Eleanor Wilkinson | The University of Sheffield (original) (raw)

Papers by Eleanor Wilkinson

Dialogues in Human Geography, 2021

In this commentary, we respond to Ruez and Cockayne's 'Feeling Otherwise' and consider what is at... more In this commentary, we respond to Ruez and Cockayne's 'Feeling Otherwise' and consider what is at stake in debates concerning the moods and modes of critique. There is a tendency in geographical work on affect to privilege affirmation, yet a key question remains as to who benefits from such moods of critique and the kinds of analysis that they afford. We argue that dominant theorisations of affirmation and negativity often elide uncomfortable discussions of power, domination, and violence. We offer a reading of the relations between affirmation and negativity through 'minoritarian affects'-a reading that arises in the midst of living through racial capitalism, coloniality, patriarchy, and heteronormativity and which builds an indeterminate future from the fragments of our lives and bodies.

The Geographical Journal, 2023

In Part 1 of ‘Encountering Berlant’, we encounter the promise and provocation of Lauren Berlant's... more In Part 1 of ‘Encountering Berlant’, we encounter the promise and provocation of Lauren Berlant's work. In 1000‐word contributions, geographers and others stay with what Berlant's thought offers contemporary human geography. They amplify an encounter with their work, demonstrating how a concept, idea, or style disrupts something, opens up a new possibility, or simply invites thinking otherwise. The encounters range across the incredible body of work Berlant left us with, from the ‘national sentimentality’ trilogy through to recent work on negativity. Varying in form and tone, the encounters exemplify and enact the inexhaustible plenitude of Berlant's thought: fantasy, the case, love, impasse, feel tanks, slow death, ellipses, gesture, attrition, intimate public, ambivalence, style.

Sexualities, 2023

This paper presents findings from a project exploring how lesbians make community in the 'ordinar... more This paper presents findings from a project exploring how lesbians make community in the 'ordinary city' of Southampton on the South coast of England. In the context of transexclusionary debates and the supposed demise of lesbian spaces, we sought to discover how self-identified lesbian people in Southampton conceptualised the location and boundaries of their community. The study used collaborative participatory mapping techniques, which resulted in a diffuse and multi-layered understanding of lesbian community in the city. The paper focuses on three key themes: (1) crafting 'safe' spaces; (2) terminology: naming 'lesbians' and (3) finding and creating places of community. The paper concludes that finding a space to articulate an explicitly lesbian identity can be fraught, but is deeply valued, continually becoming, and carefully negotiated both between peers and within urban space. Collaborative mapping is shown as a valuable tool in delivering more inclusive participatory research that can help foster transformative and emancipatory research into LGBTQ communities and spaces.

Feminist Theory, 2022

Loneliness is often described as a deadly epidemic sweeping across the population, a silent kille... more Loneliness is often described as a deadly epidemic sweeping across the population, a silent killer. Loneliness, we are told, is a social disease that must be cured. But what does it mean to think of loneliness as a feminist issue, and what might a specifically feminist theorisation bring to conceptualisations of loneliness? In this paper, I argue that feminism helps us see that loneliness is not just personal but political. I trace how stories of loneliness surface, circulate, shift and compound within the specificity of the present, centring on recent strategies proposed by the UK government in their 'national mission to end loneliness'. I outline how this policy discourse upholds certain normative attachments as having the promise to alleviate loneliness: coupled love, the family, community. Such framings serve to depoliticise contemporary conditions of loneliness, positioning loneliness as a personal failure, with the cure for loneliness as the responsibility of individuals and communities. Absent in government depictions of the problem of loneliness are the wider mechanisms that condemn people to lonely lives, when infrastructures fail, when people find themselves violently cut off from the world. Finally, I speculate on what might happen if we were to challenge this framing of loneliness as always and only a problem in need of a cure. I seek to uncover some of the political potentials of loneliness, asking what can be learnt through reflecting upon shared experiences of loneliness? For, as feminist politics has shown us, feelings of disaffection and alienation can help us imagine other worlds.

