Geographical Margins Research Articles

Aesthetics of Afro-Andean Smoking Culture: Early Modern Peruvian Tobacco Pipes at the Edge of the Atlantic World

Although situated at the geographic margin of the early modern Atlantic World, the Pacific coast of Peru was an important region in the development of African diasporic material culture. Adopting an interdisciplinary material historical approach, we present the first systematic discussion of the known Afro-Atlantic-style tobacco pipes to be archaeologically recovered in Peru. Eighteen Afro-Atlantic-style tobacco pipes or pipe sherds dating to Peru’s Spanish colonial period have been identified across sites in the coastal cities of Lima and Trujillo and from a vineyard hacienda in rural Nasca. Tobacco pipes are among the most recognized and debated forms of early modern Atlantic African and diasporic expressions of material culture, as such, they present a powerful entry point to understanding the aesthetic consequences of colonial projects and diverse articulations across the Atlantic World. The material history of Afro-Atlantic smoking culture exemplifies how aesthetics moved between localities and developed diasporic entanglements. In addition to the formal analysis and visual description of the pipes, we examine historical documentation and the work of nineteenth-century Afro-Peruvian watercolorist Francisco (Pancho) Fierro to better understand the aesthetics of Afro-Andean smoking culture in Spanish colonial and early Republican Peru.

Trapped Neighborhoods, Trapped Identities: Wadi Salib and Musrara Compared, 1949-1967

Using the concept of “trapped neighborhoods,” this paper focuses on two impoverished neighborhoods between the years 1949 and 1967 that were a symbol of Mizraḥi protest in Israel: Wadi Salib in Haifa and Musrara in Jerusalem. We consider their residents as not only people living in the margins of the city but also as communities that were trapped within the cultural, social and geographical margins on the border of the Arab existence and recent past, and the Jewish-Israeli present. While Musrara was “trapped” between a physical border in the Eastern-Arab part of the Jerusalem, and an imagined border on its western side, Wadi Salib was “trapped” between “upper” and “lower” Haifa, and between the Palestinian repressed past and the Arab-Jewish identity of its residents. The article examines both the nature of the borders and the mechanisms of crossing them.

The genetic consequences of population marginality: A case study in maritime pine

AbstractAimMarginal tree populations, either those located at the edges of the species' range or in suboptimal environments, are often a valuable genetic resource for biological conservation. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the genetic consequences of population marginality, estimated across entire species' ranges. Our study addresses this gap by providing information about several genetic indicators and their variability in marginal and core populations identified using quantitative marginality indices.LocationSouthwestern Europe and North Africa.MethodsUsing 10,185 SNPs across 82 populations of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.), a widespread conifer characterised by a fragmented range, we modelled the relationship of seven genetic indicators potentially related to population evolutionary resilience, namely genetic diversity (based on both all SNPs and outlier SNPs), inbreeding, genetic differentiation, recessive genetic load and genomic offset, with population geographical, demo‐historical and ecological marginality (as estimated by nine quantitative indices). Models were constructed for both regional (introducing gene pool as a random factor) and range‐wide spatial scales.ResultsWe showed a trend towards decreasing overall genetic diversity and increasing differentiation with geographic marginality, supporting the centre‐periphery hypothesis (CPH). However, we found no correlation between population inbreeding and marginality, while geographically marginal populations had a lower recessive genetic load (only models without the gene pool effect). Ecologically marginal populations had a higher genomic offset, suggesting higher maladaptation to future climate, albeit some of these populations also had high genetic diversity for climate outliers.Main ConclusionsOverall genetic diversity (but not outlier‐based estimates) and differentiation patterns support the CPH. Ecologically marginal populations and those at the southern edge could be more vulnerable to climate change due to higher climate maladaptation, as predicted by genomic offsets, and/or lower potentially adaptive genetic diversity. This risk is exacerbated by typically small effective population sizes and increasing human impact in marginal populations.

