IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v46y2014i10p2452-2468.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Single People's Geographies of Home: Intimacy and Friendship beyond ‘the Family’

Author

Listed:
  • Eleanor Wilkinson

    (Geography and Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, England)

Abstract

What might it mean to think of ‘the single’ as a potentially queer subject and in what ways does singleness pose a challenge to heteronormative conceptualizations of the lifecourse and household formation? In this paper I explore some of the contested meanings of ‘home’ for those who are single; and examine how single people have created new forms of home and new spaces of at-homeness with those with whom they are not biologically (or romantically) related. I conclude by asking how we might help foster, build, and create new forms of dwelling that might better match single people's imaginings and desires for a home outside of heteronormative coupledom. Ultimately the paper argues that the exclusion of the figure of the single is one of the key omissions in the work of those interested in challenging the geographies of exclusion and inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Eleanor Wilkinson, 2014. "Single People's Geographies of Home: Intimacy and Friendship beyond ‘the Family’," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(10), pages 2452-2468, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:46:y:2014:i:10:p:2452-2468
    DOI: 10.1068/a130069p
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a130069p
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a130069p?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Natascha Klocker & Chris Gibson & Erin Borger, 2012. "Living Together but Apart: Material Geographies of Everyday Sustainability in Extended Family Households," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(9), pages 2240-2259, September.
    2. Moss, Pamela, 1997. "Negotiating spaces in home environments: Older women living with arthritis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 23-33, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Crooks, Valorie A., 2007. "Exploring the altered daily geographies and lifeworlds of women living with fibromyalgia syndrome: A mixed-method approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 577-588, February.
    2. Angela Barns & Frida Svanholm & Anette Kjellberg & Ingrid Thyberg & Torbjorn Falkmer, 2015. "Living in the Present," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(4), pages 21582440156, December.
    3. Pérez-Sánchez, Laura À. & Velasco-Fernández, Raúl & Giampietro, Mario, 2022. "Factors and actions for the sustainability of the residential sector. The nexus of energy, materials, space, and time use," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    4. Gibson, Barbara E. & Secker, Barbara & Rolfe, Debbie & Wagner, Frank & Parke, Bob & Mistry, Bhavnita, 2012. "Disability and dignity-enabling home environments," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 211-219.
    5. Stephanie Toole & Natascha Klocker & Lesley Head, 2016. "Re-thinking climate change adaptation and capacities at the household scale," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 203-209, March.
    6. Stephanie Toole & Natascha Klocker & Lesley Head, 2016. "Re-thinking climate change adaptation and capacities at the household scale," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 203-209, March.
    7. Brett Smith & Nick Caddick, 2015. "The Impact of Living in a Care Home on the Health and Wellbeing of Spinal Cord Injured People," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-18, April.
    8. Ewa Kopczyńska, 2020. "Are There Local Versions of Sustainability? Food Networks in the Semi-Periphery," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-15, April.
    9. Gill, Nicholas & Osman, Peter & Head, Lesley & Voyer, Michelle & Harada, Theresa & Waitt, Gordon & Gibson, Chris, 2015. "Looking beyond installation: Why households struggle to make the most of solar hot water systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 83-94.
    10. van Hoven Bettina & Elzinga Maaike, 2009. "‘Bikes are Such a Nuisance’ - Visually Impaired People Negotiating Public Space in Groningen," European Spatial Research and Policy, Sciendo, vol. 16(1), pages 131-144, June.
    11. Wiles, Janine L. & Allen, Ruth E.S. & Palmer, Anthea J. & Hayman, Karen J. & Keeling, Sally & Kerse, Ngaire, 2009. "Older people and their social spaces: A study of well-being and attachment to place in Aotearoa New Zealand," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 664-671, February.
    12. Ying Zhao & Martin Dijst & Yanwei Chai, 2016. "Between haven and heaven in cities: A comparison between Beijing (China) and Utrecht (the Netherlands)," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(12), pages 2469-2487, September.
    13. Ivanova, Diana & Büchs, Milena, 2022. "Implications of shrinking household sizes for meeting the 1.5 °C climate targets," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    14. Lynda Johnston & Gordon Waitt, 2021. "Play, protest and pride: Un/happy queers of Proud to Play in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(7), pages 1431-1447, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    queer; single; home; coupledom; lifecourse;
    All these keywords.

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:46:y:2014:i:10:p:2452-2468. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.