Histories of place: the racialization of representational space in Govanhill and Butetown

Byrne, B., Garratt, L., Harries, B. and Smith, A. (2023) Histories of place: the racialization of representational space in Govanhill and Butetown. Identities, 30(3), pp. 373-391. (doi: 10.1080/1070289X.2022.2099119)

Abstract

We argue that the stories told about the histories and nature of places, are vehicles for narrating race. Drawing on interviews with professionals and community workers in Butetown in Cardiff and Govanhill in Glasgow, we explore how they negotiated – and contested – racialized histories of place, constructing different versions or claims to belong. Drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s spatial concepts we explore this conceptualization through examination of the two areas that have distinct histories, and present experiences, of migration and racialization. In discussion of the accounts from the two distinct areas, we show that narratives of the past have a political resonance that shape accounts of current experiences of migration. Accounts of place are often related in relationship to comparisons with and narratives of other places and to global processes of trade and migration. Whilst these racialized narratives are contested, they also shape responses to social problems faced by communities.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Funding: This work was supported by the ESRC under Grant ES/K002198/1 Understanding the Dynamics of Ethnic Identity and Inequality in the; Economic and Social Research CouncilEconomic and Social Research Council [ES/K002198/1].
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Smith, Professor Andrew
• Authors: Byrne, B., Garratt, L., Harries, B., and Smith, A.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
• Journal Name: Identities
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 1070-289X
• ISSN (Online): 1547-3384
• Published Online: 15 July 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Identities 30(3): 373-391
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
173810		Understanding the changes in ethnic relations: understanding the dynamics of ethnicity, identity and inequality in the uk.	Satnam Virdee	Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)	ES/K002198/1	S&PS - Sociology