Formal education as a contested pastoral adaptation pathway: insights from southern Kenya

In dryland pastoral environments, political and geographical marginalization has historically led to development strategies that poorly account for individual and communities’ spatial and socio-economic realities. These development legacies, including long-standing epistemic biases in defining what should be adapted, are often insufficiently considered within adaptation research and practice. This article sets out to analyze the historical emergence and enactment of formal education as a contested adaptation pathway in southern Kenya. For this, I combine the strengths of the historically situated analyses of the pathways scholarship and feminist political ecology’s attention to the performance of intersectional relations of power in everyday livelihood practices. I bring together both archival data and qualitative primary data from focus group discussions (n = 16) and individual interviews (n = 122) conducted in three pastoral communities. The results exemplify the ways that non-climatic factors, such as increased formal school enrolment, (re)shape everyday livelihood practices and social aspirations, molding the current adaptation space. Notably, enacting formal education as an adaptation pathway requires one to navigate increasing cash pressures, mobility, and labor constraints. Wealth disparities, gendered norms, and geographies intersect to shape patterns of vulnerability, with poorer pastoralists residing further away from school centers facing difficult trade-offs on their time and resources. Understanding pathways enactments contributes to problematizing current logics of development and adaptation needs, while yielding important information on socio-spatial differentiation processes in pastoral systems. It also opens the space for further research to use these critical insights to identify alternative adaptation pathways that support more just transformations towards sustainability.

Stereotypical ideas in the perception of spatial marginality of urban outskirts

According to the territorial-regional development policy of Russia, a rigid structuring of the country's space is applied through the prism of a hierarchical management system. As a result, the structure of the space of the entire country was fixed through a system of boundaries, the markers of which highlight management objects at the national level, subject of the Russian Federation, territory, region, district. This article will present the main stereotypes that influence the creation of the perception of new territories in the nature of marginality. As is known, the formation of marginal communities can be traced throughout the history of civilizations. It is important to separate geographical marginality from spatial marginality. In geography, there is the concept of “marginal territories”, which can be considered those located on the remote periphery of the region or in isolated places. Such a phenomenon as spatial marginality is characterized precisely by the prevailing stereotypes in society about a specific area. Urban spatial perception critically influences human behavior and emotional responses, emphasizing the need to align urban spaces with human needs to improve the quality of urban life. However, the classification of urban architecture based on functionality is subject to biases stemming from discrepancies between objective representation and subjective perception. These biases can lead to city planning and designs that fail to adequately meet the needs and preferences of city residents, negatively impacting their quality of life and the overall functionality of the city. In this study, we apply machine learning to uncover these biases in urban spatial perception research using a three-step methodology: objective mapping, subjective perception analysis, and perceptual bias assessment. Our results show that machine learning can reveal hidden patterns in this area of research with significant implications for urban planning and design. Of particular note, the study found significant discrepancies in the distribution centroids between commercial buildings and residential or public buildings. This result sheds light on the spatial organization characteristics of urban architectural functions, serving as a valuable guide for urban planning and development. Moreover, it reveals the advantages and disadvantages of different data sources and methods for interpreting urban spatial perception, paving the way to a more complete understanding of the subject. These results highlight the importance of integrating both objective mapping and subjective perspectives when classifying the functionality of urban architecture.

Determining of the degree of geographical marginality of settlements in Međimurje using GIS and exploratory factor analysis

The research topic is geographical marginality, and the main aim of the research is to develop a methodology for identifying, analyzing and determining marginal areas of Međimurje on the spatial level of settlement. Exploratory factor analysis was used in the research via GIS methods. The 30 selected variables were used for exploratory factor analysis. The suitability of the variables was tested using the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test and Bartlett’s test. Free, open source R, JASP and QGIS software were used. In the analysis, six factors were identified, by which the characteristic types of settlements in Međimurje were identified: 1) Spatial concentration and economic dynamics; 2) Demographic dynamics and population aging; 3) Education and economic diversification; 4) Availability of central functions; 5) Traditional extensive agricultural production; and 6) Stationary work contingent focused on primary activities. Based on the factor scores, a Međimurje index of marginalization of settlements (MIMaNa) was calculated. Based on this index, the degree of geographical marginality of settlements in Međimurje was determined.

Book review of: BORNA FUERST-BJELIŠ, ETIENNE NEL, STANKO PELC (Editors) (2022), COVID-19 and Marginalisation of People and Places. Impacts, Responses and Observed Effects of COVID-19 on Geographical Marginality, Springer, Cham, 238 p.

Book review of: BORNA FUERST-BJELIŠ, ETIENNE NEL, STANKO PELC (Editors) (2022), COVID-19 and Marginalisation of People and Places. Impacts, Responses and Observed Effects of COVID-19 on Geographical Marginality, Springer, Cham, 238 p.