Gender, Place & Culture, 2019

What kind of family is evoked by the label 'family geogra-phies' and who might be excluded from t... more What kind of family is evoked by the label 'family geogra-phies' and who might be excluded from this conceptual frame? Drawing upon literature from feminist and queer geographies, this paper examines the lives of those who exist outside of normative notions of 'the family'. Data comes from biographical narrative interviews, conducted in Britain, with those who are both single and childfree. The paper outlines the potential queerness of a 'non-reproductive' life, exploring the alternative temporal-ities and spatialities this produces. In what ways does the non-reproductive challenge normative ideals of the way a life should unfold? How do 'procreational norms' shape the landscape? By answering such questions, the paper contributes an empirically grounded reflection on the queer potentialities of non-reproduction, challenging certain queer theorizations that equate non-reproduction with anti-futurity. Ultimately, the paper argues that an exploration of the non-reproductive may help reform our understandings of the geographies of intimacy, care and relatedness.

Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 2018

This paper seeks to advance understandings of austerity's everyday affects by examining how neoli... more This paper seeks to advance understandings of austerity's everyday affects by examining how neoliberal welfare retrenchment is lived, experienced and resisted. Drawing on interviews with young people in housing need, we demonstrate the ways in which day‐to‐day coping with welfare reform can lead to a state of fatigue , a gradual slow wearing‐out that comes with having to endure everyday hardship. Such weariness, we argue, is an integral part of understanding the everyday impacts of austerity. Yet despite the apparent centrality of weariness to issues such as precarity and poverty, there has not yet been sustained discussion into the idea of weariness itself. A common conceptualisation positions weariness as the antithesis of political action, where individuals are slowly worn down until they no longer have the strength or capacity to resist. However, this paper offers a more reparative reading of weariness, one which does not narrowly conceptualise weariness as simply a closing down. Instead we question whether weariness should necessarily always be equated with inaction. The paper focuses on forms of suffering and violence that are felt as a kind of steady on‐going form of endurance , rather than as a sudden eruption. We foreground affective moments that are neither passionate nor intense, but instead listless and still, generating feelings of inertia , flatness, impasse. The paper concludes with some reflections on what we term " the right to be weary " , examining how weariness could be understood as a potential retreat from the relentless drive to move forwards, a form of passive dissent.

In 2012, government changes to the age-threshold of the Shared Accommodation Rate (SAR) came into... more In 2012, government changes to the age-threshold of the
Shared Accommodation Rate (SAR) came into effect. This
meant that single people, under 35, without dependents could only claim for housing benefit at the rate of a single room in a shared property. In effect, the Government decided that young people on housing benefit needed to share accommodation to bring down costs. But what has been the social cost of a policy that has forced people to share their homes? How has this reform impacted people’s intimate lives and shaped their ability to maintain and forge relationships? In this piece, we focus upon the impact that the Shared Accommodation Rate has had on single parents with non-resident children, suggesting this policy has had a detrimental effect on their capacity to sustain relationships with their children.

This article considers how welfare cuts in 'austerity Britain' have impacted young adults' access... more This article considers how welfare cuts in 'austerity Britain' have impacted young adults' access to a home of their own, asking at what stage in the life-course should the welfare state be expected to support someone's residential independence? The article focuses on the 2012 changed age-threshold for the Shared Accommodation Rate of Local Housing Allowance, which meant that single people (without depend-ants) aged between 25 and 34 are only entitled to claim the cost of a single room in a shared property. This policy has highlighted the issue of forced sharing, and poses questions as to whether a shared property with strangers can necessarily always be considered a home. The article identifies the persistence of normative conceptions of household transition across the life-course. Ultimately the article concludes that these normative assumptions enable policy makers to promote this policy as a matter of 'fairness' rather than a form of social injustice.

