Re-inhabiting no-man's land: genealogies, political life and critical agendas

Leshem, N.; Pinkerton, A

Abstract

This article sets out to answer a seemingly simple question: what is no-man's land? By positing this question, we aim to problematise the taken-for-granted status of no-man's land and its proliferation as a convenient colloquialism that is applied to a vast set of spaces, material conditions and socio-political circumstances. Despite its popular association with the killing fields of the First World War, no-man's land is considered here as a rich analytical category, which resonates in a broader historical and intellectual corpus. We present a conceptual framework for the study of no-man's land as a space produced by simultaneous forces of abandonment and enclosure. The analysis explores the function of no-man's lands as a critical quality that bears on concrete spatio-political realities. In doing so, we aim to open up future research avenues that will further deepen the conceptual and analytical challenges of no-man's lands in the 21st century.

Citation

Leshem, N., & Pinkerton, A. (2016). Re-inhabiting no-man's land: genealogies, political life and critical agendas. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 41(1), 41-53. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12102

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 3, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Oct 19, 2015
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Mar 10, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 19, 2017
• Journal: Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers
• Print ISSN: 0020-2754
• Electronic ISSN: 1475-5661
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 41
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 41-53
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12102
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1386594