Patterns of Water Consumption in Longleaf Pine Restoration Areas and the Relationship with Cone Production

Monitoring water consumption dynamics across the geographic range of an ecosystem may indicate the possible variation and stress in a biome. Here, model output data based on remote sensing (1979–2022) were used to examine the water consumption dynamics and effects on cone production in three geographic margins in the longleaf pine’s range (i.e., Bladen Lake State Forest, Escambia Experimental Forest, and Kisatchie National Forest) under varying climatic conditions. Results indicated that the mean annual transpiration at Escambia was approximately 431 mm and that at Bladen and Kisatchie was 500 mm. Mean monthly transpiration peaked twice (June and October) at Escambia but only once (August) at Bladen and Kisatchie. The mean annual evapotranspiration ranged from approximately 900 mm at Kisatchie to about 791 mm at Escambia and Bladen. The mean annual transpiration/evapotranspiration ratio was about 0.65 at Bladen and 0.55 at Escambia and Kisatchie. A significant correlation existed between evapotranspiration and specific humidity across the sites on a monthly scale but not on a yearly scale. Significant negative relationships existed between precipitation and the ratios of transpiration/precipitation and evapotranspiration/precipitation on the yearly scale across the sites. Negative power relationships were observed between precipitation and the specific humidity/precipitation ratio on monthly and yearly scales. Cone production was generally highest in years with moderate water consumption. These results provide baseline information on how hydrological and ecological processes of longleaf pine forests interact with climate across broad spatial and temporal scales.

Spatial and temporal variation of Fagus sylvatica growth in marginal areas under progressive climate change

The escalating decline in growth trends of European beech (Fagus sylvatica) observed across its distribution area pose a major ecological and economic challenge for countries with a high proportion of beech, such as Slovenia. In this study, the effects of climate change were examined at a high-resolution scale, encompassing the large climatic, orographic, and ecological variability of beech forests in Slovenia. Using basal area increment data (BAI) from a tree-ring network (48 sites in Slovenia), modelled climate data, and generalized linear mixed models (GLMM), we found an average growth decline of 11% between the 1953–1985 and 1986–2018 subperiods, affecting 90.5% of the forest stands. Based on climate data, we defined two contrasted marginal areas of beech presence (warm and cold) and analysed the growth changes over time. The warm marginal areas, which predominate near the geographical margin of beech distribution with a sub-Mediterranean climatic regime, were most affected by growth decline, threatening the survival of beech populations in the area. In contrast, cold marginal areas, mainly at high elevations in the Alps, where beech growth had previously been limited by low temperatures, turned out to be the only ones where growth of beech increased under prevailing warming conditions. Consequently, high elevation regions harbour climatic potential for increased beech growth performance, and may represent areas of future expansion of the species.

Spatial Histories: Geography, Memory, and Alternative Narratives of the Iranian Revolution of 1979

Abstract In distinction from the overwhelming tendency to conceive history primarily in terms of its temporal chronologies, this paper considers the spatiality of history and historical memory. Engaging with seven Oral History interviews with diasporic Iranians in Toronto on the Iranian Revolution of 1979, we show that narratives of historical events are deeply shaped by the geographical location of narrators: those emplaced in differing geographical locations at the time of the Revolution not only remember disparate events, but also associate distinct temporal points with the Revolution. For instance, while those remembering the Revolution from the capital city of Tehran produce narratives that closely align with the official historiography of the Revolution (such as in recounting street protests and the culmination of the Revolution on February 11th, 1979), others remember events and dates that are only peripheral to official accounts (such as the arson at Cinema Rex on August 19th, 1978, or the hostage crisis that lasted from November 4th, 1979 to January 28th, 1980). In other words, both the content of memories (what narrators remember) and their temporal associations (which dates narrators recall) are informed by the embodied geography of memories. Hence, those whose geographical locations diverge from the largely capital-focused vantage point of official histographies produce narratives that diverge from these accounts. In short, geography and embodied emplacement are central to historical narrative, whether authoritative or narrated form geographical margins.

Internalized Zomias?

Working on a concept branded by Willem van Schendel, James Scott proposed in a 2009 essay a new and provocative view of the isolated societies that survived for a long time in the fringes of Himalayan and Southeast Asia, which could have formed a distinct region named Zomia. According to him, those populations were not the remnants of uncivilized tribes, as they have often been viewed in history, but peoples who had deliberately chosen to flee the domination of central states. But, for Scott, the conditions that made their independence and resilience possible vanished during the 1950ies, when technology made access to their regions easier. In this text, I argue that if we are seeing today an apparent domination of central states, which now cover the world continuously, geographical marginality engrained in the concept of Zomia remains hidden within their borders, often in the form of sparsely populated areas. These potentially constitute contemporary Zomias, which may have been internalized within the states, but still respond to a number of Scott’s postulates.

