Affect and emotion in urban political ecology | Investigaciones Geográficas
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Call for Papers for open call N° 69 of Revista de Investigaciones Geográficas: Una mirada desde el sur.

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Affect and emotion in urban political ecology

Authors

  • Jacob C. Miller Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle, United Kingdom
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Abstract

In the last 20 years there has been a turn toward the emotional and affective in contemporary social theory and in human geography, including urban political ecology. This article offers a methodology for approximating emotion and affect in everyday geographies of consumption, taking the shopping mall as a special case due to its ability to manipulate these aspects of the visitor experience. Focusing on an ethnographic study of the Mall Paseo Chiloé and its context of rapid social-spatial change, this article describes the methods used for this kind of research, as well as offering some reflections on my experience using these methods as a way of highlighting the kinds of challenges that can arise during fieldwork. This article also includes some results from the fieldwork that highlight the potential of this methodology. As there is already a vast literatura on affect and emotion in the social sciences, this article focuses on the fieldwork and the methodological approach for carrying out such a study. As such, the emphasis is on the details around using fundamental methods like participant observation, as well as more innovative methods like mobile interviews and photo elicitation.

Keywords:

Affect , Consumption , Chiloé , Emoción , Methodology