“Regarding the pain of others”: urban geography after empathy

Jon, Ihnji ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3812-8168 2024. “Regarding the pain of others”: urban geography after empathy. Urban Geography 45 (3) , pp. 484-494. 10.1080/02723638.2023.2279415

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Abstract

While urban geography has made significant contributions to mainstreaming disruptive thinking through its invocation of justice, less discussed is what good must our descriptions do especially when they pertain to others’ suffering. This essay addresses the ethics of practicing social inquiry by drawing two thematic lessons: painful clarity and the appropriation of space. Centering the importance of painful clarity reflects on the relational politics of plural claims-making, the ongoingness of which helps us focus not only on our everyday complicity in others’ struggles but also on what can be done here and now. The appropriation of space highlights the role of spatial milieu as a medium through which structural constraints and political agency can be situated in a specific time and place, enabling forms of social inquiries that are instrumental and operative. I conclude by suggesting three considerations that could help bridge the separation between knowledge and action.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Geography and Planning (GEOPL)
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
ISSN:	0272-3638
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	2 November 2023
Date of Acceptance:	30 October 2023
Last Modified:	21 Dec 2024 02:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/163627

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