In Re:development: Voices, Cyanotypes and Writings from the Green Backyard, editor and artist Jessie Brennan brings together a range of contributors to reflect on a grassroots communal growing project in Peterborough, ‘The Green Backyard’. Including the voices of those involved in the development of the site, this beautifully presented volume offers materially grounded insight into the importance of communal urban green spaces, writes Helen Traill

Traill, Helen

LSE Research Online

Book	Review:	Re:development:	Voices,	Cyanotypesand	Writings	from	the	Green	Backyard	edited	byJessie	BrennanIn	Re:development:	Voices,	Cyanotypes	and	Writings	from	the	Green	Backyard,	editor	and	artist	JessieBrennan	brings	together	a	range	of	contributors	to	reflect	on	a	grassroots	communal	growing	project	inPeterborough,	‘The	Green	Backyard’.	Including	the	voices	of	those	involved	in	the	development	of	the	site,	thisbeautifully	presented	volume	offers	materially	grounded	insight	into	the	importance	of	communal	urban	greenspaces,	writes	Helen	Traill.	Re:development:	Voices,	Cyanotypes	and	Writings	from	the	Green	Backyard.	Jessie	Brennan	(ed.).	SilentGrid.	2016.‘If	this	were	to	be	lost’	is	a	phrase	that	echoes	throughRe:development:	Voices,	Cyantotypes	and	Writings	from	the	GreenBackyard.	Reflecting	on	a	grassroots	communal	growing	project	inPeterborough	called	the	‘Green	Backyard’,	editor	and	artist	JessieBrennan	has	produced	a	monument	to	what	such	endeavours	canoffer.	In	this	vein,	Re:development	is	a	deliberate	rejection	ofeconomic	rationality	as	an	alibi	for	destroying	communal	projects.Vaunting	the	‘Green	Backyard’	as	a	site	of	value,	the	book	reflectsthis	place	where	people	come	together	to	grow	and	share	that	lies	onan	abandoned	allotment	site	that	was	left	fallow	until	localsrejuvenated	it	in	2009.	As	the	co-founder	of	the	Green	Backyard,Sophie	Antonelli,	writes:	‘we,	like	so	many	other	community	groups	and	spaces,	grow	people	first	and	plantssecond’	(32)	–	a	theme	which	will	chime	with	anyone	who	has	spent	time	in	similar	spaces.	Focusing	on	thepotential	of	urban	growing	projects,	Re:development	engages	polemically	and	personally	with	urban	developmentdebates	around	value.	As	such,	the	reader	should	not	expect	reflections	on	the	partiality	of	community	or	lengthydebate	over	the	potential	co-option	of	projects	to	governance	agendas	(for	this,	see	good	discussions	from	MaryBeth	Pudup	and	Marit	Rosol).	It	does,	however,	introduce	and	reflect	on	the	many	debates	that	emerge	fromcommunal	growing	spaces.Re:development	consists	of	three	elements:	a	selection	of	cyanotypes	taken	of	objects	in	the	project;	selectedvoices	transcribed	from	over	100	oral	recordings	with	participants	in	the	Green	Backyard;	and	eleven	shortwritings	on	the	space.	The	first	two	writings	are	an	introduction	from	Brennan	and	a	piece	by	Antonelli.	Theremaining	nine	essays	cover	a	wide	range	of	disciplines,	but	all	respond	to	the	space	and	to	Brennan’s	artworks.The	essays	relate	the	Green	Backyard	to	a	variety	of	thinkers	and	themes,	from	Henri	Lefebvre’s	Right	to	the	Cityto	the	materiality	of	human	waste.	This	breadth	represents	not	only	the	multifaceted	nature	of	spaces	like	theGreen	Backyard,	but	also	the	broad	range	of	interest	in	urban	communal	growing.	As	essays	on	land	value,environmental	justice	and	bottom-up	history	attest,	urban	communal	green	spaces	raise	fundamental	questionsabout	the	way	we	live,	questions	that	have	given	rise	to	an	explosion	of	interest	in	communal	growing	since	the1990s.LSE Review of Books: Book Review: Re:development: Voices, Cyanotypes and Writings from the Green Backyard edited by Jessie Brennan Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-07-14Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/07/14/book-review-redevelopment-voices-cyanotypes-and-writings-from-the-green-backyard-edited-by-jessie-brennan/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/Image	Credit:	Copyright	Jessie	BrennanWhat	Re:development	does	well	is	materialise	the	Green	Backyard	in	its	everyday	glory.	Especially	through	theaccounts	(the	‘voices’)	and	the	cyanotypes,	a	sense	of	the	site’s	physicality	emerges.	Collective	practices	likeholding	barbeques	are	recalled	through	mentions	of	the	pizza	oven	and	open	fires,	and	a	toothbrush	emotivelyevokes	the	collection	of	supplies	on	site	for	refugees	in	Calais.	The	material	life	of	the	site	is	closely	tied	to	theemotional	lives	present	in	the	voices	that	speak	from	the	page.	They	recall	social	connection	and	spaces	forchildren	to	learn	and	grow.	Rarely	does	one	find	raw	empirical	material	curated	in	this	way,	and	largely	left	tospeak	for	itself.	This	subversion	of	the	social	scientific	norm	is	exciting	in	allowing	people	from	the	GreenBackyard	to	speak	to	the	reader	without	analytical	interpretation.The	accounts	sit	literally	between	the	cyanotypes,	within	pages	that	are	closed	at	the	top.	