Place: A food for thought
During discussions on issues in social sciences, especially geography, ‘place’ is very important because it affects our analysis and outcomes.
‘Place’ has been identified as one of the most important terms when we study social science. A famous philosopher Jeff Malpas (2010) has argued that “place is perhaps the key term for interdisciplinary research in the arts, humanities and social sciences in the twenty-first century” (cited in Cresswell, 2014: 1). Cresswell (2014: 1) then explained that “place is a concept that travels quite freely between disciplines and the study of place benefits from an interdisciplinary approach”.
The geography of place
In fact, geography is all about ‘people’, ‘place’, and ‘places’. Place is linked to different key terms, including ‘space’, ‘people’, ‘absence’, ‘presence’, ‘identity’, ‘belongingness’, and so on. Places are also interlinked and connected with each other. People flow inside and between places, creating a sense of local and global.
Human geographers are concerned with the people and places that make up our world. We look at the differences and similarities between peoples, the ways people and place are connected or disconnected from each other, and the processes through which the world is structured into identifiable peoples, spaces, and places. We are also concerned with the formation of human life through socially produced space, in terms of location, distance, travel, scale, and distribution. All these express something about the whereness of things in the world and are the concept of place and space.
Therefore, perhaps we can conclude that geography is about the notion of place.
While in recent years, rapid technological advancement is happening in every place. New technologies are breaking through the friction of space, creating a mediated world with time-space compression. Globalization takes place, making places merge into a place, or changing the world into placeless.
But does that mean that place now does not matter? An article written by Eric Weiner about geography in relation to the Russia-Ukraine war recently has proved the importance of the notion of place.
In the article, according to Weiner (2022), when we look at Putin’s war, some geographical facts about Ukraine shed light and cannot be ignored. Those facts are quoted below:
“Ukraine sits squarely on the ‘European Invasion Superhighway,’ linking East and West, Europe and Asia.”
“Ukraine’s strategically important location means it has been fought over by various empires and regimes: the Ottomans, Nazi Germany, and, of course, Russia.”
“Ukraine’s topography is mostly flat and rolling. The nation’s one mountain range, the Carpathians, is easily penetrated. That’s good news if you’re a cyclist or, say, an invading Russian army, but bad news if you’re trying to defend your homeland. There is a reason the Kurds have an expression to describe their people’s plight: ‘No friends but the mountains.’”
“Ukraine’s history is intertwined with that of Russia but, contrary to Putin’s assertions, Ukrainians have had their own distinctive culture for at least three centuries.”
The above quotations of the facts that Weiner raised are all about the location, characteristics, and history of a place — Ukraine. When we talk about an issue, the notion of place is often important. We ask ourselves: what is the place? where is the place? how is the place? what and when did some events happen in the place? so what does the place important to us?
Then, these questions are closely linked to our analysis. For example, when considering Ukraine’s strategic location, it can be used to prove what stance will the international society take when it comes to Russia’s invasion and aggression. The relief characteristics of Ukraine can be used to analyze the easiness of success when it comes to Putin’s mind of aggression.
The sense of place is therefore important when shaping people’s opinion on different issues, and even wars and conflicts. The stand of the American Association of Geographers quoted by Weiner (2022) says:
“Geography tells us that a people’s right to determine their future is inextricably linked with their sense of place and space. Russia’s unlawful invasion and occupation of Ukraine force the displacement and migration of countless communities, stripping them of their dignity and fundamental rights.”
This shows that the discussions of the Russia-Ukraine war are all about ‘place’. Russia’s aggression to Ukraine is unlawful because that place (Ukraine) does not belong to them. Ukrainians protect their place (Ukraine) as much as they can because it is the place where they feel home and belonging, and they have the right to stay. The forced displacement and migration of Ukrainian is also about place. They are forced to move to a new place where they do not feel belonging.
The changing places
In the above paragraphs, I have already explained the importance of ‘place’ in geography and the discussions of social sciences on different issues. But as far as we know, geography is not only about the place itself. It is about the people and history. When we look at ‘place’, it is not only shaped by the present and also the past.
Recently, I went to Brick Lane, London for my research project about street art and urban spaces. When I was having the field trip, I find evidence about a place shaped by its history and the present.
In terms of the architecture of the place, they are shaped by history. In the 1700s, many French protestants called the Huguenots suffered persecution over one century in France. To avoid the persecution they arrived in England, an ideal refuge for people of the protestant faith. They brought their wealth and settled in Brick Lane. As many of them were fine craftsmen, to survive, they used their weaving skills to produce and sell beautiful silks that had intricate floral designs in gold and silver thread to earn their living. As a result, they turned Brick Lane from muddy tracks between fields to built-up streets with distinctive Huguenot-style houses. These houses are tall, with large windows and attics to place their looms.
But the usage of these buildings and land is shaped by the present. Places are changing. Many of the Huguenots soon left Brick Lane because of the conflicts and affrays with their English counterparts. When time passed, Brick Lane became a Banglatown where the Bengali settled after the East India Company established their first imperial trading routes with the UK in the 17th century (Alexander et al, 2020). After serval centuries, in the 2000s, Brick Lane is changing rapidly again. The area is experiencing urban regeneration and new urban economies. For example, there are ‘high-end’ retail activities with a ‘creative and cultural focus’ (Alexander et al, 2020). The area became home to local and international street art as well as a place for tourism, and experienced gentrification.
The Brick Lane case study can prove that places are changing and are shaped by the past and the present. Places are still diverse as all of them have different histories. Under globalization, as mentioned, places are also going out from local-global. Local places get their distinctive characters from their past and present links to the rest of the world. In consequence, we need a “global sense of the local” (Crang et al, 2014). While global networks with rapid flows of information, ideas, money, people, and things have affected local geographies. For this reason, the sense of global has been localized (Crang et al, 2014).
Conclusion
In this short essay, I have outlined the importance of ‘place’ when it comes to geography and social science. To be specific, ‘Place’ can be shaped by both history and the present. ‘Place’ can be globalized and localized. ‘Place’ is diverse. ‘Place’ is always changing. ‘Place’ can be used as a tool for issue analysis and decision-making. More importantly, ‘place’ is one of the keys that affect international, societal, and local outcomes.
Perhaps the final word on ‘place’ should be about geography as it is a main geographical concept. “Without geography, you’re nowhere.”, and I reply, ‘Without place, geography is nowhere, and you are nowhere.’.
References
Cresswell, T., 2014, ‘Place: An Introduction, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.
Weiner, E., 2022, ‘Russia, Ukraine and the Revenge of Geography’, Medium.
Alexander, C., Carey, S., Lidher, S., Hall, S., King, J., 2020, ‘Beyond Banglatown: Continuity, change and the new urban economies in Brick Lane’, Runnymede Perspectives, London: Runnymede, pp1–28
Crang, P., 2014, in Cloke, P., Crang, P., Goodwin, M., ‘Introducing Human Geographies’, London and New York: Routledge, pp7–22, p21
Related readings
Massey, D., 1995, ‘Places and their Pasts’, History Workshop Journal, Vol 39, pp182–192.
