‘Tales from other people’s houses’: home and dis/connection in an East London neighbourhood

Abstract

Historias de casas ajenas': desconexión doméstica y urbana en un barrio del este de Londres RESUMENEste artículo explora lo que significa vivir juntos en la ciudad a través de un enfoque en el hogar y el espacio público urbano en el este de Londres. Desarrolla un marco conceptual para entender el hogar como un sitio de des/conexión, tanto conectado como desconectado de unidades habitacionales, la calle, el vecindario y la ciudad más amplios. Basándonos en una serie de biografías de ciudades-viviendas con residentes que viven en diferentes unidades habitacionales, exploramos lo que hace que una ciudad sea 'habitable' para sus diversos residentes dentro y fuera de los espacios domésticos y públicos; cómo las desconexiones de la ciudad de origen dan forma a las ideas y experiencias de convivencia; y la importancia de los contextos sensoriales, materiales y sociales del ARTICLE HISTORY

Home and neighbourhood

“…Through their analysis of a series of pre-pandemic 'home-city biographies' with residents in Hackney, east London, Sheringham et al (2023) argue that home is a site of connection and disconnection with the wider urban neighbourhood and city. By taking a 'homecity geographies' approach, which explores the connections between urban domesticities (home in the city) and domestic urbanism (the city as home), they draw attention 'to the importance of people's domestic lives in their sense of belonging (or not belonging) to the 88 Knowing COVID-19 neighbourhood and wider city', highlighting 'the role of urban encounters -with immediate neighbours and in the wider neighbourhood -in people's experiences of home, which may involve a feeling of isolation from, or of being part of, something larger' (Sheringham et al, 2023: 733; see also Blunt and Sheringham, 2019;Burrell, 2014).…”

“…Drawing on research conducted as part of the AHRC-funded Stay Home Stories project (www.stay home stor ies.co.uk), and informed by wider research on what Blunt and Sheringham (2019) term 'home-city geographies', this chapter explores pandemic geographies of dwelling and belonging on domestic and neighbourhood scales for UK residents in London and Liverpool. In so doing, it extends broader debates about urban homes as sites of dis/ connection with the wider neighbourhood (Sheringham et al, 2023) and interactions with neighbours and neighbourhoods during the COVID-19 pandemic (Mehta, 2020;Ottoni et al, 2022;Preece et al, 2023). In this chapter we address three key questions: how were people's 'stay home' lives shaped by interactions with their neighbours and neighbourhoods?…”

(Re)visiting the neighbourhood

“…Taking up Clark and Coulter's (2015) focus on how the neighbourhood impacts on feelings of belonging, Preece (2020: 829) has argued that the 'role for neighbourhoods in belonging and identity-formation [ha]s often [been] neglected in theories of mobility' , suggesting that as geographers we have not taken seriously how belonging to the neighbourhood may have bearings on choices we make further in our life courses, including choices to move or stay in particular neighbourhoods too. Familiarity, safety, and security contribute to a capacity to create feelings of belonging to place (Cabrera-Barona & Carrion, 2020;Kern, 2021;Sheringham et al, 2021). But, these affective aspects -to borrow again from Mee and Wright (2009) -are embodied differently, by different people, across and between different spatialities and temporalities (Hoekstra & Pinkster, 2019).…”

“…It is this everyday character of social interactions that we are keen to highlight here because, and in line with Weck & Hanhörster (2015: 457), we also affirm that 'everyday spatial practices' comprise evidence of 'meaningful contact' . Among the scholarship addressing social interactions in the neighbourhood, the everyday component of these interactions has been highlighted as influential in facilitating connections and building cohesion in-place (Sheringham et al, 2021). In delineating what we mean by 'everyday' , we draw from Pinskter's (2016: 875) notion of 'doing' neighbourhood, which includes the everyday routines embedded in the neighbourhood.…”

Making and negotiating “home” of lifestyle migrants from the perspective of home-city geographies

