Cities in fiction: Perambulations with John Berger

This paper explores selected novels by John Berger in which cities play a central role. These cities are places, partially real and partially imagined, where memory, hope, and despair intersect. My reading of the novels enables me to trace important themes in recent discourses on the nature of contemporary capitalism, including notions of resistance and universality. I also show how Berger?s work points to a writing that can break free from the curious capacity of capitalism to absorb and feed of its critique

Affinities and Beyond! Developing Ways of Seeing in Online Spaces

This article presents an insider view of an online community of adults involved in sharing digital photography through a host website, Flickr. It describes how reciprocal teaching and learning partnerships in a dynamic multimodal environment are achieved through the creation of a ‘Third Space’ or ‘Affinity Space’, where ‘Funds of Knowledge’ are shared and processed in such a way that new meanings and discourses are generated. It is argued that this process is evidence of valuable learning and of the deepening of global understandings within the local space of Flickr. The new understandings are at least partly identifiable on the Flickr space, through the co-constructed ‘folksonomy’ or ‘online taxonomy’ of ways of looking at the world. Further, the article provides evidence for broadening existing definitions of literacy, at a time when the visual mode increasingly works interactively with verbal cues and explanations

Spaces of death in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights

In this article I explore the idea expressed by philosophers and social geographers such as Henri Lefebvre, Edward Soja, and Henk van Houtum that “space” is a social construct; that the space in which a society exists and of which it consists is shaped by that society itself, and that specific locations are assigned to each of the members of the community. I discuss how the dominant spaces in society are shaped by those in positions of authority according to their own ideologies so as to ensure social order and their continued empowerment within the social structure. Additionally, I suggest that it is possible for those who do not conform to social norms, and who are consequently cast into dominated spaces, to undermine the authority of those in positions of power by embracing their marginalised state, and thereby to generate new spaces they can inhabit. I explore these ideas in relation to Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and its depiction and examination of central nineteenth-century ideas and anxieties about death and the different areas allocated to the dead.In hierdie artikel ondersoek ek die idee, verwoord deur filosowe en sosiale geograwe soos Henri Lefebvre, Edward Soja en Henk van Houtum, dat “ruimte” ’n sosiale skepping is; dat die ruimte waarin ’n gemeenskap geleë is en waaruit dit bestaan deur die samelewing self gevorm word en dat spesifieke ruimtes aan elk van die lede van die gemeenskap toegeken word. Ek bespreek hoe die dominante spasies in die samelewing deur dié in posisies van outoriteit in ooreenstemming met hul eie ideologieë geskep word om sosiale orde en die voortbestaan van hul eie mag binne die sosiale struktuur te verseker. Ek voer ook aan dat dit moontlik is vir dié wat nie by sosiale norme hou nie en wat gevolglik in ruimtes van onderdrukking gewerp word om die outoriteit van dié in magsposisies te ondermyn en sodoende nuwe ruimtes vir hulself te skep. Ek ondersoek hierdie idees ten opsigte van Emily Brontë se Wuthering Heights en dié teks se uitbeelding en ondersoeking van kern negentiende-eeuse idees en vrese met betrekking tot die dood en die verskeie areas wat aan die dooies toegeken word.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjls20hb201

London 2012: 'Race' matters and the East End

This article examines legacy claims made by a range of agencies and organizations involved in the London 2012 Olympic Development Programme, and specifically the notion that this will inevitably lead to the regeneration of communities. We advocate the application of critical race theory (CRT) to provide an article that argues that ‘race’ matters in Olympic legacy discourses. We identify the shortcomings of the rhetoric of legacy Olympic-speak and its dissonance with the micro-detail of accumulated historical factors, experiences and day-to-day routines for these communities. It is argued here that single-mega-event policies cannot be the answer to entrenched racial inequalities in sport though they can contribute to alleviating many issues. In shifting ‘race’ from the periphery to the centre, CRT ensures that at the very least these issues are considered alongside others. The notion of ‘community’ is critiqued to the point that slippery legacy discourses become transparent. Ideologies are neither value-free and neutral nor ahistorical as the use of interest convergence here reasonably outlines more than altruism in the agendas underpinning the bid for the London 2012 Games. If lasting legacy is to be achieved, then broader social, cultural and historical factors need to be fully considered by policymakers or policy gaps will be further perpetuated

Cosmopolitan spaces: Europe, globalization, theory

Contains fulltext : 87065.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)Bespreking van: C. Rumford,Cosmopolitan spaces: Europe, globalization, theory New York and London:Routledge ,2008 978-041539067