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Migration, Identity, and Translation Network (MITN)

Space, Place and the City

Cluster description

The aim of this cluster is to provide a motivating platform for MITN members to share ideas and experiences around themes such as place and non-place, translation, mobilities and third space. We adopt a broad definition of 'space' and aim to investigate the impact of material and physical space on the co-construction of meaning.

Cluster Leader: Helena Wall, PhD Researcher (H.Wall@warwick.ac.uk)

Areas of interest

  • Embodiment & space
  • Urbanism, habitus & social space
  • Place & non-place
  • Third space, migration & postcolonial literature
  • Walking, wandering & the city
  • The city as a site of translation

Research questions

So far, our cluster has explored the following research questions:

  1. What is a ‘city’? How do we define spaces within, or outside of, the cityspace?
  2. What kinds of translation occur within and between cities? Does this differ from place to place (i.e. in London and in Melbourne)?
  3. How are spaces constructed through human interaction? How does our physical movement through a place, or between two places, affect our understanding of space and belonging?

Past events

Project Meeting

Wednesday 13th May 2020

Themes discussed:

  • Methodologies for researching (digital) space & place
  • Migration & mobilities
  • Participatory methods

Screenshot from videoconference.

Discussion session - Monash

Wednesday 8th April 2020

Discussion session - Warwick

Wednesday 18th March 2020

Second Reading Group

Wednesday 8 June 2016

Warwick and Monash Caulfield International Portals

Texts discussed:

Doreen Massey, "A Global Sense of Place"

Michael Cronin & Sherry Simon, "The City as Translation Zone"

Space 1

First Reading Group

Wednesday 9 March 2016

Warwick and Monash Caulfield International Portals

Texts discussed:

Michel De Certeau, "Walking in the City" and "Spatial Stories"

Elizabeth Keating, "Discourse, Space, and Place"

Space 2

Cluster Launch

Wednesday 3 February 2016

Read the MITN blog post

Space 3

Page references

Keating, E. (2018). Discourse, space and place. In D. Tannen, H.E. Hamilton & D. Schiffrin (Eds.), The handbook of discourse analysis (pp. 244-261). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Thoughts on Space & Place

"The aesthetic and moral arrangement of people, structures and objects in space ... understanding social life, social change and cultural diversity"

(Keating, 2018, p. 244)