2016; Inglehart & Norris, 2016). Framed as a form of nostalgia (Duyvendak, 2011), scholars have located such sentiments within specific places and sections of the population (in particular, the white working class living in either large urban centers or national peripheries). Nevertheless, discourses of powerlessness and resentment over loss of place and the erosion of place-based identities can also be observed amongst social groups not usually considered ‘losers of globalization’ (see e.g. Phillipson, 2007; Pinkster & Boterman, 2017). This challenges us to think beyond the classed underpinnings of discontent and explore the emotional – and possibly political – backlash of socio-spatial change. 

For this session, we are particularly interested in papers that build upon and extend existing knowledge on the ramifications of socio-spatial change by considering who experiences discontent, how discontent manifests itself, and in what way it is shaped by concrete, everyday experiences of marginalization and feelings of becoming ‘out of place’ Papers in this session might explore how and why expressions of discontent – for example, but not limited to populist voting – are geographically unevenly distributed across the nation, the city and suburbs; how everyday experiences of social and spatial change may fuel such geographies of discontent; and how residents react or respond to such feelings in alternative and diverging ways. 

We especially welcome papers that: 
>  Explore multiple angles of identity and the intersectional nature of meaning-making through or with place
>  Examine how experiences of discontent are structured by place-specific histories and imaginaries
>  Look at manifestations of discontent across different levels of scale
>  Consider experiences of discontent, loss of place, and powerlessness among different social groups, in particular non-white and/or non-working class

Submission procedure: Potential session participants should send an abstract of maximum 250 words to Myrte Hoekstra ([log in to unmask]) and Fenne Pinkster ([log in to unmask]) by Monday October 16th. Notification of acceptance will be sent by Friday October 20st. Please note that participants are also expected to register and submit their abstracts through the AAG website themselves before Wednesday October 25th. 

References
•	Cramer, K.J. (2016). The politics of resentment: Rural consciousness in Wisconsin and the rise of Scott Walker. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
•	Duyvendak, J.W. (2011). The politics of home: Belonging and nostalgia in Europe and the United States. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
•	Hochschild, A.R. (2016). Strangers in their own land: Anger and mourning on the American Right. New York: The New Press.
•	Inglehart, R.F. and Norris, P. (2016). Trump, Brexit and the rise of populism: Economic have-nots and cultural backlash. Harvard Kennedy School Working Paper Series.
•	Pinkster, F.M. and Boterman, W.R. (2017). When the spell is broken: Gentrification, urban tourism and privileged discontent in the Amsterdam canal district. Cultural Geographies 24(3), pp. 457-472.
•	Phillipson, C. (2007). The elected and the excluded: Sociological perspectives on the experience of place and community in old age. Ageing and Society 27, pp. 321-342.