The	reader	has	to	peerinto	the	inside	of	the	book,	forcing	the	pages	to	take	up	space.	The	reader	cannot	help	but	reflect	on	the	positionthat	Brennan	puts	them	in	here.	The	‘voices’	are	less	privileged	within	the	pages	of	the	book	than	the	‘writings’.Representing	their	voices	in	these	folds	emphasises	their	marginality:	it	echoes	their	position	as	parties	fighting	tobe	listened	to	in	a	land-use	dispute.	However,	an	opportunity	has	perhaps	been	missed	for	Brennan	to	explainand	reflect	on	this	choice.	This	might	have	particularly	elucidated	the	curatorial	and	design	decisions	taken	toproduce	the	book	in	this	specific	fashion.The	essays	cover	more	familiar	ground	to	the	academic	reader,	presenting	responses	from	contributors	acrossan	array	of	disciplines	to	Brennan’s	work	and	the	Green	Backyard.	These	are	relatively	informal,	some	hopeful,threaded	with	personal,	reflexive	notes,	such	as	geographer	Ben	Rogaly’s	reflections	on	Doreen	Massey’sintention	to	visit	the	site,	which	tragically	never	occurred.LSE Review of Books: Book Review: Re:development: Voices, Cyanotypes and Writings from the Green Backyard edited by Jessie Brennan Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-07-14Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/07/14/book-review-redevelopment-voices-cyanotypes-and-writings-from-the-green-backyard-edited-by-jessie-brennan/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/Image	Credit:	Copyright	Jessie	BrennanWithin	the	collection,	Jane	Rendell’s	essay	contribution	stands	out	as	exemplary.	Provoked	by	the	words	fromBrennan’s	in	situ	artwork,	‘if	this	were	to	be	lost’,	Rendell	ruminates	on	loss.	Her	short	essay	compares	thepotential	demolition	of	the	Green	Backyard	to	the	disappearance	of	other	things	she	cares	for:	council	estates	inLondon,	the	public	university	and	the	public	pool,	amongst	other	things.	In	closing	her	piece,	she	argues	for	theinversion	of	Brennan’s	phrase	to:	‘if	this	were	not	to	be	lost’.	She	argues	for	the	emancipatory	potential	offocusing	on	what	does	exist,	and	what	possibilities	might	be	found	in	sites	like	the	Green	Backyard.	Through	this,Rendell	aptly	sums	up	the	rhetorical	position	of	the	whole	book.What	was	peculiar	in	Rendell’s	account,	as	in	Anna	Minton’s,	was	the	main	urban	referent	being	London,	notPeterborough,	although	all	the	writers	do	make	clear	connections	between	the	two.	London’s	trajectory	offers	astrong	exemplar	of	dispossession	and	urban	change	but,	as	Brennan’s	own	participants	note,	the	specific	site	ofthe	project	matters:	communal	growing	projects	are	rooted	in,	and	productive	of,	places.	While	Rogaly’scontribution	is	helpfully	grounded	in	Peterborough,	paying	close	attention	to	biography	and	space,	the	collectionas	a	whole	could	have	benefitted	from	more	discussion	of	Peterborough’s	development	and	the	GreenBackyard’s	place	within	it.	This	is	especially	important	when	one	talks	about	neoliberalisation	processes	(asRogaly	does).	As	Jamie	Peck	and	Adam	Tickell	have	elsewhere	argued,	these	processes	occur	differently	indifferent	places,	sharing	‘family	resemblances’	rather	than	offering	a	clearly	reproduced	pattern.Nonetheless,	read	as	speaking	with	rather	than	speaking	for	the	growers	at	the	Green	Backyard,	Re:developmentoffers	a	beautiful,	materially	grounded	representation	that	feels	appropriate	to	the	level	of	emotional	connectioncommunal	green	spaces	arouse.	The	book	is	thus	a	solid	argument	for	the	importance	of	communal	urban	greenspaces	across	many	disciplines,	and	a	physically	attractive	reminder	of	the	materiality	of	urban	growing	as	apractice.Helen	Traill	is	a	PhD	student	in	the	Sociology	department	at	the	LSE.	Her	thesis	explores	practices	of	communityin	community	gardens	and	urban	green	spaces,	and	the	relationship	they	have	with	wider	urban	social	processes.She	is	particularly	interested	in	urban	commons	and	land	ownership,	and	the	political	potential	of	communalpractices.	She	tweets	@traillhelen.	Read	more	by	Helen	Traill.Note:	This	review	gives	the	views	of	the	author,	and	not	the	position	of	the	LSE	Review	of	Books	blog,	or	of	theLondon	School	of	Economics.	Images	are	provided	courtesy	of	Jessie	Brennan	and	should	not	be	reproducedwithout	the	permission	of	the	copyright	holder.	LSE Review of Books: Book Review: Re:development: Voices, Cyanotypes and Writings from the Green Backyard edited by Jessie Brennan Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-07-14Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/07/14/book-review-redevelopment-voices-cyanotypes-and-writings-from-the-green-backyard-edited-by-jessie-brennan/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/

Book review: re:development: voices, cyanotypes and writings from the green backyard edited by Jessie Brennan

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

LSE Research Online