Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The social category of whiteness, as well as the individual, inscribes race further by
makingmaterialandimaginedconnectionsbetweenspacesandplaces,suchthat,forex-
ample,Britain becomesanimportant symboltoBritish expatriates. Forexample, torep-
resent their transnational connections, I have often seen living rooms belonging to Brit-
ish families in South Africa decorated in “the English style”: paintings of English land-
scapes, chintz-covered sofas, Victorian antiques, with English magazines on the foot-
stool. In this way whiteness and nationality (as well as class) are constituted materi-
ally and imaginatively in the ways particular spaces and places, and the things within
them, are conceived. In addition, through the performance of daily routines and habits,
these places and spaces are further constructed as white: cups of tea are made, dogs are
cuddled,andBritishsoapoperasarewatched.AsTuandescribes,“whatbeginsasanun-
differentiated space becomes place as we get to know it better and endow it with value”
(1977, 6). The inscription of meaning in places is therefore intertwined with the embod-
ied performances which take place there, the people who are making these, as well as
the connections these people make with other spaces, both local and global.
Place and space do not therefore merely provide a backdrop for the negotiation
of raced and national identities, but are central resources in the construction of these
(Halford and Leonard 2006). Further, and perhaps more critically, space is also implic-
atedintheconstruction andstructuringofourrelations withothers,and,asGregoryand
Urry put it: “Spatial structure is now seen not merely as an arena in which social life
unfolds, but rather as a medium through which social relations are produced and repro-
duced” (1985, 3). Space is thus central to the production, organization, and distribution
of identity, race, and also power (Foucault 1980; Shome 2003).
It was to explore the relationships between identity, race, and place that research was
lives and experiences of a broad variety of British residents and to investigate the extent
andmannertowhichtheywereaccommodatingthemselvestothechangingpoliticaland
social regime. The research was primarily based in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Pi-
etermaritzburg near Durban, three key sites of British dwelling, and a multimethod, eth-
nographic, and biographical approach was taken. This included visual methods and un-
structured interviews, but also, crucially, mobile methods. As a key aim was to explore
the spatial, attachment to place, and how people draw on space and place in the produc-
tion of their identities, everyday practices, and senses of social networks, the “mobile
interview”waschoseninadditiontomoreconventional,static,typicallyroom-basedin-
terviews conducted in my hotel as well as people's homes and workplaces (Clark and
Emmel 2010). I thus accompanied participants as they went about their daily lives, and
joined them on drives around the city, walks through gated communities, horseback
