Emotional geographies of enthusiasm: belonging to the Telecommunications Heritage Group

Abstract

Enthusiasm has long been associated with notions of impassioned mood, intensity of feeling and passionate dedication. Despite this burgeoning field of 'enthusiastic geographies' , the conceptualisation of enthusiasm has until now remained largely untouched by geographers. This article develops recent work on emotional geographies in order to shed light on the emergence, experience and spatial implications of enthusiasm in group settings. It draws upon interview material with members of the UK's Telecommunications Heritage Group in order to examine enthusiasm as an emotional affiliation. It is argued in this article that enthusiasm influences passions, performances and actions in space, revealing the mutual 'closeness' , exclusivity of knowledgeability and sociability among participants.

Managing enthusiasm: Between ‘extremist’ volunteers and ‘rational’ professional practices in architectural conservation

“…In the 17th and 18th centuries enthusiasm was associated with dangerous religious fervor and extremism. Whilst this understanding is less relevant today, enthusiasm can still be seen as a negative or ridiculous trait, associated with fandom, obsession, geekiness, or amateurism (Geoghegan, 2013). For example, despite the fact that recent work has highlighted the value of collaborating with enthusiast groups in academic research (Geoghegan, 2014), academics are often guilty of categorising enthusiasts as untrained and irritating amateurs (Samuel, 1994).…”

“…Often a shared affiliation, geographers have shown how enthusiasm is central to practices such as the restoration of vintage cars (DeLyser and Greenstein, 2015), the recording of industrial archeology (Geoghegan, 2009), the dissemination of architectural knowledge (Craggs et al, 2013), or the participation of volunteers in nature surveys (Everett and Geoghegan, in press). Enthusiasm matters because it has the capacity to move people and to result in change (Geoghegan, 2013). Decisions to study, collect, record, care, share, campaign, spend and exchange, and the emotions and knowledges such practices afford, in turn add to and influence wider spheres beyond the 'hobby' in question.…”

Cultural geography and enchantment: the affirmative constitution of geographical research

“…Inspired by the affection, passion, and vitality we have witnessed during our research on impassioned knowledges (Geoghegan 2009(Geoghegan , 2013 and ludic geographies (Woodyer 2008(Woodyer , 2012, our work encompasses, first, the affective, material, emotional, cognitive, sensual, and social knowledges and practices that make life worth living, and second, leads us to interests in the critical and ethical potential of enthusiastic and playful ways of being and doing. Shifting away from objective moralistic judgment, we use our experience of and interest in enchantment to open up new possibilities and potentialities for the future through the cultivation of affective attachment.…”

Mushrooming entrepreneurship: The dynamic geography of enthusiast-driven innovation

“…Communities of interest constitute themselves around an increased enthusiasm for particular objects, topics, styles or activities (Fetzer, 2010;Geoghegan, 2013). The focal interest can also be shared anger about restrictions imposed by society or society's neglect of certain problems (e.g., rare diseases).…”

“…As we will show in this article, entrepreneurship from within communities on the one hand depends on shared knowledge practices. On the other hand, however, in the age of the Internet it is likely to bring about fragmented spatial patterns of related activities and of firm formation (Geoghegan, 2013;Grabher and Ibert, 2014). As our second contribution, in this paper we seek to develop an elaborated understanding of the complexities of the relational spaces enacted by entrepreneurial ambitions from within communities of interest.…”