Barcelona, City of Margins by Olga Sendra Ferrer

Reviewed by: Barcelona, City of Margins by Olga Sendra Ferrer Sandra Ortiz-València Sendra Ferrer, Olga. Barcelona, City of Margins. U of Toronto P, 2022. Pp. 267. ISBN 978-1-4875-0848-7. Barcelona, City of Margins delves into the constitution of spaces of dissent during the 1950s and 1960s of Franco’s dictatorship, following a well-established trend in Peninsular Studies, but what makes the book stand out is its original multidisciplinary approach. It brings together Marxist [End Page 152] theory, urbanism, literary studies, and photography to re-interpret this particular historical period and shed light on how social, political, economic, and cultural factors contribute to the creation of dissidence and resistance. Taking Barcelona as a geographical point of reference, the book illustrates “how the material city facilitates the creation and development of a system of critique that then lays out the foundation for the democratic city to come” (3). To put it simply, by interpreting a variety of cultural productions, Barcelona, City of Margins proves that material and geographic marginalization in urban spaces is directly connected to the constitution of democratic values. Barcelona, City of Margins lays out its argument in four chapters that build upon each other, balancing theoretical approaches—particularly, Henri Lefebvre’s ideas of abstract space—and close readings of different cultural expressions—most prominently, literature and photography. The first chapter sets up the historical context and employs the term “urban turn” to describe the change of narrative in Francoist ideological discourse: which left behind its mythology about rural Spain and embraced the metropoles and modernization as the banners of national identity to facilitate the entrance into hegemonic capitalism. This introductory chapter analyzes the material and geographical consequences that this “urban turn” cast on the metropoles, particularly Barcelona: the emergence of neighborhoods at the margins that forged dissent and decades later were essential in the constitution of democracy. Within this context, the second chapter of the book proposes Francisco Candel’s writings as the first expression of the dissidence generated in and by the suburbia population. As the analysis shows, Candel is relevant because he constructs the identity of these neighborhoods, challenges homogenization through the use of irony and calls for integration predicating upon equality and democratic values. Even though this historical phenomenon has been widely analyzed in Peninsular studies, these chapters articulate an original interpretation that lays bare the relationship between the development of the capitalist city and the foundations of democracy. Still, the argument of the book does not end here; rather, it is also reinforced by bringing into the discussion other means of expression. That is why, the third chapter of Barcelona, City of Margins takes photography as the object of study; after evaluating some photographers from the Nova Avanguarda (in particular, Xavier Miserachs or Francesc Català Roca), this section pinpoints Joan Colom’s photographic production as an illustration of dissidence, because “[he] emphasizes the dialectic nature of coexistence in the street, precisely that which the housing complexes were intended to eradicate, as he renews the contact between bodies” (143). In short, Colom’s photographs display the contradictory nature of public spaces and establish a dialogue between the official discourse about the city and the material reality of these new neighborhoods by showing a disrupted image of the streets of Barcelona. Then, chapter four delves deeper into photographic materials, but includes the component of gender by exploring the work of three Catalan female photographers: Milagros Cartula, Carme Garcia, and Colita (Isabel Steva i Hernández). All of them express dissent in their photography, particularly challenging the male gaze undoubtedly present in Colom’s work and the Nova Avanguarda, but the latter is emphasized in the analysis because of her depictions of the new neighborhoods created by Francoist urbanism. Colita’s photographs present “a new urban geography that breaks with monumentalism and the conception of space as the product of a discursivity and practice removed from daily life . . . [and] a change of perspective in the female gaze” (183–84). The analysis shows that her photographs employ visual irony and give agency to female characters to objectify the city as much as the language of the city objectifies women. Therefore, the chapters present...