Anti-pornography campaigners have frequently claimed that porn studies need to take the economics... more Anti-pornography campaigners have frequently claimed that porn studies need to take the economics of pornography seriously, yet often this amounts to little more than the idea that pornography is a capitalist product. This article brings together J.K Gibson-Graham's work on post-capitalism and Eve Sedgwick's notion of 'paranoid' and 'repara-tive' reading in order to think about the performative effects of the narratives we use to talk about the pornography industry. It proposes a move away from a capitalocentric understanding of online pornography towards a 'diverse economies' approach: one that demonstrates the multitude of ways in which pornography exists outside of the rubric of capitalism. This helps to avoid the affective state of paranoia and helplessness that narratives of the all-powerful global porn industry so often create, whilst also allowing for a more nuanced understanding of the legal regulation of pornography. The article concludes with some thoughts as to how a diverse economies approach might better enable us to assess recent attempts to regulate online pornography within Britain, noting attempts at regulation may have an adverse effect on not-for-profit, amateur, or peer-to-peer pornography, whilst benefiting mainstream corporate pornography producers. While Web 2.0 has been argued to have changed the entire media landscape, its impacts appear to have been particularly pronounced in the realms of pornography , with new platforms blurring the boundaries of producer/consumer and

Love has been theorized as a way to rebuild fractured communities, and a potential way to overcom... more Love has been theorized as a way to rebuild fractured communities, and a potential way to overcome differences on the political Left. However, might it be dangerous to invest so much potential in the power of love? In this paper, I reflect upon Michael Hardt's work on the necessity of love for politics. Hardt emphasizes the radical and transformative potential of love, seeing it as a collective and generative force. Yet, I argue that Hardt's reading of love, tied to a Spinozist theorization of joy, provides a limited understanding of the affective dimensions of love. Instead, I propose that we need to think about the ambivalence and incoherence of love: how love can be both joyful and painful, enduring and transient, expansive and territorial, revolutionary and conservative. That is, to consider how love, even in its seemingly most benevolent and unconditional form, can still be a source of exclusion, violence, and domination. Ultimately, I seek to challenge this fantasy of coherence and togetherness, asking if there is still space for aspects of politics that are not joyful, that do not feel like love, that anger us, disappoint us, and that make us desire distance rather than togetherness.

This paper explores why individual retailers have become the target of anti-gentrification protes... more This paper explores why individual retailers have become the target of anti-gentrification protest, examining where the 'blame' for gentrification should be placed. Some commentators have argued that independent retailers should not be scapegoated, as this blames individuals for wider structural processes. In this paper I provide a brief overview of some of the retailers who have been targeted in anti-gentrification protests. These businesses have been singled out as their aesthetic branding has provoked conflict between existing residents and incoming gentrifiers. In each of these cases, the history of an area has been nostalgically appropriated in ironic marketing campaigns promoting 'hip' urban consumption. The paper questions whether these instances can be excused simply as instances of 'bad taste' and misjudged marketing. I turn to Bourdieu to think about the ways in which class inequality is upheld via symbolic violence. The paper highlights how social inequality does not just come about via economic restructuring, but also through symbolic gestures and lifestyles, which mark certain places as both financially and culturally out of reach. Ultimately, I argue that while the wider structures of gentrification may exist beyond the agency of individual retailers and consumers, this does not mean that individuals have no role to play in determining how gentrification plays out in our communities.

Environment and Planning A, in press

What might it mean to think of 'the single' as a potentially queer subject and in what ways does ... more What might it mean to think of 'the single' as a potentially queer subject and in what ways does singleness pose a challenge to heteronormative conceptualizations of the lifecourse and household formation? In this paper I explore some of the contested meanings of ‘home’ for those who are single; and examine how single people have created new forms of home and new spaces of at-homeness with those with whom they are not biologically (or romantically) related. I conclude by asking how we might help foster, build and create new forms of dwelling that might better match single people’s imaginings and desires for a home outside of heteronormative coupledom. Ultimately the paper argues that the exclusion of the figure of the single is one of the key omissions in the work of those interested in challenging the geographies of exclusion and inequality.

Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography, in press.

In an era of intense ‘entrepreneurial’ city marketing, overt attempts to court LGBT consumers and... more In an era of intense ‘entrepreneurial’ city marketing, overt attempts to court LGBT consumers and investors have been made not solely through the promotion of lesbian and gay arts festivals, pride celebrations and 'specialised' cultural events, but also through 'mainstream' mega-events. This paper explores this with reference to London's 2012 Olympics, an event which welcomed LGBT spectators, volunteers and participants through a series of initiatives proclaiming the Games as distinctively 'gay-friendly'. Considering this in the light of queer critiques – particularly those concerning homonationalism - we suggest that this attempt to market London as sexually diverse relied on the effacement of certain sexual practices and spaces not easily accommodated within normative, Western models of sexual citizenship and equality. Here, a focus on the ways ‘abject’ sexualities were regulated in the run-up and hosting of the London Olympics is used to show that notions of welcome inevitably did not extend to encompass all sexual identities and practices. In conclusion, it is argued that the Olympics represented a moment when particular ideas of sexual cosmopolitanism were deployed to regulate, order and normalise the variegated sexual landscapes of the host city.

