Reconceptualising comfort as part of local belonging: the use of confidence, commitment and irony

Abstract

This paper offers a theoretical framework for the analysis of belonging in local communities. To do so it draws on a broad existing literature which argues that comfort is a key dimension of our attachments to place. The argument that experiences of local belonging (or otherwise) are related to a person’s sense of comfort is a persuasive one, though current conceptualisations do not always adequately reflect this contention. As a consequence, our ability as geographers to adequately theorise our relationship to local places remains limited. This paper presents an empirical examination of comfort and local belonging amongst residents of a social housing estate in the North-east of England, and explores comfort as it is expressed through acts of confidence, commitment and irony. It concludes by arguing that taking comfort more seriously might lead us to a more agentic and reflexive understanding of local belonging and attachment.

Résumé

Cet article propose un cadre théorique à l’analyse de l’appartenance dans les communautés locales. Pour ce faire, il s’appuie sur la vaste recherche existante qui soutient que le confort est une dimension clé de nos attachements au lieu. L’argument que les expériences d’appartenance au lieu (ou autre) est lié au sentiment de confort de la personne est persuasif, bien que les conceptualisations actuelles ne reflètent pas toujours cette affirmation de façon adéquate. Par conséquent, notre capacité en tant que géographes à théoriser correctement sur notre relation aux endroits locaux reste limitée. Cet article présente une étude empirique du confort et de l’appartenance locale parmi les résidents d’un lotissement de logements sociaux dans le Nord-Est de l’Angleterre et explore le confort tel qu’il est exprimé à travers des actes de confiance en soi, d’engagement et d’ironie. Il conclut en soutenant que prendre le confort plus au sérieux nous mènerait à une compréhension plus agentique et réfléchie de l’appartenance locale et de l’attachement.

Resumen

Este trabajo ofrece un marco teórico para el análisis de la pertenencia en las comunidades locales. Para ello, se basa en una amplia literatura existente que sostiene que el confort es una dimensión clave de nuestros apegos al lugar. El argumento de que las experiencias de pertenencia local (o de otro tipo) están relacionadas con el sentido de comodidad de una persona es convincente, aunque las conceptualizaciones actuales no siempre reflejan adecuadamente esta afirmación. Como consecuencia, nuestra capacidad como geógrafos para teorizar adecuadamente nuestra relación con los lugares locales sigue siendo limitada. Este artículo presenta un examen empírico de la comodidad y la pertenencia local entre los residentes de una urbanización social en el noreste de Inglaterra, y explora la comodidad expresada a través de actos de confianza, compromiso e ironía. Concluye argumentando que considerar al confort más seriamente podría llevarnos a una comprensión más agencial y reflexiva de la pertenencia local y el apego.

Keywords:

• Local community
• belonging
• North-east England
• comfort
• local attachment

Mots clés:

• communauté locale
• appartenance
• Nord-Est de l’Angleterre
• confort
• attachement local

Palabras clave:

• Comunidad local
• Pertenencia
• Nordeste de Inglaterra
• Confort
• Apego local

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all the research participants for contributing to the project, John Tomaney, Andy Pike, Robin Humphrey, Jane Pollard and Matthew Rech for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper, and, finally, the Editor of this journal and the two anonymous reviewers who provided helpful and encouraging comments on a previous draft.

Notes

1. In 2000, the Ward of Byker was ranked the 78th most deprived ward in England and Wales and the 2011 UK Census showed 59% of households in the ward were classified as having either one or two indicators of deprivation.

2. Byker is adjacent to the area of Ouseburn which in recent years has been transformed, through a mix of public and private investment, from an almost derelict post-industrial site to Newcastle’s ‘cultural-quarter’. Today it is described by the destination marketing agency for Newcastle and Gateshead as being ‘home to artists, musicians, long established and new creative businesses, visitor and educational attractions and, increasingly, residents’ (www.newcastlegateshead.com).

3. According to the 2011 UK Census, 85% of the Ward of Byker identifies as White British. The ward (approx. 12,000 residents, is taken as a proxy for the Byker Estate, ca. 5869 residents according to the Byker Community Trust (2012).

4. 91% of the 1805 residential units in the Estate remain under social housing tenure (Statistics from Byker Community Trust 2012).

5. According to the 2011 UK Census 3.5% of the ward population identify as Black African, Caribbean or Black British which is the third largest ethnic group after White ‘Other’ (4.1%).

6. With no access to data kept on rates of asylum seekers and refugees living in the Ward or the estate, this assertion was arrived at after interviewing African community leaders in the area.

7. Pointing to a growing reappraisal of nostalgia from within geography in particular (Blunt, 2003; Legg, 2004; Bonnett, 2010), Bonnett and Alexander (2013) argue nostalgia needs to be framed less negatively terms and in terms that recognise nostalgia as a more critical and distanced engagement with the past, and much different than a simplistic ‘yearning for yesterday’ (Davis, 1979).