Lecturer in Human Geography

Contact Details

• Tel: 0116 252 3858
• Email: gpb10@le.ac.uk
• Fax: 0116 252 3854
• Office: Bennett Building F57

Research Interests

I am an urban social and cultural geographer, with a broad range of research interests examining the spatiality of contemporary life in cities. I am particularly interested in processes of social change and transformation and the relationships between these and changes in urban life and the built environment. My research interests fall into four, intersecting themes (all mostly studied within urban contexts):

• Geographies of sexuality and sex-itself;
• Geographies of education and young people’s lives;
• Geographies of social movement activism and contentious politics;
• Geographies of transition, social change and social transformation.

To date, most of my academic research has been concerned with the spatiality of gay men’s lives and the potential for reworking geographical applications of queer theory in the light of recent post-anarchist writings on autonomy and affinity. I have also carried out several pieces of policy-related consultancy work identifying gaps in widening participation provision, assessing gay men’s sexual health needs in East London, and evaluating a work-related teenage pregnancy intervention.

Current Research Projects

I am currently engaged in three research projects, which are outlined below in greater detail:

Geographies of Sexuality and Diverse Urban Economies

I am best known for my work on sexual geographies. My current research is developing a theoretical model for charting the diverse economies of lesbian and gay life. To this end, I have undertaken studies of the non-commercial, autonomous spaces created by anarchist-inspired radical queer networks. I have also reconsidered sites of cruising and public homosex as a unique form of ‘commons’ that fosters a unique set of socio-sexual interactions between non-heterosexual men beside the mainstream commercial gay leisure economy. I have used this approach to challenge the focus of sexual geographies on inner city leisure economies in the metropolitan centres of the Global North – applying a comparative ‘ordinary cities’ approach to the study of urban sexual geographies, and bringing the whole city back into view, demonstrating that all aspects of the urban infrastructure and built environment are structured by normative assumptions about sexuality. I am currently extending this research to examine how lesbian and gay identities (which were forged in a period of oil-fuelled high consumption) might mutate in the transition to a low carbon economy.

I have recently started working with the Leicester Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans Centre on a voluntary basis contributing to their new project recording the oral histories of LGBT life in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Young people’s identities and aspirations

A second strand of my work on identity examines young people’s aspirations and ambitions for adult life. Work funded by a Royal Geographical Society Small Research Grant (entitled “The place of aspirations: emotional geographies of young people’s ambitions for adult life”) has examined the emotional consequences of young people’s involvement in initiatives designed to raise their educational and career aspirations. I have argued that while the growth of a politics of aspiration since 1997 seeks to mobilise young people to advance the competitiveness of the British economy globally, it also serves to fix in place those working class youths whose ‘aspirations’ are not deemed to be high enough to contribute to this national project. Preliminary findings from this research can be read online.

I have recently been awarded an ESRC 1+3 studentship for Thomas Grant to undertake PhD research on “ Educational Aspirations in Place and Beyond Place.” His research will offer a critical evaluation of widening participation policy and practice with young people in severely deprived neighbourhoods of Leicester and Leicestershire.

Geographies of social movement activism and contentious politics

I have an interest in the spatiality of social movement activism. I have published research on the spaces of radical queer activism in Britain and Europe. I have a particular interest in practices of social autonomy and the relationship between anarchist praxis and geographical theory.

During 2011, I plan to commence research on a project recording the historical geographies of the Non-Stop Picket of the South African Embassy in London (1986 – 1990). This project will examine the geographies of transnational solidarity activism, using this unique and previously unresearched anti-apartheid protest, as its case study.

Geographies of Transition, Social Change and Transformation

With others in the department (Kraftl, Pickerill and Upton) I am currently engaged in research considering different conceptualisations of ‘transition’ and social transformation. This work examines recent academic and policy debates around sustainability transitions (and the transition to a low carbon economy) by setting these specific uses of the concept of ‘transition’ in dialogue with previous theorizations of individual and societal transitions (e.g transitions across the lifecourse; post-socialist transitions; and, the transition to a post-apartheid state in South Africa). This work seeks to expand current debates about sustainability transitions to question what the end goal of these transitions is conceived to be and to challenge normative assumptions about the actors included in these processes to advance greater environmental justice and the inclusion of diverse publics in them.

I am the Principle Investigator on an ESRC Seminar Series (starting early in 2011) on the theme of “ Sustainability transitions: rethinking everyday practices, identities and livelihoods”. Through a series of five linked events over the next two years, this seminar series aims to explore sustainability transitions from explicitly social, political and economic perspectives. The series will:

• explore and critique theories of transition from the specific perspective of the social; aiming to build links/bridges to relevant social theory and social science disciplines;
• explore the interrelationships between theory and practice and how they inform and shape one another.

Teaching – Urban Geography

Students taking the second year human geography module Urban Geography are asked to write an entry for a thematic A-Z of Leicester, as part of their assessment for the course. This assignment was inspired by Steve Pile and Nigel Thrift’s (2000) book City A-Z, and in the spirit of that book, the students were asked to write about aspects of urban life in Leicester that have typically been overlooked by geographers. Click here to view a selection of their articles.

External Activities

• Chair of the Space, Sexualities and Queer Research Group of the RGS-IBG (2009 – present)
• Member UCAS Tariff Expert Panel (2009 - present)

PhD Supervision

• Ali Abubrig – ‘Urban growth and its effect on agricultural land in western Libya’
• Adam Barker - ‘Common ground for revolution - anarcho-indigenism and relationships to land and place’ (with Dr Jenny Pickerill)
• Thomas Grant – (from September 2011) ‘ Educational Aspirations in Place and Beyond Place’ (with John Williams, Sociology)

Research Areas for PhD Supervision

• Geographies of sexualities (and applications of queer theory in geography);
• Spaces of activism, solidarity and direct action; the spatialities of anarchist theories and practice;
• Geographies of education and young people’s lives;
• Urban geography – with particular interests in urban social movements tackling social inequality and injustice;

Human Geography Research Themes

Enquiries: If you are interested in studying for a PhD in one of these research areas, please make informal enquiries via geogPhD@le.ac.uk

Most Recent Publications

Browne, K, Lim, J and Brown, G (eds.) (2007), Geographies of Sexualities: Theory, Practices and Politics, Aldershot: Ashgate.

Brown, G. (forthcoming 2011), “ Emotional geographies of young people’s aspirations for adult life,” Children’s Geographies 9 (1).

Full listing of publications