Geoforum

This article explores the ways in which coupledom is promoted through contemporary family policy ... more This article explores the ways in which coupledom is promoted through contemporary family policy in the UK. It does this in the context of dominant political discourses suggesting that broken relationships are a major political problem and the cause of almost all that is wrong with British society today. The paper performs an analysis of recent family policies, revealing narratives claiming that stable coupled relationships are the foundation of a strong nation. The reverse of this narrative, therefore, is that to not be in—or even worse, to not even aspire to be in—a coupled relationship is not just a personal failure, but a failure for the nation as a whole. The article therefore argues that the UK government encourages a particular type of intimate relationship, despite an increasing recognition of ’diverse’ family forms. Build- ing upon Rich’s notion of compulsory heterosexuality, the article concludes that what we are witnessing in current British society is not compulsory heterosexuality, but compulsory coupledom.

Families, Relationships and Societies 1(3): 423-429, 2012

Emotion, Space and Society, 2(1) 36-43, 2009

Studies of emotion and activism have often attempted to uncover ‘the emotions most relevant to po... more Studies of emotion and activism have often attempted to uncover ‘the emotions most relevant to politics’ (Goodwin et al., 2001). This suggests that only certain feelings are productive for activism, while other emotions have less relevance for activist theory and practice. In this paper I ask if the notion of politically ‘relevant’ emotions helps perpetuate a distinction between what is considered political and what is not. This paper builds upon a case study in which I interviewed self-identiﬁed queer-activists about their experiences of autonomous activism. These interviews reveal how the everyday emotions surrounding the ‘personal’ politics of sexuality/intimacy are often seen as either less important, a distraction from, or entirely irrelevant to ‘real’ political issues. Ultimately, I want to challenge attempts to neatly separate our intimate lives from the public sphere of activism. I argue that it can never just be a matter of politics and emotion, but also the politics of emotion (Ahmed, 2004). Therefore we should not just assume that emotions matter for resistance - without ﬁrst realizing the importance of resisting these hierarchies of emotion.

Social and Cultural Geography, 12(5) 493-508., 2011

This paper considers issues of sexual citizenship in light of new UK legislation that prosecutes ... more This paper considers issues of sexual citizenship in light of new UK legislation that prosecutes the viewers of ‘extreme pornography’. Justified as an attempt to uphold public decency, government intervention seeks to prevent people seeing ‘extreme’ images not by limiting access to certain websites, but instead by intervening in the private consumption of these images. In this paper I draw on the discourses of those who have supported such intervention, and suggest that these arguments make a claim to space that defends the rights of some citizens over others. I examine the entwining of rights of expression, rights to identity and rights to safety. In conclusion, I argue that sexual citizenship is not just about the right to occupy actual physical places but also the right to inhabit the virtual. I hence argue that the internet plays a key role in transforming the sexual geographies of public and private.

Sexualities 12(2), 181-198., 2009

In this article I examine representations of sadomasochism in visual culture. Increasingly sadoma... more In this article I examine representations of sadomasochism in visual culture. Increasingly sadomasochistic imagery is becoming prominent and widespread in popular culture. I will ask which forms of sadomasochism are permitted and which are excluded or marginalized. The changing media regimes of visual representation will be addressed, arguing that cyberspace may provide a public forum for sadomasochists to challenge dominant stereotypical representations. Finally I will examine the impact of the current UK legislation to prosecute the viewers of ‘extreme’ pornographic material. This legislation reveals that certain intimate images are still denied the right to exist in visual culture.

Book Chapters by Eleanor Wilkinson

chapter in (2012) Hines, S. & Taylor, Y. (eds) Sexualities: past reflections, future directions. Palgrave., 2012