English

This research adopts a feminist content analytic framework to examine the portrayal of Nigerian women in the work of  Uko Akpan Cultural Group, iconic champions of folk music in south-eastern Nigeria.  The purpose of this research is to understand if folk music reinforces gender stereotypes or empowers women by providing them with a legitimate platform to utilize their talents as a source of income and livelihood.  To achieve the goal of the research, ten hours of digital content were examined for mentions, images, and the presence of girls and women and the contexts in which they occur in the work of the Uko Akpan Cultural Group. The content included songs, choreography, costume, instrumentation, and public performances spanning several decades and addressing key socio-political and cultural issues. The research demonstrates that while folk music provides a legitimate platform for women to showcase their talents as artists against the backdrop of patriarchal structures, it also reinforces gender stereotypes and narratives of women as subordinate and subservient beings. Folk music can be a viable vehicle for the advancement of women, especially those on the socio-economic and geographic margins of society if new narratives about women are integrated into the artifacts of folk music.   Key words: folk music; folk culture, gender stereotypes, gender and music, Ukokpan, Ukokpanism.

Derivation of geographical marginalization index of Bosnia and Herzegovina using GIS multicriteria decision analysis

Across Europe marginalization has been highlighted as an object of important political concern. In the area of Central Europe and the Balkans, the problem of marginalization has not been sufficiently researched. This particularly applies to the Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Using the GIS multicriteria decision analysis a composite index of geographical marginalization (GMAR) was created. Marginalization is analyzed as a multidimensional concept using the 4 groups with a total of 40 criteria. Spatial patterns were detected from extremely marginalized to extremely non-marginalized regions. The GMAR indicates the existence of regional disparities in BiH. The high degree of marginalization, especially those in the border sector, alerts the implementation of the demarginalization measures.

Intensive and Extensive Margins of Export: Determinants of Economic Growth in Russian Regions under Sanctions

The impact of foreign trade on the Russian economy’s growth remains debatable. In 2014, the economy faced initial sanctions, leading to export restructuring and affecting growth. In 2022, a second unprecedented wave of sanctions necessitated export restructuring and intensified the challenge of sourcing economic growth. This study evaluates the impact of intensive and extensive export margins on Russian regions’ growth from 2015 to 2021 and discusses post-2022 implications. It is hypothesised that new export goods and markets are vital for economic growth in Russian regions. The study shows that both intensive and extensive margins are positively related to the level of development in Russian regions, and developed regions with diversified economic structures had higher values of export margins. The methodology uses panel regression with random and fixed effects. The empirical results show Russian regions’ market share in the products they export and in the countries where they export (i. e. intensive product and geographic margin) is important for the economic growth of Russian regions, while the results for extensive margin are ambiguous. The obtained findings have implications for industrial policy, which should prioritise the development of measures aimed at supporting existing exporting companies in expanding their presence in familiar markets. The task of export diversification should primarily be addressed through working with existing exporters and export products, while the export of innovative products should be viewed as a gradual evolutionary process within the framework of long-term planning.

Contextualizing patterns in short-term disaster recoveries from the 2015 Nepal earthquakes: household vulnerabilities, adaptive capacities, and change

Disaster recovery is multidimensional and requires theoretical and methodological approaches from the interdisciplinary social sciences to illustrate short- and long-term recovery dynamics that can guide more informed and equitable policy and interventions. The 2015 Nepal earthquakes have had catastrophic impacts on historically marginalized ethnic groups and Indigenous households in rural locations, arising in the immediate aftermath and unfolding for years afterward. Analyzing factors that shape household recovery patterns can help identify vulnerabilities and adaptive capacities in addition to signaling potential future changes. We pursue this goal using survey data from 400 randomly selected households in 4 communities over 2 10-week intervals at 9 months and 1.5 years after the earthquakes. Building on previous research that used non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination to identify patterns among multiple indicators of recovery (Spoon et al. 2020a), we investigate associations among these patterns of recovery, hazard exposure, and four domains of household adaptive capacity: institutional participation, livelihood diversity, connectivity, and social memory. Our results suggest: (1) social inequality, high hazard exposure, and disrupted place-based livelihoods (especially for herders, farmers, and forest harvesters on the geographic margins) had strong associations with negative recovery outcomes and displacement; (2) inaccessibility and marginality appeared to stimulate ingenuity despite challenging circumstances through mutual aid and local knowledge; (3) recoveries were non-linear, differing for households displaced from their primary home and agropastoral practice and those displaced to camps; and (4) some households experienced rapid changes while others stagnated. We contribute a temporal dataset with a random sample collected following a disaster that uses a theoretically informed quantitative methodology to explore linear and non-linear relationships among multidimensional recovery, adaptive capacity and change and provide an example of how vulnerabilities interact with adaptive capacity.