“…与、 协商和抵抗， 以及对家庭生活的平行解读 [29] ； 而 移民在家庭环境中相遇的食物、 纪念物和景观等能 够触发移民多感官的 "家" 的记忆与认同 [30] 。 "家" 空 间中的物质实践在与外部世界的关系协商中作为 身份和经验的表达， 例如南亚女性移民 "家" 空间内 部中反复出现的 "英式景观" 折射出后殖民时期移 民 "家" 的想象和实践对身份的复杂定位 [31] 。因此， "家" 的营造不仅是将移民情感依恋寄居于地方的 日常实践， 而且还使流动的移民个体能够与外部世 界互动 [32] 。 城市空间家庭化反映了 "家" 和城市边界的多 孔性(porosity)和互构性。Blunt 等 [18] 将家庭化视为 移民参与创造城市空间的 "栖居" ， 透过移民的情 感、 体验与记忆实践挑战了城市开发主体对城市空 间的 "物质化" 和 "非人化" 叙事。事实上， "家" 的亲 密感和私人感越来越多地渗透到街道、 社区、 广场、 咖啡馆等公共和半公共空间， 即所谓的 "以城市为 家" [18,33] 。城市空间对移民建构归属和家园具有重要 作用， 如居住在高层酒店公寓的孟加拉移民将国族、 宗教联结的 "家常关系" (homely relations)嵌入公共 空间实践， 促进了他们与城市连接的归属感 [34] 。同 时， 城市中替代形式的 "家" (alternative home)的出 现阐明了城市空间中日益增长的多样性， 例如澳大 利亚男同性恋者通过与同性恋 "场景" 相关的活动 的展演， 将社区和城市公共空间渲染为 "如家般" (homelike)的酷儿、 情感认同场所 [35] 。家庭体验与城 市体验在日常生活中重叠， "家" 成为移民之间及其 与城市产生连接的重要场域。 家庭和城市领域重叠存在冲突与张力。家庭 体验和城市体验在移民日常生活中的重叠有力阐 明了流动性和移民对 "家" 的塑造， 但也隐喻了城市 结构性力量对移民的 "毁家" (domecial)影响 [36][37] 。 Sheringham 等 [28] 和 Blunt 等 [38] 说明了宏观地方社会 结构使不同种族、 文化和移民历史的移民群体在城 市环境中体验 "在或不在家的感觉" (feel at home or not at home)时所反映的权力关系不平等。在跨国 流动、 种族隔离和社会边缘化为特征的背景下， 英 国政府推行的 "卧房税" (bedroom taxes)威胁到移民 的家庭资本和定居能力， 使得被强制驱逐的移民感 到强烈的 "无家感" (unhomely) [36] 。同时， 种族、 房屋 产权、 法律地位(移民/非移民)等的不同形成的主体 权力差异则可能成为 "毁家" 的重要因素 [39] 。 目前， 国内 "家" 的地理学对流动儿童 [40] 、 流动 家庭 [41] 、 失地农民 [42] 、 跨国婚姻移民 [43] 、 跨国精英移 民 [44] 、 青少年 [45] 等主体的空间建构和情感实践进行 了关注， 但对于生活方式移民在地方社会语境中营 造 "家" 的具体实践及其地方协商的互动机制仍需 给予进一步的解读 [11,19] 。本文援引家-城市地理学 的理论视角， 尝试将生活方式移民与地方的复杂协 商置于 "家" 这一充满日常生活和情感体验的单元 进行剖析， 探讨生活方式移民 "家-城市" 体验互动 中的多尺度实践， 阐释多元主体围绕 "家-城市" 重 叠领域的管制与抵抗中潜藏的权力关系， 借此探察 移民与地方之间的动态关系。 "家" 的营造涉及移民 在特定地方语境下的真实生境协商， 对其进行分析 能够为中国新型城镇化和流动性语境下 "移民-地 方" 的互动协商机制提供鲜活例证， 进而推进中国 语境下 "家" 的地理学和移民地理研究的理论发展。…”