Neither sensibly homed nor homeless: re-imagining migrant homes through more-than-human relations

ABSTRACT

More-than-human relations have gained much attention in the study of home and homemaking in Western contexts. We contribute to and geographically expand this growing literature by focusing on informal homes established by climate migrants living in the urban fringes of Khulna city, Bangladesh. To explore these precarious dwellings we develop a more-than-human approach, focusing upon the agencies and relations of plants, animals and elements of nature in securing homes. We focus on the more-than-human imaginaries that bring together human and non-human bodies and contribute to the conditions and capacities of homemaking. We have identified three dominant imaginaries (aesthetic, spiritual and economic) through which homes are produced and maintained. These imaginaries inform the material dimensions of migrant home-ecologies in unconventional but important ways, influencing the production of internal and external spaces. We conclude that reimagining non-humans as co-constituting home provides unique insights into the diverse strategies and experiences of marginalized communities and their socio-ecological complexities in urban space. Thinking through cities and their uneven metabolic processes in this way can generate innovative approaches for engaging with marginalized people in the urban fringe.

RÉSUMÉ

Les relations plus qu’humaines ont beaucoup retenu l’attention dans l’étude de l’habitat et du foyer dans les contextes occidentaux. Nous contribuons à cette recherche grandissante et nous l’élargissons géographiquement en nous concentrant sur les logements informels établis par les migrants climatiques dans les faubourgs de la ville de Khulna au Bangladesh. Pour explorer ces habitations précaires, nous développons une approche plus qu’humaine en nous concentrant sur les influences et les relations entre les plantes, les animaux et les éléments naturels pour se construire un habitat. Nous nous concentrons sur les imaginaires plus qu’humains qui rassemblent les corps humains et non humains et contribuent aux conditions et capacités de construire un logement. Nous avons identifié trois imaginaires dominants (esthétique, spirituel et économique) à travers lesquels les habitations sont produites et maintenues. Ces imaginaires ont une influence sur les dimensions matérielles des écologies des habitations des migrants de manières non conventionnelles mais importantes en influençant la production d’espaces internes et externes. Nous concluons que ré imaginer les non humains comme constituants de logement apporte des vues uniques sur les stratégies et expériences variées de communautés marginalisées et sur leurs complexités socio-écologiques dans l’espace urbain. Réfléchir aux grandes villes et à leurs processus métaboliques inégaux peut générer des approches innovatrices pour nouer le dialogue avec les personnes marginalisées dans les faubourgs urbains

RESUMEN

Las relaciones más-que-humanas han obtenido mucha atención en el estudio del hogar y de la creación del hogar en contextos occidentales. Se contribuye y se expande geográficamente esta creciente literatura enfocándose en hogares informales establecidos por migrantes climáticos que viven en los límites urbanos de la ciudad de Khulna, Bangladés. Para explorar estas viviendas precarias, se desarrolla un enfoque más-que-humano, centrándose en las agencias y las relaciones de las plantas, los animales y los elementos de la naturaleza para asegurar los hogares. El estudio se centra en los imaginarios más-que-humanos que reúnen cuerpos humanos y no humanos y que contribuyen a las condiciones y capacidades de la creación del hogar. Se han identificado tres imaginarios dominantes (estéticos, espirituales y económicos) a través de los cuales se producen y mantienen los hogares. Estos imaginarios informan las dimensiones materiales de las ecologías del hogar de los migrantes de maneras no convencionales pero importantes que influyen en la producción de espacios internos y externos. Se llega a la conclusión de que volver a imaginar a los no humanos como co-constituyentes del hogar proporciona información única sobre las diversas estrategias y experiencias de las comunidades marginadas y sus complejidades socio-ecológicas en el espacio urbano. De esta manera, pensar a través de las ciudades y sus procesos metabólicos desiguales puede generar enfoques innovadores para interactuar con personas marginadas en la periferia urbana.

KEYWORDS:

• Bangladesh
• urban informal settlements
• climate migrants
• home and homemaking
• more-than-human
• non-human agency

MOTS CLÉS:

• Bangladesh
• zones urbaines d’habitat informel
• migrants climatiques
• habitat et foyer
• plus qu’humain
• facteurs non humains

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• Bangladés
• asentamientos urbanos informales
• migrantes climáticos
• hogar y la creación del hogar
• más-que-humano
• agencia no humana

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Mary Gilmartin and the two anonymous referees for their helpful comments. We are also grateful to Macquarie University for funding through the Macquarie University Research Excellence Scholarship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Participants’ original names are changed to retain anonymity.

2. The ongoing extension of Khulna city to its surrounding non-urban landscape was approved in the Khulna Master Plan (KMP) 2001 (Khulna Development Authority, 2002). The Detailed Area Plan 2014 for Khulna city’s extension under KMP 2001 was completed in 2016 but is yet to be gazetted. Currently, all planning decisions are made with regard to this plan. The existence of landless rural migrants in Khulna’s urbanizing fringes is absent in these planning documents, an omission that perpetuates an absence of the planning decisions necessary to address issues surrounding migrants and their adaptation in the city fringes.

3. With the term vantage point, Haraway (1997, p. 269) proposes to embark on a ‘privileged perspective’, but from non-standard positions that are able to illuminate more-than-human lived realities.

4. A major regional infrastructure project (the bridge on the river Padma) connecting Khulna city and the capital city of Dhaka is in progress. A new Export Processing Zone (EPZ) in Mongla, just within the Khulna region, has begun to attract regional investment.

5. Urban elites have considerable influence over vacant government lands – see Barkat, uz Zaman & Raihan (2001) for the power dynamics of government-owned land.

6. See Gibson-Graham (2005) for diverse economies that could not be elaborated within the scope of this article.

7. Rose (1993) critiques stereotypical human homes that position women within homes that are sites of oppression by the state, by capitalism and by patriarchy.

8. Bhatti & Church (2000, p. 194) argue that gardening as part of homemaking practices can create hidden social relations that are different for women and men, highlighting the creation of gendered domestic spaces.

9. A popular Bengali folk song is by singer Abdul Alim (Latif, 1960).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Macquarie University Research Excellence Scholarship [MQRES 20138346].