Heimat and Nation: Jewish Historians and the Construction of Regional Identities in Posen and Alsace-Lorraine during the German Empire

Abstract The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw a wave of interest in history among Jews in Germany. The popularity of the subject extended to those who lived at the geographic margins of the German Empire, in the Prussian Province of Posen and the Reichsland of Alsace-Lorraine. Living in borderlands in which national identities were contested, Jewish historians established and joined regional historical societies that looked to the local and regional past to construct identities. While Jewish historians in the German east worked alongside non-Jewish colleagues to create a German Heimat against the backdrop of ethnic strife between Germans and Poles, their co-religionists in Alsace-Lorraine tried to maintain a regional identity which preserved the cultural and historical uniqueness of the Franco-German borderland. These different visions of regional history and identity surfaced again in the responses to the establishment of a central German-Jewish archive in Berlin. Jews from Posen were instrumental in integrating the local Jewish past into a national German-Jewish narrative. However, in the Franco-German borderland, Jews were opposed to the idea of a national archive, which they saw as a challenge to their Alsace-Lorrainian Jewish identity. This article argues that Jewish historians engaged with and were part of the wider German discourses on Heimat, regionalism and localness. Although Jewish historians in Posen and Alsace-Lorraine differed in their understanding of these concepts, they used them as markers of identity which allowed Jews to define their position towards notions of Germanness and the idea of a German-Jewish community.

Towards real-time probabilistic ash deposition forecasting for New Zealand

Volcanic ashfall forecasts are highly dependent on eruption source parameters (ESPs) and synoptic weather conditions at the time and location of the eruption. In New Zealand, MetService and GNS Science have been jointly developing an ashfall forecast system that incorporates four-dimensional high-resolution numerical weather prediction (NWP) and ESPs into the HYSPLIT model, a state-of-the art hybrid Eulerian and Lagrangian dispersion model widely used for volcanic ash. However, these forecasts are based on discrete ESPs combined with a deterministic weather forecast and thus provide no information on output uncertainty. This shortcoming hinders stakeholder decision making, particularly near the geographical margin of forecasted ashfall and in areas with large gradients in forecasted ash deposition. Our study presents a new approach that incorporates uncertainty from both eruptive and meteorological inputs to deliver uncertainty in the model output. To this end, we developed probability density functions (PDFs) for three key ESPs (plume height, mass eruption rate, eruption duration) tailored to New Zealand’s volcanoes and combine them with NWP ensemble datasets to generate probabilistic ashfall forecasts using the HYSPLIT model. We show that the Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) technique can be used to representatively span this four-dimensional parameter space and allow us to add uncertainty quantification to rapid response forecast systems. For a case study of a hypothetical eruption at Tongariro, New Zealand we suggest that large parts of New Zealand’s North Island would not receive adequate warning for potential ashfall if uncertainties were not included in the forecasts. We also propose new probabilistic summary products to support public information and emergency responders decision making.

Becoming Invisible to/and Still Not Belong: Rethinking the Dwelling of BIPOC Scholars at the Physical and Disciplinary Margins of Communication Studies in Canada

Background: People cannot be an idea without also occupying a body and being the embodiment of competing expectations. For a person of colour (POC), contortions of self-erasure accompany these expectations, more so in semi- and non-urban academic and social spaces.Analysis: Using a social construct of invisibility, marginality as a minority communication scholar is discussed as magnified by geography, class, reproduce-ability (training graduate students who potentially join the field versus primarily undergraduate or career-minded students), among other precarities.Conclusion and Implications: Living at the geographic margins as a minority Canadian communication studies scholar requires constantly navigating present absences.

A Narrative Political Ecology Approach to Unsheltered Homelessness and Episodic Poor Air Quality along an Urban Riparian Corridor

Air quality concerns, like other environmental disamenities, are unevenly experienced across populations based on a variety of social and geographic markers, including those living at the urban economic and geographic margins. This study uses a narrative political ecology approach to document and analyze how people experiencing unsheltered homelessness along an urban riparian corridor in Salt Lake County, Utah, engage with seasonal episodic poor air quality. In-depth, on-site semi-structured interviews (n = 16) were conducted with individuals living in tents and other constructed shelters. Participant responses were developed into narratives focused on daily experiences with poor air quality, attributing the causes of air pollution, and locating responsibility for poor air quality. Responses demonstrate the power of participant narrative in their own analyses of lived experiences of wildfire smoke, haze, and seasonal inversion, as well as the ways these events influence broader conceptualizations about personal health, vulnerability, responsibilization, and power-infused nature-society relations.