Worlding austerity: the spatial violence of poverty

Shaw, I. G.R. (2019) Worlding austerity: the spatial violence of poverty. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 37(6), pp. 971-989. (doi: 10.1177/0263775819857102)

Abstract

The enforced poverty of austere capitalism continues to wreck the worlds we inhabit. These worlds are built with a variety of social infrastructures: houses, pipes, schools, parks, libraries, and other sites of coexistence. Austerity, in turn, is spatialized and experienced across this built environment – slashing the potential of everyday worlds to provide a dignified life. By ‘worlding’ austerity, I thus argue that violence against the built environment – or what I term ‘slow urbicide’ – is simultaneously a violence against people. My focus is on the UK, and housing in particular, where government austerity continues to inflict an insidious spatial trauma. As spatial beings, our physical and mental wellbeing is bound to the landscapes we inhabit. If these landscapes are ruined by government cutbacks – compounding the already violent production of neoliberal space – a deep world alienation and insecurity can set in. I thus reflect on the ruined social and psychological geographies of austerity. But I also offer a positive political vision: an imperative to work for the world and repair the blasted landscapes of our coexistence. The paper finishes by outlining a new right to the world: a rallying cry to flourish in more dignified spaces.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Shaw, Dr Ian
• Authors: Shaw, I. G.R.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
• Journal Name: Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• ISSN: 0263-7758
• ISSN (Online): 1472-3433
• Published Online: 25 June 2019
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © The Author 2019
• First Published: First published in Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 37(6):971-989
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy